The Design

Thinking Process
for Innovation
A TOOLKIT FOR LEADING CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS
ABOUT PARK AND PROGRAM RELEVANCE

Center for Park Management

National Parks Conservation Association
June 2013
Welcome
to the Toolkit

The Center for Park Management, in partnership

with the global design and innovation firm IDEO,
has designed this toolkit to support the National
Park Service and its partners—to better connect
all Americans to the Park System. As the National
Park Service enters its second century, there is
no better time to try new ideas, experiment with
untested models, and build a learning community
that is dedicated to sharing creative and innovative
approaches. We invite you to be part of this
movement. Take advantage of this resource to
begin your own innovation design journey at your
park or program.

HOW SHOULD THIS TOOLKIT BE USED?

- Watch the 15-minute preview of IDEO’s design thinking process.

- Use this process guide and the activity worksheets to design your
own workshops, and to brainstorm new ideas for making your park
or program more relevant.
- Email [email protected] to get more information and support.
- Go to the Urban Matters Site, and share your experience and
results on the blog: sites.google.com/site/urbannps/
- Spread the word about this resource!
The Design
Thinking Process

This design process can help you approach problem

solving in new ways. Actively seek insights and
inspiration. Question your assumptions. Rethink
the paradigms. Try new ideas, test them in your
park or program, learn, and share your successes
and failures with your colleagues in the parks
community. Your innovation journey starts here...
 Follow these steps in the design process.

PREPARATION INSPIRATION

1. ASSEMBLE THE TEAM

2. DEFINE THE DESIGN CHALLENGE

3. DESIGN RESEARCH

4. TELL STORIES

5. IDENTIFY THEMES

6. FRAME THE QUESTION

PREPARATION INSPIRATION

Before diving into the innovation process, Inspiration is about understanding people
it’s important to lay the groundwork for and their needs, and looking at what works
meaningful and focused explorations. and where change is needed in your park
or program. It’s a chance to fill our minds
with possibilities.
IDEATION IMPLEMENTATION

7. BRAINSTORM

8. PROTOTYPE

9. INTRODUCE EXPERIMENTS

10. SPREAD

IDEATION IMPLEMENTATION

Ideation is a phase of divergent Implementation is the time to focus

thoughts, wild ideas, and exploration on getting feedback, revising, and
of solutions. We move from developing ideas; then we lay the
brainstorming hundreds of solutions to groundwork for spread.
prototyping the best few.
PREPARATION
1. ASSEMBLE THE TEAM

The most powerful way to approach design is with a collaborative team.

A great team will bring diverse perspectives and skills to your park or
program, and have the right mindset to learn from and build from each
other’s contributions.

THE DESIGN MINDSET

What does it take to be an innovator?

While some specific design skills and park
or program expertise are helpful, the most
important thing is adopting a design mindset.
Characteristics of this mindset include:

Optimism Collaboration

Curiosity A big-picture view

Empathy A just-do-it attitude

Creativity A hands-on approach

THE TEAM

As you’re thinking about building a

team, start with people who have (or can
adopt) the design mindset. In addition,
think about these elements:

INTERDISCIPLINARY MIX CORE & EXTENDED TEAMS

Assemble people with a mix of The core team should be 2-8 people who
skillsets—such as visual expression, are ready to get their hands dirty, taking
strategic thinking, ability to build things, part in all major team activities. You may
communication. also want to assemble an extended team
to contribute specific skills or participate
COMMUNITY EMPATHY as needed in brainstorms and larger team
Make sure your team includes people meetings.
with direct experience and empathy
for the community of visitors at your KEY STAKEHOLDERS
park or program. While this process is not hierarchical, it’s
useful to include key decision-makers in
the loop on the extended team.
PREPARATION
2. DEFINE THE DESIGN CHALLENGE

Before we dive into the design process, choose a design challenge to focus
on­—either a current project or something you’re hoping to tackle in the
future. Think about a challenge that is human-centered—that is, it focuses
on people and their needs and experiences at your park or program.

THE PARK JOURNEY

One way of revealing interesting design

challenges is to consider a person’s
‘journey’ as they experience a new place,
product, or service. For a park, a visitor
journey might look something like this:

Become Arrive Navigate Enjoy Leave Stay

Aware Connected

Where do you see the biggest pain points

or opportunities for improvement?
EXAMPLE DESIGN CHALLENGES

- How can we raise awareness of parks

or programs and what they offer?

- How can we increase the sense of

stewardship for visitors at the park?

- H
 ow can we use the Park System as
a platform for education and civic
awareness?

- How can we better connect with the

communities that surround a park?

- How can we create a compelling

digital experience that integrates
with the physical experience?

- How can we build new partnerships

with agencies or organizations that do
not share our same mission?
INSPIRATION
3A. DESIGN RESEARCH

Design starts with research—to gain empathy and understanding,

to inspire new ideas, and to test our intuition.

RESEARCH METHODS

Here are a few great research methods

for you to try.

IMMERSE OBSERVE & INQUIRE

Put yourself in somebody else’s shoes Conduct observations and in-context

to experience a key moment firsthand. interviews with a variety of end users.
Look for opportunities to improve the Speak to ‘extreme users’ who provide
experience. unique perspectives and are often able
to articulate common needs more clearly
ex: To understand the challenges of access to because they feel them more strongly.
the parks, travel from an urban center to a
park via public transportation. ex: Interview a park visitor at the park, a
neighbor in their home, or a local business.
For an extreme perspective, interview your
most active volunteer at their duty station, or
somebody who has never been to the park.
LOOK IN FIND ANALOGOUS INSPIRATION

Understand the perspectives of key Look at how similar challenges are

stakeholders within the organization. addressed in analogous situations—
outside the world of parks and green
ex: Interview a policy-maker, administrator, spaces.
or a visitor contact specialist connected to
the park. ex: To think about wayfinding, go to an
amusement park or museum and note what
they’re doing well.

For prompts to plan your research, see the worksheet

ACTIVITY A: RESEARCH PLANNING
INSPIRATION
3B.OBSERVE & INQUIRE

What people say they do and what they actually do are often
different. We learn by talking to people, and by observing them in
their natural context—to understand the full picture of the person.

INTERVIEW TIPS
BREAK AWAY FROM THE NORM ASK OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS

The most important part of observation Instead of asking yes/no or survey

& inquiry is to surprise yourself. Seek questions (for example, ‘do you like
people with perspectives you haven’t this park?’ or ‘how many times have
heard before, and meet up in their you visited?’) ask, ‘how do you feel
homes and workspaces rather than your about this park?’ or ‘how would you
turf. describe it to your friends?’ This is a
good way to hear opinions you didn’t
know to ask about.
START WITH RAPPORT

First, it’s important to get to know SKETCH TIME

the person you’re talking with. Age,
job, family situation. What do they do Ask people to draw their experience.
for work? For fun? You might spend Hand people a blank piece of paper,
a quarter of the interview getting to with instructions to ‘draw your day’
know them before shifting to more or ‘draw your relationship with this
targeted questions related to your park.’ Let people interpret as they see
design challenge. This will help you build fit, and get ready for some surprising
rapport, understand their needs, and put answers.
everything else in context.

GO FOR STORIES! SHOW ME

When people tell stories, they reveal new Ask people to show you things
things about themselves. A great way to physically: places, tools, artifacts and
learn unexpected things is to say, ‘Tell mementos. Use this to prompt new
me a story about a time when…’ directions in the conversation.
INTERVIEW DYNAMICS
The key to a successful interview is Roles include:
to get people feeling comfortable,
natural, and conversational. It’s - Lead interviewer: Introduces the
important that they don’t feel like team and asks majority of the
they’re being interrogated, or feel questions
outnumbered by their interviewers. - Scribe: Captures quotes,
stories, and interesting details
One way to establish good from the conversation
dynamics, and to get the most from -M  edia Maven: Captures photos,
every team member in the room, is videos, audio (after getting
to establish interview roles. permission)

INTERVIEW PLANNING

How many interviews? 3 - 12

How long should each interview be? 0:45 - 1:30
How many people from the design team? 2-3

Take these interview tips into account with the worksheet,

ACTIVITY B: INTERVIEW GUIDE
INSPIRATION
4. TELL STORIES

Storytelling is a powerful and efficient way to discover what’s important.

We reflect back on what we saw and heard, and what we interpret that
to mean.

WHY TELL STORIES?

Certain pieces stand out from others, and

we may not even know why at the time
we first tell them. Through storytelling,
our unconscious mind reveals important
issues and opportunities.

Stories are useful because they are

specific, not general. They provide
us with concrete details that help us
imagine solutions to specific problems.

Storytelling allows us to:

- Articulate what stands out
- Learn from each other—everyone
hears something different from a
conversation
- Recognize our own biases
 STORYTELLING TIPS

DO DON’T

- Be specific and descriptive - Generalize

- Capture quotes & stories - Judge
- Use your physical senses - Prescribe (they should, would,
- Separate your raw observations could...)
from your interpretations

EXAMPLE
Julia lives in a low-income “I don’t want to feel judged.
neighborhood in San Francisco. I don’t want people staring at
From her interview, a few quotes me. Around here there may be
stuck out for the emotional and problems, but I fit in.”
practical needs they revealed.
“I’ve never heard about these
“Parks are my therapy. I go to programs. I had no idea you had
escape, to get away from the a free shuttle. If you want to
drama... the amigos and pill reach people here, come to the
sellers on each block.” church, the soup kitchen, the
senior center.”
“The magic word is free.”
INSPIRATION / IDEATION
5. IDENTIFY THEMES

Synthesis is a process of moving from concrete observations and stories

to more abstract themes that span across groups of people.
Identifying important themes from our research is foundational work
that points to opportunities for design.

WHAT DO THEMES LOOK LIKE?

Synthesis is a messy process, and can be

quite unsettling because you don’t know
where you’ll end up or how long it will
take you to get there.

The first step of synthesis is grouping

your research outputs into themes and
patterns—clusters of observations,
quotes, and stories that reveal a common
insight or opportunity.

For example, a theme across many

interviews may be ‘lack of awareness of
program offerings’, or how ‘people use
the parks as an escape from the daily
challenges of life.’
THEME TIPS

PUT YOUR NOTES ASIDE CLUSTER POST-ITS

As a team, walk away from We recommend using a lot of

your notes and reflect. What post-it notes during synthesis. If
are the top 3 takeaways? What you’ve written one observation,
surprised you most? How would quote, or story per post-it note,
you summarize what you learned then you can easily cluster into
from the interviews? Have each themes. Take a look at each
team member jot down their cluster, and write a statement
takeaways, then share. This works that captures its essence.
particularly well at the end of a
day of research, over a drink or a
walk in the park.
INSPIRATION / IDEATION
6. FRAME THE QUESTION

The goal of ideation is to generate as many ideas as possible.

The first step is framing questions that build from the research
themes, and provide focus and inspiration for new ideas.

HOW MIGHT WE...

HMW TIPS

First, we look back through our BE HUMAN-CENTERED

research themes. Each theme may
prompt several brainstorm questions.
The HMW should focus on a
human need or experience.
A good brainstorm question can be
answered in many ways, is human- Bad example: ‘HMW use more
centered, is not too broad, and is technology in the parks?’ This
not too specific. We start brainstorm is pushing solutions rather than
questions with the words ‘How might responding to needs.
we’ (or HMW) to give a sense of
optimism and possibility. How to fix this: Think about what
human need you’re trying to address
Building from the themes above, in this question. This might lead you
to, ‘HMW allow people to connect
‘HMW increase awareness of the
the parks to their digital lifestyles?’
park’s offerings in urban areas?’
‘HMW make parks a better place to
escape to?’

You’ll want at least 5 HMW questions

for brainstorming—but challenge
yourself to generate dozens and pick
the best few from there.
NOT TOO BROAD NOT TOO SPECIFIC

If a HMW is too broad, it’s hard If it’s too specific, then there’s less
for people to know where to opportunity for new or innovative
start. ideas.

Bad example: ‘HMW save the world?’ Bad example: ‘HMW plant more
It’s an interesting philosophical trees?’ The answer is embedded in
question, but feels overwhelming. the question.

How to fix this: Ask yourself what is How to fix this: Ask yourself why
the problem you’re trying to solve in you’re suggesting this answer. The
this question. Draw upon the research broader question might be ‘HMW
themes. increase our green space?’ or
‘HMW get the community involved
in maintaining the parks?’ Either
of those questions opens up new
possibilities.
IDEATION
7. BRAINSTORM

Now it’s idea time! This is a time for divergent thinking­—be wild,
put constraints aside, and generate as many ideas as possible.
The time for analytical thinking will come, but not quite yet.

THE RULES OF BRAINSTORMING

To many people, brainstorming is

synonymous with an undisciplined
conversation. We’ve found that
conducting a really good brainstorm
involves lots of discipline and takes a
fair amount of preparation. Here are our
rules for effective brainstorming:

DEFER JUDGMENT There are no bad ideas at this point!

ENCOURAGE WILD IDEAS It’s the wild ideas that often provide
breakthrough insights!
BUILD ON THE IDEAS OF OTHERS Think ‘and’ rather than ‘but.’

STAY FOCUSED ON TOPIC  ou get better quality output if

Y
everyone is disciplined.
ONE CONVERSATION AT A TIME That way all ideas can be heard and
built upon.
BE VISUAL Try to engage the left and right sides
of the brain.
GO FOR QUANTITY Set an outrageous goal and surpass it!
BRAINSTORM PLANNING

How much time? 45-60 minutes per session

15-30 minutes per brainstorm question
How many ideas? Shoot for 100+ ideas in a session
How many people? 6-10
Who?  eyond your core design team, invite people with
B
fresh perspectives. Maybe even the people you’re
designing for!
IDEATION
8. PROTOTYPE

After selecting top ideas, we prototype. Prototyping is a great way to

communicate a concept with minimal investment, and get feedback.
Prototypes allow you to quickly identify what may need to be refined.

WHAT IS A PROTOTYPE?

Prototypes are the first rough The key to prototyping is to be quick

representations of ideas. They provide and dirty—exploring a range of ideas
people with something concrete to lightly without becoming too invested
react to. in only one. From there, we start to
imagine the stories and scenarios
Prototypes can represent products, around ideas.
spaces, services, experiences, tools,
roles, processes, communications, and Solicit feedback from customers
more. or end users: What did you like?
What questions do you have? What
During prototyping, we ‘build to suggestions for improvement? Refine
think’—using the process to develop an your prototype based on this feedback.
idea more deeply.

‘Build to think’ Prototyping an experience

Prototyping a space Prototyping a communication

HOW CAN WE RAPIDLY PROTOTYPE DIFFERENT IDEAS?

Product Build a rough object, using whatever materials

you have on hand­—cardboard, clay, wood, foam,
pipe cleaners, etc.
Space Build a new space or a model of a space,
with quick lightweight materials. Add design
touchpoints (such as signage, furniture,
interactions) to an existing space.
Service or experience Act out key moments or interactions in a skit or
video. Draw them in a storyboard or a comic strip.
Role Write a job description. Put together a uniform.
Hold a 15-minute training. Role-play a behavior,
or ask somebody to act out the role for an hour
or a day.
Tool or process Draw a map of the steps, and act out how each
step would happen. Create a communication
of the process. Mock up a tool on paper. Write
prompts and directions.
Communication Create a mock ad or campaign—print, radio,
video, etc.

Move from idea to prototype plan with the worksheet,

ACTIVITY C: PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT
IMPLEMENTATION
9. INTRODUCE EXPERIMENTS

Introducing a new idea as an experiment allows you to test its

viability and let others see what’s possible.

WHY EXPERIMENT?

Experimentation is a form of getting

feedback.

People generally like to ‘try before they

buy.’ By introducing your new idea as
an experiment, you give people the
chance to co-develop the idea and get
interested in it. Your idea will nearly
always be improved upon by the people
who are part of the experiment.

Change is often unwelcome, so find a

‘friendly’ way to test your idea. Enlist
people who are already trying to fix
things in your park or program to
participate in your experiment. Once
they’ve shown that your idea does lead
to improvement, then test the idea
with more skeptical people. Come up
with some simple measures that show
others how the idea is working.
EXPERIMENT TIPS

ADDRESS THE RISKS TRY MULTIPLES

Based on what you learned Introduce multiple variations

in prototyping, identify the on your idea simultaneously so
biggest risks of your idea. Use people understand that some
experiments to address these risks ideas will fail.
head-on, and work through the
challenges.

START SMALL STICK WITH IT

Scale your experiment down and Don’t let people kill your idea
keep it simple—start with an on the first try—if they say your
hour, a single customer, a single idea didn’t work, ask them why
shift. and get suggestions for how to
improve the next round. Then
get them to try it with their
suggestions incorporated.

Think through goals, challenges, and partners for experiments with

ACTIVITY D: EXPERIMENT PLANNING
IMPLEMENTATION
10. SPREAD

Organizations frequently talk about ‘rolling out’ a new idea after figuring
out a way to get ‘buy-in’ from employees. We believe that things spread
best when people want something and actively seek it out.

SPREAD TIPS

EXTEND THE TEAM LEVERAGE STORIES

Empower a few passionate S end out a few memorable stories

people to act as local ‘idea about the impact of your idea on
ambassadors.’ a customer or employee.

PROVIDE TOOLS MEASURE

 reate ‘kits’ that help

C Along with the new idea, give
ambassadors easily communicate people tools to measure its
and replicate the new ideas. impact.
NEXT STEPS
STARTING MONDAY MORNING

Sometimes, the hardest thing about innovation is getting started.

Here are some ways to introduce a few of the key innovation methods
into your daily work before launching into the entire process.

TRY THIS.

Bring the design process into every aspect of

your work!
TELL STORIES INVESTIGATE ANALOGOUS SETTINGS

S tart every meeting with a story T ake field trips to local places such as
about a good or bad service hardware stores, train stations, hotels.
experience. Ask ‘how might we take Encourage discussion about what ideas
the lessons from this story to help us you might borrow from another industry.
improve what we do?’

ENCOURAGE COLLABORATION EXPERIENCE A ROLE FIRST-HAND

Bring a cross-functional team  bserve or walk in the shoes of a

O
together to solve a problem that colleague or customer. Make sure others
spans functions and levels of the on your team have time for this.
organization. Serve them great food.

PROTOTYPE INTRODUCE & ENCOURAGE

EXPERIMENTS
 ring paper, markers, tape, and
B
scissors to your next meeting, and Make excursions into the marketplace
design a rough solution before the with your prototypes. Have your
meeting ends. Appoint someone to customers help you refine the concepts.
get feedback outside of the meeting.
Icons from The Noun Project.