Introduction

Startup world is a messy environment promising innovation, but it carries with it consequences. However, in this dynamic environment, the secret to achievement is flexibility and creativity, which without produce no achievement. BDT (Business Design Thinking) a paradigm that brings together creative and strategic thinking and more.

In this article, I will cover the foundations, practical application, and the implementation in the real world of Business Design Thinking, with the goal of assisting in the success of the start up.

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The Core Principles of Business Design Thinking

The heart of Business Design Thinking is the concept of the three principles and pillars as shown in given illustration.

• Empathy: It has been shown that identification of the needs, pain points and emotions of the target audience is very important. The small companies are often pulled inward a quagmire of developing some product which they believe to be the innovation of the times but fail to validate that the product really solves an authentic problem of the end users. In Design Thinking, of course, the change of focus is in a very deep level of user-centered knowledge, in the sense that any design can be realised by the deep understanding of the user.

• Experimentation: Uncertainty is the default state for startups. To that end, to do iterative prototyping and testing, design practices Thinking methodology. Startups could very well learn what works by making low-fidelity iterations of product/service delivery, then feedback, and modified ideas without fail at the same time by not putting “what ifs” in front of customer needs and wants, and risking the outcome of not having the products that can meet the customers’ needs and wants.

• Collaboration: The best ideas emerge from diverse perspectives. In the spirit of Design Thinking, it encourages inter-disciplinary teamwork, where teams are assembled consisting of people from different heritages and ethnicities, in order to formulate, ideate and work together on effective and creative solutions.

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Applying Business Design Thinking in Startup Contexts

• Identifying the Problem: Startups are often shown designing solutions on the fly, without properly understanding the problems that they aim to solve. Design Thinking for Business begins by very clearly defining the problem through research, questioning, and observation, etc. Representations of the user experience, such as empathy maps and journey maps, can be used to show what is going on, to uncover pain points and what needs to be fixed.

• Ideation and Brainstorming: Even when the problem is clearly defined, startups enter the ideation phase. In this stage, quantity is emphasis than quality, and thus the most ideas possible are generated without any screening. Methodologies (mind mapping, brainstorming, “How Might We” questions) promote ideation, which in turn can be evaluated (for practicality and feasibility).

• Rapid Prototyping: Prototyping transforms ideas into tangible forms. It may represent also a wireframe, a digital product model, a physical prototype, or even a mockup of a process flow as a service. The aim is rapid, low-cost prototyping and assessment that can give startups an end to end credible assessment in the early stages of design, at little cost (of time and money).
• Testing and Iteration: Feedback is the lifeblood of Design Thinking. By prototypes built by actual end users, startups can get to know what works, what does not work, and how it should be incorporated. By repeatedly sparring with a human participant, the ultimate product is eventually found to be very similar to what has been achieved by that human, subsequently decreasing resistance from the market to the product after the latter’s introduction.
• Scaling the Solution: Once a solution is validated, it’s time to scale. [Here] the potential of innovation-driven startups to utilise prior accumulated knowledge as a launchpad to further tailor the business model, marketing and activity, yet ultimately, progress from idea to market-ready solution is within reach.

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The Benefits of Business Design Thinking for Startups

• De-risking Innovation: Through enhanced user validation and iterative testing experience caused by stress relief, Design Thinking reduces the likelihood of new product releases. Startups are in a position to shift course early on if things are not quite aligned, thus saving precious time and money.
• Enhanced Customer Engagement: Design Thinking based solutions “speak” to the users’ true requirements. Consequently, it contributes to a better customer satisfaction, loyalty, and subsequently, drive referrals.
• Fostering a Culture of Creativity: Such a embedding of design thinking as part of the very fabric of a startup organization, leads to an innovation culture, where collaboration is not a cage but instead a space where innovation thrives, experimental errors are more readily accepted, and it is possible for an innovation or model to be developed to be evaluated.
• Improved Agility: Startups employing Design Thinking are more particularly fitted to respond to shift in market forces. Beyond both incremental and iterative improvements, they are at odds with the field and the competitive regarding incremental and iterative improvements, they do not obviously propel the field nor improve consistently over time but instead do continue to be competitive within the field.

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Real-World Examples of Business Design Thinking in Action

• IKEA: IKEA applied the method of Design Thinking to a better in-store experience and product design. Based on the observation of customer behavior, they have proposed this “flat-pack” furniture design idea with the possibility of reduced cost and more convenient disposal goods. Moreover, the establishment of showrooms by IKEA offers customers a chance to visualize products in a real life setting and thus leads to a better purchase decision.
• Tesla: Tesla applied Design Thinking to revolutionize the automotive industry. User-centered design being used, they embedded sustainable energy off-site design in an attractive, easy-to-use design. Just as, for instance, software, such as over-the-air software, in addition to a car cockpit interface shows that Tesla continues to work on the optimzation of the driving experience inside and outside the car.

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Bottom Line

Today, in an era of change in which the only constant is change, Business Design Thinking offers startups a toolkit to establish clarity in a chaotic world by giving them certainty.

Startups have the unique situation of being able to create solutions to problems of the everyday, where innovation and the beginning of growth are favored, and where empathy, experimentation and collaboration are given equal weight.

If you see this blog useful, please share with your network to help with benefitting others from the power of Design Thinking in their startup.