Solving problems is a big aspect of a UX designer’s responsibilities. A variety of design concepts and mindsets may be used in contexts outside the purview of design. Designers are in a great position to assist since effective design is oriented on the requirements of individuals. Where did this idea originate, and how can Design Thinking be effective?
Wicked problems are global issues that, for a variety of reasons, are extremely challenging to solve. One of the biggest challenges has always been figuring out how to handle them. Dealing with vague, complicated, or unidentified problems requires the application of Design Thinking, a quasi, iterative approach.
The procedure, as its name implies, was developed in the field of design and was frequently used to solve design problems. In design, product, and development teams throughout the world, it is now extensively utilised.
Design thinking helps you to:
- Identify users
- Recontextualize problems with a focus on people.
- Challenge the underpinning presumptions.
- understand problems
- Develop novel solutions quickly for testing and prototyping.
The Design Thinking Process typically consists of five major stages:
- Empathise
- Define
- Ideate
- Prototype
- Test
These processes aren’t always sequential since new information often necessitates going back and repeating earlier ones.
The process will frequently need to be repeated since complicated design problems are special and difficult in their own way. We can see that wicked problems can frequently resemble complicated design problems if we go back to our first explanation of wicked problems. Incomplete components and complicated interdependencies define both wicked problems and complex design problems, which are both distinctive and innovative, challenging to solve, or perhaps impossible.
How to Apply Design Thinking to Wicked Problems
When Design Thinking is used to solve a problem a quick iteration approach may look something like this:
- Analyse your users’ wants and empathise.
Empathizing is the first step in the design thinking process. This entails learning about and comprehending the demands of your consumers. There is a need to study the critical user groups when it comes to thinking effectively about how to solve a problem.
In this situation, one-on-one interviews would probably be the most effective analytic method. The objective would be to understand the circumstances of the users, in particular their precise wants, pain areas, and blocks.
- Identify the demands and problems of your users.
Determining the requirements and problems of the users comes next. This knowledge will assist in determining the many fundamental reasons for the wicked problems.
Understanding user wants and problems in-depth is a crucial component of the Design Thinking Process, and by the end of step two, you need to be well aware of both them and their underlying causes.
- Create ideas by challenging presumptions.
The following step is ideation, which entails questioning the premises behind the wicked problem and coming up with several solutions.
A premise to be contested in this instance may be the help and resources required to address the underlying causes of a problem. Ideas to refute such presumptions would be developed using the design thinking process may include:
- Partnership
- Brainstorming
- Campaign execution
- Project awareness
- Prototype—Begin developing solutions
A template for establishing a collaboration with a tutoring organisation would resemble this:
- Establishing contacts
- Collaboration with key stakeholders
It would be time to evaluate the efficacy of this approach when it has been developed as part of the prototype.
- Test — Deploy your solutions
After the prototype is implemented, both qualitative and quantitative evaluations of its effectiveness should be measured. If the programme gives the desired effect, more stakeholders may be added. Alternately, if it didn’t give the desired effect, we might go back to step four of the procedure and iterate on the pilot programme prototype or concentrate on a completely other approach.
Three key factors allow design thinking to be successfully applied to wicked problems.
First off, its focus on obtaining data during the empathise stage is beneficial for addressing a wicked problem with a solid plan of action and a thorough comprehension of the users, stakeholders, and interdependencies involved.
Second, given the distinct, intricate, and challenging nature of wicked problems, its quick iterative approach (empathise; define; ideate; prototype; test) is especially well adapted to them. This is because it promotes open-ended, imaginative thinking that results in a variety of ideas that may be tried quickly and/or concurrently.
Last but not least, Design Thinking emphasises the value of failing frequently since iterative processes rely heavily on rapid and inexpensive mistakes. Every setback ought to be a step closer to a solution.
This method of solving wicked issues is particularly helpful since it expedites learning and prevents resources from being squandered on expensive and lengthy failures.
