Chapter 44

Unit 4
Design Thinking
Idea Generation (Ideate), Prototyping
and Testing
Design Thinking Process
EMPATHY
gives confidence that you are working on a meaningful
problem; forces you to take a perspective other than your own
IDEATION
gives you diverse design solution possibilities to select,
develop, and test
PROTOTYPING & TEST

gives confidence that your solution is desirable, feasible, and
viable; accelerates learning when you adopt a low-resolution
prototyping mindset
Exercise
One Word Improvisation

You will tell a story one word at a time!
• Stand with a partner.
• Start by one person saying one word.
• Now the other person says a word.
• Then the first person says a word.
• Go back and forth and try to tell a story.
The hope is that students get into the mindset of generating responses without thinking.
Ask students to stand in groups of two. They will be “telling a story” with their partner, one word
at a time.
Example:
Student A: Banana
Student B: On
Student A: A
Student B: Tree
Student A: And
Student B: It
Student A: Is
Student B: Too
Student A: High
Student B: To
Student A: Reach.
Student B: So
Student A: I
Student B: Built
Student A: A
Student B: Ladder
They should go rapidly, it does not matter if the story makes sense! It might be helpful for the
students to see you demonstrate it first, so that they understand the directions and can feel more
comfortable. After the pairs are finished, have them join another pair and ask them to do the
exercise again in a group of four.
© The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University, 2015-2016. All rights reserved.
Abstract
Insights Thinking Concepts
Opportunities
Insights Ideas
Problem Solution
Domain Domain
Observations Prototypes
Experiments
Empathy Solutions
Concrete © Banny Banerjee
Thinking
Brainstorming
Brainstorming: is a group discussion to produce
ideas or solve problems.
Click on the video down to watch or go to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmoWCSyujPY (begin at 5:32)
Brainstorm Rules
1. Have one conversation at a time.
2. Go for Quantity.
3. Encourage wild/silly ideas.
4. Headline.
5. Build on the ideas of others.
6. Be visual.
7. Stay on topic.
8. Defer judgement.
Brainstorm in Teams: 12 minutes

 Almost everybody participate in an activity called brainstorming – but often
these are just discussions about what ideas might work or not work.
 Instead, we submit that a brainstorm is a very intentional period of time during

which you leverages the synergy of the team to create numerous and
unexpected solution possibilities.
 The intention of your brainstorm is generate both a large quantity of ideas

and a diverse set of ideas. The intention is NOT to come up with only good
ideas.
 Focus on quantity, build off other ideas, and allow yourself to create silly ideas
– and the good ideas will come.
 It is a bit counterintuitive to have a set of rules to encourage creative

generation – but in fact the rules help us overcome our inclination to edit
ourselves and each other, and to keep the group engaged and on task.
Something implicit (but not mentioned) in these eight rules is the attitude you
should carry into a brainstorm – high engagement, and have fun.
Selection: Post-Brainstorm
MAINTAIN YOUR INNOVATION POTENTIAL
Carry multiple ideas forward to learn.

Consider these selection criteria:
Choose your most meaningful and your

riskiest idea…
Post Brainstorming,…
 Ask each group (still at the wall/boards) to “downselect,”
ideas.
 It can be helpful to ask for specific types of ideas for them to

share (the simplest idea, the wildest idea, the worst idea, the
most feasible idea, etc.).
 This can help students internalize that this process is not only
designed to find the “best” idea, but rather to generate a variety
of potential ideas that can be explored in the next phase.
 Once they have selected their ideas, they should carry at least
3 ideas forward.
EMPATHY
gives confidence that you are working on a meaningful
problem; forces you to take a perspective other than your own
IDEATION
gives you diverse design solution possibilities to select,
develop, and test
PROTOTYPING & TEST

gives confidence that your solution is desirable, feasible, and
viable; accelerates learning when you adopt a low-resolution
prototyping mindset
Design Thinking:
Prototyping and Experimentation
(Testing)
Prototyping
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a

concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated
or learned from.
Why Prototype and Test?
• Build to think
• Learn and advance your idea quickly
• Change the conversation
• Get your users/customers, reaction/feedback
 Prototyping is an opportunity to quickly learn
what ideas might work, and what ideas will not.
 It is important to frame prototyping as an iterative
process.
 The students should not make “perfect” prototypes.
 Spending too much time making a prototype look
exactly like the vision of the final product is not a
good use of time.
 Instead, focus students on trying to build and test
as quickly as possible, to illicit more feedback on
their design.
Prototype Experiences & Interactions
Left – Mariott employees prototype a hotel room to design a new

“longer stay” hotel for Marriott.
Middle – An early example of a new storage system on the dash of
car.
Right – On the left you see the prototype, on the right is the finished
product. This was for a surgical instrument (for sinus surgery)
prototyping an object/product.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NFH3VC6LNs
Nordstrom Innovation Lab
18
Nordstrom Innovation Lab
https://vimeo.com/83614797
DEFINE
Takeaways
EMPATHY
› Talk to those who the problem impacts
› Listen and observe
› Dig for MEANING
BRAINSTORM
› Create innovation potential with quantity and diversity
› Brainstorm rules
› Selection criteria—maintain innovation potential
LOW RES PROTOTYPING
› Build to think
TESTING WITH USER
› Try it out
› Get outside your team

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Unit 4

PROTOTYPING & TEST

One Word Improvisation

Brainstorm in Teams: 12 minutes

 Instead, we submit that a brainstorm is a very intentional period of time during

 The intention of your brainstorm is generate both a large quantity of ideas

 It is a bit counterintuitive to have a set of rules to encourage creative

Carry multiple ideas forward to learn.

Choose your most meaningful and your

 It can be helpful to ask for specific types of ideas for them to

PROTOTYPING & TEST

A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a

Left – Mariott employees prototype a hotel room to design a new

Nordstrom Innovation Lab

Nordstrom Innovation Lab

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