Design West Michigan, in conjunction with Steelcase and Kendall College of Art & Design, hosted Tom Kelley, general manager of IDEO, for a evening focused on Design Thinking.
Mr. Kelley’s presentation, “3 Steps to Design Thinking”, was lively, engaging, and thought provoking. Here are a few of my take-aways.
Step 1
Start with Empathy
“The real act of discovery consists not of finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes. — Marcel Proust
The act of human centered design begins with seeing the world from a new perspective, and empathy is how you gain that new perspective.
Seeing with fresh eyes.
Mr. Kelley reminded us our employers hired us because of a specific skill, which is great, but not always sufficient for seeing a problem with a fresh set of eyes. Bringing multiple disciplines together to solve complex problems widens our perspective and allows us to see the challenge from a new perspective.
Step 2
Treat Life as an Experiment
Creating an environment that discourages the fear of failure allows for people to take the risk of being innovative.
Step 3
Leverage the Power of Storytelling
Referencing the book “Made to Stick”, Kelley spells out 6 keys to crafting a compelling story.
- Keep it simple.
- Introduce the unexpected.
- Use concrete reference points.
- Build credibility.
- Keep it emotionally engaging.
- Craft it in a story format.
Wrapping it up
Start with empathy, experiment all the time, and leverage the power of storytelling and you’ll be well on your way building an innovation centered strategy.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
