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Getting Started with Design Thinking: A Guide to the 5 Phases
- Nabilah Tai
- Jun 5
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 26
You may have heard of the term design thinking. The question is, do you know what it means exactly? If you are wondering how you can use design thinking for good, you have come to the right place. Bonus, we have a special template just for you!
For starters, design thinking is a human-centered problem-solving approach that is built on user needs. Grounded in empathy, it seeks to understand and meet the needs of customers to develop innovative solutions. It is a non-linear, iterative process, meaning a set of steps is constantly repeated to refine an idea, product, or process.
5 Phases of Design Thinking
Empathise
The “Empathise” stage can be seen as the heart or fundamental phase of design thinking, where designers put themselves in the shoes of their target audience to truly understand their needs. This is exactly what makes the design thinking process stand out. Empathizing may sound straightforward, but in practice, it can be the most difficult phase in design thinking. To give an example, a design thinker working in the US may find it difficult to fully understand the needs of a subsistence farmer working in the sub-Saharan desert.
That is why empathizing involves conducting extensive research to debunk any misleading assumptions, conducting participant observations on site, and possibly interacting with the target audience personally to empathize with their daily challenges and lived experiences. Nevertheless, people may not always articulate their thoughts and feelings, so one needs to make deeper behavioral observations to go beyond the surface.
Define
The “Define” stage is similar to unpacking, where it is crucial to reflect upon the insights gained from the “Empathise” stage. Simply put, it encapsulates your observations and understanding to form a single user-centric problem statement.
Start your statements with a focus on the target audience. Instead of “We need to…”, try “Subsistence farmers in the sub-Saharan desert need/want…”. Additionally, it will be helpful to emphasise how the problem can be tackled through the solution.This problem identification will be the key stepping stone and guide for the subsequent steps.
Ideate
The “Ideation” stage can be seen as the body of the design thinking framework. It includes brainstorming potential solutions according to the problem statement and challenging assumptions. It is a judgment-free zone, where each and every idea is welcomed no matter how out of the box. The focus is on innovation and not perfection, originality and not feasibility. A tip to maximise the potential of ideation: use creative frameworks like SCAMPER to stimulate those creative juices!
Prototype
Prototyping can include mockups, visual representations, storyboards, or even a role-play of your idea that others can understand. It is also resource-efficient and time-saving to prototype quickly using minimal materials, allowing you to move on to the next stage of testing without wasting too much time on a single prototype. When prototyping, keep in mind that non-attachment is key: don’t be too fixated on a single solution. Rather, stay open to the possibility of exploring other methods.
Test
The “Test” stage will allow you to solidify and make refinements to your existing idea. Going through multiple rounds of prototyping is not of any use without real consumer feedback. Soliciting feedback will help you uncover loopholes or issues that were visible to the end user but invisible to you. It is time to shift your focus to feasibility, viability, and sustainability so that you can ultimately make a long-lasting impact on your target audience.
Get Started with Design Thinking
To get the ball rolling, you don’t need to go through each of the five phases (Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test) step by step. Remember that design thinking is a non-linear process, and the five phases are only meant to serve as a guide.
Start by identifying a cause you are passionate about, and then dive deeper into the specific target groups and issues. Most importantly, let your imagination flow and enjoy the process. The first time isn’t always the charm, so repeat, refine, redevelop, and be receptive to feedback from others. Be prepared to adapt, modify, or even skip some of the steps in the design thinking framework based on the specific problem you are addressing.
Lastly, it is crucial to understand that design thinking is more of a mindset than a method. And like always, practice makes progress. We have in store MTC’s DT template which you can use to practice the art of design thinking.
Download your copy to get started:
