Design thinking is a creative problem-solving approach. It is a cyclical process of understanding and redefining problems to find solutions that are not always obvious. It often uses hands-on, collaborative methods that other problem-solving approaches do not.

The typical flow of design thinking has 5 steps

1. Empathize: understand the problem you’re trying to solve, and the needs of the people you’re targeting

2. Define: use your findings from step 1 to write a clear problem statement

3. Ideate: come up with potential solutions - lot’s of them! Think outside the box and take different perspectives on the problem statement. Try not to get stuck on one idea, or why ideas might not work.

4. Prototype: experiment with your ideas by making a physical (or digital) mock-up. Get a feel for what the solution looks like in the real world.

5. Test: take your prototype to the users (who you empathized with in step 1), to find out if it works for them. Use your findings to fine-tune the idea, or go back to the drawing board if necessary.

These 5 steps are not linear - they’re more like 5 different tools that can (and should) be used whenever they are relevant. Perhaps after you Prototype, you should revisit the problem you Defined, then after Testing you might need to use Empathize again to understand any users you missed in the first round.

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