The image above is of a mind map I made on how this approach differs from other design approaches.
Essentially, most of my design approaches have been taught to me in Stanford’s d.school. They use a design thinking approach that centers around empathy and need-finding. There were a lot of similarities when it came to understanding user stories. In particular, design thinking requires talking to many users and making user story maps of what you observed. Similarly, this involves sticky notes, pictures, drawings, etc. The theory is that the more you empathize with your user, the more you will learn and find potential needs. This is similar to how they define looking at the world as it is now. This involves understanding what people are doing, how they are doing it, what tools they are using, and how they feel. Ultimately, this leads to new ideas, which leads to outcomes, which leads to impact down the road.
However, what this design approach covered better than design approaches I’ve used in the past, is the concept of output. Design thinking methodology has a very high output. It requires constant product iteration, talking to users, ideating, etc. However, companies have too much to build, rather they should ask themselves what will most maximize outcome and impact.
