Why you should use design thinking in your project
“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer—that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
- Steve Jobs
This well-known quote from Steve Jobs isn’t just relevant to designing technology. At its core, all design should be client-centred and address the needs of the people using the product or service. In our industry, this means considering how the service will be delivered before the building is designed, rather than the other way around. This approach is called design thinking.
What is design thinking?
If there are two businesses that offer the same product, in the same location, at the same price, design thinking is what inspires people to choose one business over the other. It may be the accessibility of the car park, the comfort of the waiting area or the payment process. Every aspect of the service makes an impact on the customer’s experience and perception of the brand.
Design thinking is also known as co-design, service design or client-centred design. It’s a planning toolkit that helps teams design a service around the needs of the customer. Marc Stickdorn, author of This is Service Design Thinking, suggests there are five key principles of design thinking.
1. User-Centred
The service should be experienced through the eyes of the customer. It’s important to go beyond the data and really imagine how they’ll interact with the service at every touchpoint.
2. Co-Creative
Service design only works if all stakeholders are involved in the process. This includes people using the service, people delivering the service, management and other areas of the company.
3. Sequencing
This is about the interactions customers have with the service and in what sequence they occur. It also includes the timing of each interaction, such as how long they’ll wait in line.
4. Evidencing
There should be evidence to remind the customer that the service took place, even if they have no interaction with the service provider. For example, rather than simply accepting the design brief, we rigorously assess each brief in terms of accuracy, quality, development potential and level of preparation undertaken, to ensure we are delivering value on every project and a fit-for-purpose design for every client.
5. Holistic
It’s important to keep the customer in mind and make sure every touchpoint is consistent. The goal is to provide the customer with a positive experience at every stage of their journey.
Why use design thinking?
There are many benefits of incorporating design thinking into your building or infrastructure project. It allows you to gain a competitive advantage right from the start, without the added time and expense of making adjustments down the track. For example, when our team was asked to redesign a storage room for a client, we reviewed the relevant legislation for that industry and discovered it wasn’t legal for the organisation to possess or store products in the way they had planned. We provided the client with the tools to redesign the service and reduce their risk. By taking a service-first approach, the organisation eliminated the need for a storage room and improved their service delivery.
Design thinking also allows you to better understand customers, so you can deliver a better service and improve the bottom line. It can have a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of staff, as well as the way they interact and collaborate. This can lead to better productivity and efficiency throughout the organisation. Design thinking is also a tool that allows you to look at the future of your business, to see if the building can accommodate changes to technology and ways of working. In a fast-moving industry, this can make all the difference to the growth of your business in the long run.
Our approach to project management
We conduct design thinking workshops with clients early in the project, to define how people will use the building and ensure the design meets their needs. We also look to the future, considering the impact of new service delivery models and potential restructures on the design and construction of the building. By forward planning, we help you create infrastructure that will future-proof your business.
This process gives you an opportunity to look at all the options before you invest, so you can feel confident that the building will give your company a competitive advantage from the very start. It’s not the traditional role of a project management team, but it’s just one way we use our 30 years of combined experience to add value to every project.