Master the Fundamentals of Design Thinking: A Beginner’s Gateway to Innovation

In his book The Sciences of the Artificial, Herbert Simon introduced what we now call design thinking. Since then, many works have explored how the approach applies to all kinds of business models. A modern poster-child for design thinking is Apple, Inc. Consider two questions:

· Did you feel you needed an iPod before Apple created it?

· Did you feel you needed an iPhone before Apple created it?

Apple’s early-2000s success did not rest on inventing unheard-of products. Dozens of firms made quality cell phones before the iPhone, and plenty of MP3 players existed before the iPod.

Yet, once Apple entered the market, earlier options faded. Why? Apple grasped unspoken customer needs—perhaps even shaping those needs by unveiling the product itself. How?

How can we solve a problem customers do not yet recognize until we place the solution in their hands?

The Five Phases of Design Thinking

Design thinking unfolds in five phases:

· Empathize

· Define

· Ideate

· Prototype

· Test

The list blends skills: “prototype” and “test” echo engineering, while “empathize” and “ideate” draw on psychology and social research.

Phase 1 — Empathize

Empathizing sets design thinking apart. Most models try to learn what clients want; few do so relationally. Simon Sinek’s Start With Why makes a similar point: people buy the reason behind a product, not just the product. Apple understood the desire to belong to a movement, not simply to own hardware. While competitors chased margins, Apple led with mission, and sales followed.

Phase 2 — Define (The Problem)

Defining the problem is critical. Many creators treat problems as nouns; problems are verbs. If a girl strains to reach a cookie jar, observers list “needs”: a cookie, an adult, a ladder, milk. The real need is to reach. Solve the reaching, and you solve every future reach. After empathizing, frame the true verb behind the user’s unspoken need.

Phase 3 — Ideate

Ideation—generating possible answers to unspoken customer needs—can begin only after empathy has revealed those needs and the problem is clearly framed. Should we address it with a product, a service, or a relationship? By extending our business model into new retail or support channels? As an operations manager, I discovered that my unspoken failure toward colleagues lay in focusing on problems, not on people. When nothing broke, I assumed my job was done. In reality, I needed to spend time with them, learn their workflows well enough to spot trouble before it surfaced. This human-centered lens must privilege the experience of every user—customer, employee, or client.

Phase 4 — Prototype

Prototyping is not limited to scale models or mock-ups; it also covers the rapid assembly of intangible frameworks—processes, policies, or service blueprints—that might solve the problem. Physical prototypes matter when the solution is tactile, but the broader goal is to test ideas safely before full commitment.

Phase 5 — Test

Testing is the final, and simplest, phase—yet design thinking is rarely linear. A prototype may send you back to ideation; a reframed problem may demand deeper empathy. Because the process loops, testing sometimes just confirms the last tweak; other times it reboots the entire journey. Staying fluid across all five phases is essential.

Conclusion

Creativity is about doing, not merely thinking. Design thinking invites playful action that alternates between process discipline and human empathy. Whether we serve coworkers or customers, all stakeholders are people seeking relief from friction. Solve the process while ignoring the person and frustration follows; lead with a solutions mindset and adoption is far more likely to last.

Further reading:

· 5 stages in the design-thinking process

· Stanford d.school virtual crash course

· Harvard Business Review primer on design thinking