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Basic Design Lecture 1

The document outlines the five stages of the design thinking process: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. Each stage focuses on understanding user needs, defining problems, generating ideas, creating solutions, and testing those solutions iteratively. It emphasizes that the process is non-linear, allowing stages to occur in parallel or be repeated as needed.

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3 views

Basic Design Lecture 1

The document outlines the five stages of the design thinking process: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. Each stage focuses on understanding user needs, defining problems, generating ideas, creating solutions, and testing those solutions iteratively. It emphasizes that the process is non-linear, allowing stages to occur in parallel or be repeated as needed.

Uploaded by

danielrotimiolulesho
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Couse Tittle: BASIC DESIGN

INTRODUCTION TO DESIGN PROCESS


COURSE CODE: ARC 106

Dr. Patrick C. Uwajeh

Department of Architecture
The 5 Stages in the Design Thinking Process
The five stages of design thinking, according to the
d.school, are:

Empathize: research your users' needs.


Define: state your users' needs and problems.
Ideate: challenge assumptions and create ideas.

Prototype: start to create solutions.

Test: try your solutions out.


Stage 1: Empathize—Research Your Users' Needs
The first stage of the design thinking process focuses on user-centric research. You want to gain an
empathic understanding of the problem you are trying to solve. Consult experts to find out more
about the area of concern and conduct observations to engage and empathize with your users.
You may also want to immerse yourself in your users’ physical environment to gain a deeper,
personal understanding of the issues involved—as well as their experiences and motivations.
Empathy is crucial to problem solving and a human-centered design process as it allows design
thinkers to set aside their own assumptions about the world and gain real insight into users and
their needs.
Stage 2: Define—State Your Users' Needs and Problems
In the Define stage, you will organize the information you have gathered during the
Empathize stage. You’ll analyze your observations to define the core problems you and
your team have identified up to this point. Defining the problem and problem statement
must be done in a human-centered manner.
Stage 3: Ideate—Challenge Assumptions and Create Ideas
During the third stage of the design thinking process, designers are ready to generate
ideas. You’ve grown to understand your users and their needs in the Empathize stage,
and you’ve analyzed your observations in the Define stage to create a user centric
problem statement. With this solid background, you and your team members can start to
look at the problem from different perspectives and ideate innovative solutions to your
problem statement.
Stage 4: Prototype—Start to Create Solutions
The design team will now produce a number of inexpensive, scaled down versions of the
product (or specific features found within the product) to investigate the key solutions
generated in the ideation phase. These prototypes can be shared and tested within the team
itself, in other departments or on a small group of people outside the design team.
Stage 5: Test—Try Your Solutions Out
Designers or evaluators rigorously test the complete product using the best solutions
identified in the Prototype stage. This is the final stage of the five-stage model; however, in an
iterative process such as design thinking, the results generated are often used to redefine one
or more further problems. This increased level of understanding may help you investigate the
conditions of use and how people think, behave and feel towards the product, and even lead
you to loop back to a previous stage in the design thinking process. You can then proceed with
further iterations and make alterations and refinements to rule out alternative solutions. The
ultimate goal is to get as deep an understanding of the product and its users as possible.
Did You Know Design Thinking is a
Non-Linear Process?

It is important to note the five stages of


design thinking are not always
sequential. They do not have to follow a
specific order, and they can often occur
in parallel or be repeated iteratively. The
stages should be understood as different
modes which contribute to the entire
design project, rather than sequential
steps.
Dam, R. F. (2023, October 16). The 5 Stages in the Design
Thinking Process. Interaction Design Foundation - IxDF.
https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/5-stages-
in-the-design-thinking-process

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