What is the first step you take when you want to tackle a complex problem for a patient? Perhaps you start brainstorming solutions, or maybe you think about the resources you can put toward the problem. Have you ever slowed down to think first about the user’s needs, experiences, and goals? Welcome to design thinking!
Design thinking is a team-based problem-solving process that can be applied to a wide variety of fields and complex situations. Design thinking incorporates well-defined stages to produce insights that lead to solutions that address problems the team has identified as user pain points. One key defining factor of design thinking is that the user’s needs and experiences are kept at the forefront of the problem-solving process from the initial stages.