design thinking resumen

Qué es el design thinking, definición, características y usos

Actualizado: 29 de febrero de 2024

Publicado: 10 de mayo de 2022

¿Alguna vez has pensado cómo hicimos volar un avión?

Es una pregunta bastante complicada de responder, pero ¡vaya que fue posible de lograr! A lo largo de la historia, hemos encontrado soluciones a diversos tipos de problemas de formas inimaginables. Así también se alcanzaron los éxitos más grandes del mercado y los modelos de negocio más disruptivos, como Amazon, Netflix y Apple.

Aquí te hablaré sobre una de las mejores vías para innovar: el design thinking o pensamiento de diseño.

Qué es design thinking

• Historia del design thinking

Para qué sirve el design thinking

Cómo puede ayudar a tu negocio el design thinking, características del design thinking.

• Las etapas del design thinking
• Los 4 pasos esenciales del design thinking

Herramientas para el design thinking

• 3 usos del design thinking en acción

El design thinking, o pensamiento de diseño, es un proceso de trabajo que ayuda a los equipos a desarrollar su creatividad. A pesar de que fue desarrollado en torno al diseño, permite llegar a ideas innovadoras en otras áreas como los modelos de negocio, el marketing, los productos e incluso la educación.

Se basa en un enfoque colaborativo y creativo que incluye la empatía, la definición del problema, la generación de ideas, la prototipación y la experimentación. Esta metodología se utiliza en una amplia gama de contextos, desde el diseño de productos y servicios hasta la estrategia empresarial y el desarrollo social.

• Fomenta la innovación.
• Se centra en las necesidades del usuario.
• Promueve la colaboración multidisciplinaria.
• Proporciona un enfoque iterativo para la resolución de problemas.

Desventajas

• Necesidad de tiempo.
• Se necesitan recursos para implementarse adecuadamente.
• Posibilidad de sesgos en el proceso de empatía.
• Dificultad para medir el éxito de las soluciones generadas.

Historia del desing thinking

Design thinking nació desde el diseño participativo, el diseño centrado en el usuario, el diseño de servicio y el diseño con visión humana. El término puede rastrearse hasta 1987, con el libro  Design Thinking  del profesor Peter G. Rowe , que estaba enfocado en arquitectura y planificación urbana. El diseñador  Rolf A. Faste  desarrolló este concepto y aseveró que se trata de un método de acción creativa que va más allá de una sola disciplina.

Fue en la Universidad de Stanford donde el Design Thinking comenzó a tomar forma gracias al trabajo de David Kelley, fundador de la firma de diseño IDEO, y de Terry Winograd, profesor de ciencias de la computación. En 2005, Kelley y su hermano Tom, también cofundador de IDEO, fundaron el Instituto de Diseño de Hasso Plattner (HPI) en la Universidad de Stanford, donde se estableció un programa de maestría en Design Thinking.

El Design Thinking se convirtió en una metodología popular en el ámbito empresarial gracias a su enfoque centrado en el usuario y su capacidad para generar soluciones innovadoras a problemas complejos. Desde entonces, ha sido adoptado por empresas de todo el mundo, así como por organizaciones sin fines de lucro y gubernamentales, como una herramienta efectiva para la innovación y la resolución de problemas.

El design thinking permite construir ideas innovadoras al resolver problemas poco definidos o particularmente desafiantes, así como al orientarse hacia las soluciones. Además, es un medio para generar mayor valor al usuario en los productos y servicios.

Gran parte del éxito de un negocio depende de la capacidad de sus equipos para entender las necesidades de los clientes y crear soluciones innovadoras en consecuencia. El design thinking es un método que se utiliza para llegar a estas soluciones, y también ayuda a:

• Observar detenidamente al público objetivo , así como empatizar con sus necesidades y preferencias:  una de las claves para el éxito de cualquier proyecto está en comprender a las personas hacia las que está encaminado, tanto como  buyer personas  como en cada cliente en particular.
• Encaminar el sentido en las peticiones de los clientes:  reconocer lo que sustenta cada petición es vital para crear un plan.
• Rediseñar los problemas con una visión humana:  a menudo, solemos pensar los problemas desde una perspectiva técnica. Design thinking ayuda a poner el foco en las personas.
• Adoptar un enfoque de alto involucramiento al hacer prototipos y pruebas:   logra que los equipos estén inmersos y comprometidos para aplicar los hallazgos en un proceso.
• Simplificar los procesos:  un pensamiento de diseño ayuda a encontrar el hilo en situaciones complejas, y así reducir los pasos para llegar a un fin.
• Reinventar modelos de negocio:  cuando un modelo de negocio está agotado o el mercado se ha transformado, podrás orientar las soluciones en el nuevo entorno.
• Mediar la visión de diversas partes interesadas:  es común que en un solo proyecto convivan visiones distintas, por lo que el design thinking ayuda a encontrar el equilibrio y a buscar un compromiso entre estos puntos de vista.
• Mejorar la experiencia de los usuarios :  al adoptar un enfoque en el usuario final, el design thinking puede ayudar a optimizar cada una de sus interacciones con el producto.

Normalmente, para implementarlo,  se conforman equipos de trabajo multidisciplinarios que aportan ideas diversas.

El consejo de Andrea Cohen, Field Marketing Manager en HubSpot El Design Thinking nos brinda la capacidad de adaptarnos rápidamente, centrarnos en las necesidades reales de las personas y desarrollar soluciones creativas y efectivas.

1. Pone al usuario en el centro

Como puedes ver al conocer sus fases, el design thinking toma como principal pilar a las personas que usarán el producto o el servicio que resulta de todo el proceso. Porque, si no le sirve ni aporta valor a la gente que lo comprará, ¿cuál es el caso de crearlo en primer lugar? Por eso es tan importante que  la empatía sea el arranque .

2. Busca que el proceso sea divertido

Gracias a las diferentes herramientas que utiliza y la forma en que involucra a usuarios, equipos y creadores, el design thinking está hecho para la innovación sea como un juego, no una serie de pasos rígidos. Cada empresa encontrará las actividades que mejor funcionan para ella , y en ocasiones los intercambiará en función de un proyecto en particular. Así, no se convierte en un trayecto aburrido, sino en uno que cambie y se adapte a las necesidades de quien lo utiliza.

3. Da pie a la colaboración constructiva

Trabajar en equipo puede ser caótico, pero el design thinking desea que todos los involucrados tengan una aproximación distinta a él. No se trata de competir con la persona de junto, sino  crear una sinergia que aproveche las cualidades de todos para un bien común: crear un producto o servicio valioso . En lugar de desechar una idea, se discute y se buscan alternativas que la nutran para mejorarla o llevarla por otra dirección más conveniente.

4. Se impulsa con la curiosidad y la creatividad

Todas las personas tenemos un lado creativo. La diferencia está en que no siempre está en las mismas tareas o no se expresa de la misma manera. Por ejemplo, las personas suelen identificar la creatividad con las artes (música, literatura, cine, etc.), cuando en realidad es una habilidad que se utiliza en todo lo que hacemos, desde cómo preparar una comida con los tres ingredientes que quedan en el refrigerador hasta la manera en que un ingeniero crea un algoritmo para hacer más eficiente el análisis de datos.

Y toda creatividad nace de la curiosidad. Una pregunta puede ser el catalizador de un nuevo producto. Lo importante es mantenerla viva para que la otra siga funcionando.

5. Permite las iteraciones

Lo dijimos más arriba: si tienes que fallar más de una vez para alcanzar la solución perfecta, entonces hazlo. El design thinking te da espacio para repetir, las ocasiones que sean necesarias, el proceso para  eliminar errores y explorar otros caminos , especialmente cuando es la primera vez que implementas esta herramienta.

Etapas del design thinking

Esta primera fase es la clave para completar las siguientes. Se trata de poner atención al público que deseas dirigirte para que comprendas sus necesidades, sus problemas y cómo afectan su vida cotidiana. Puedes utilizar entrevistas o convocar a la participación de grupos de personas que representan al segmento que deseas ofrecer tu nuevo producto o servicio. De esa forma,  escucharás de viva voz los aspectos que deberás considerar para realmente crear algo que genere un valor real en la gente .

Se trata de que logres ponerte en los zapatos de los demás y entiendas las razones detrás de sus peticiones. Tus buyer personas podrán ayudarte también en esta etapa, en caso de que no tengas la oportunidad de programar interacciones directas, por lo que no debes dejar fuera una investigación profunda sobre los perfiles que se beneficiarán con tu producto o servicio.

2. Definición

Gracias al trabajo que realizas en la primera fase, tendrás información y datos muy valiosos que te ayudarán a encontrar la forma de definir el problema que vas a resolver. Es decir, que gracias a la fase de empatía, en este momento podrás analizar el material que tienes y te darás cuenta de que hay ciertos obstáculos que se repiten o que se presentan constantemente.

Eso te permite  crear hipótesis y posibles soluciones , comenzando a clasificar esas oportunidades que puedes aprovechar para tu siguiente innovación. 

Ahora es momento de observar esas hipótesis y soluciones posibles para lanzar ideas. En esta fase no existen las incorrectas porque lo importante es comenzar el proceso creativo. Lo más seguro es que lo primero que se te ocurra no sea lo más brillante ni original, pero será lo que te dará impulso para llegar a aquellas que serán valiosas. 

Implementa lluvias de ideas y un tablero para anotar lo que tú y tus equipos proponen , para así también identificar rápidamente aquellas que se repiten o son muy parecidas o, incluso, las que eventualmente serán descartadas por no ser convenientes.

4. Prototipo

Cuando elijas las ideas más valiosas, podrás decidir cuáles de ellas se convertirán en un prototipo. Es decir, si una o más pasarán a la siguiente fase, en la que se les da forma o una representación gráfica que las acerca a lo que podrían ser realmente. Dependiendo del tipo de producto o servicio, el  prototipo  es una maqueta, un mock-up de un artículo, un plano o un dibujo detallado de cómo funcionará. 

La función del prototipo es poner en evidencia qué tan sencillo es utilizar el producto o qué tan práctico puede ser el servicio que estás diseñando.  Por eso es buena idea que las personas que representan tu público objetivo lo conozcan, ya que sus comentarios aportan conclusiones que quizá no habías considerado por involucrarte en su creación.

5. Evaluación

El prototipo se pone en manos de una persona que podría utilizarlo en su día a día. Es alguien que no tiene tu mismo contexto, porque no es parte de tu equipo de design thinking, y, por lo tanto, tal vez le sea más complicado entender funciones, características o por qué un artículo tiene una forma en particular.

Así podrás hacer cambios pertinentes o ajustes antes de fabricar o lanzar un servicio que, si ignoras esta fase, no tendrá la misma aceptación por su dificultad o poca practicidad en su uso.

Ten en cuenta que, incluso, podría ser que en esta quinta fase descubras que es necesario repetir todo el proceso desde el principio, porque si hay errores en tu investigación, análisis de información y creación de ideas, tu prototipo no será el adecuado. Pero eso es lo maravilloso del design thinking:  está hecho para probar y fallar hasta que encuentres la solución ideal .

Tomando en cuanta las fases que ya mencionamos y las características que lo definen, ya podemos mencionar los pasos esenciales que te ayudarán a implementar el design thinking en tu empresa.

Los 4 pasos esenciales del design thinking

1. Identifica el problema y empatiza con tus clientes

La primera tarea será descubrir el problema principal a resolver del cliente y otros puntos de dolor. Recuerda utilizar la empatía para mirar desde el punto de vista del usuario o consumidor. 

Para desarrollar adecuadamente el proyecto, la comprensión es una de las actitudes que te permitirá reconocer mejor las necesidades de los usuarios. Para ello puedes utilizar un mapa de empatía:

Utiliza las herramientas cualitativas de investigación para indagar las necesidades y deseos a fondo. Un buen ejercicio es posicionarte en varios de los escenarios posibles dentro del contexto del cliente.

2. Explora diversas soluciones u oportunidades

Analiza los resultados y piensa en cuáles podrían ser las mejores soluciones que contribuirán cambiar la vida del cliente.

Junto a un equipo de trabajo puedes proponer una serie de ideas encaminadas a crear un diseño innovador que resuelva el problema inicial. Genera la mayor cantidad de ideas, pues entre más opciones tengas más rápido hallarás un buen resultado. Se vale de todo: por más extrañas que puedan parecer algunas ocurrencias, tómalas en cuenta. Utilizar el pensamiento lateral es uno de los mejores aliados para poner la mente a trabajar.

3. Diseña el producto o proyecto 

Filtra la información más relevante o útil que obtuviste con el análisis de empatía para identificar los principales problemas y concentrarte en el objetivo del diseño. Conjunta ideas con tus equipos para iniciar un  proceso iterativo de desarrollo > prototipo > prueba  hasta llegar al diseño ideal.

4. Lanza el producto al mercado y prueba su efectividad

Finalmente, presenta la solución al mercado; recibe y estudia los comentarios que se generen en torno al uso o consumo del producto para constatar su correcto funcionamiento, o bien para analizar sus fallas y hacer los cambios pertinentes. El feedback que obtengas te servirá para hallar nuevas formas de mejorar.

El consejo de Andrea Cohen, Field Marketing Manager en HubSpot El Design Thinking se basa en la colaboración, la experimentación y el pensamiento creativo para encontrar soluciones efectivas y centradas en el usuario.

1.  Formularios de Google

Imagen de Formularios de Google

Para la fase de empatía, los formularios son una gran herramienta que puede capturar información valiosa sobre tu público objetivo. O si estás por hacer mejoras a un producto o servicio que ya tienes, podrás hacer preguntas puntuales sobre esas características que sospechas debes optimizar.

Con los formularios de Google puedes crear las preguntas que necesitas y establecer respuestas abiertas o que la gente pueda elegir, si necesitas opiniones precisas. Una ventaja de estos formularios, es que además de que pueden responderse desde donde sea (aunque los usuarios no tengan correo de Gmail, por ejemplo), es que te ayuda a organizar las respuestas para que puedas analizarlas mejor, creando gráficas y hojas de cálculo útiles.

Dicho esto, no dudes en utilizarlos también cuando sea momento de probar el prototipo, para recopilar opiniones.

2.  Wisemapping

Imagen de Wisemapping

Los mapas mentales son muy útiles para clasificar información, que es básico para las fases de definición e idea en el design thinking. Wisemapping te da oportunidad de crearlos, según tus necesidades, sin que tengas que pagar, y que puedes compartir con las demás personas involucradas en el proceso.

3.  Prototyping on Paper de Marvel

Imagen de Prototyping on Paper

Para crear tus prototipos, lo más seguro es que no siempre tengas tiempo o recursos para hacer videos muy complicados. Por eso la app Marvel, hecha para la producción de prototipos en equipo, creó Prototyping on Paper, para que lo que haces en una libreta se transforme en una pieza interactiva para iPhone o Android (y también tienen app móvil para esos sistemas operativos).  

Entonces, recordemos:

Conoce algunos ejemplos que te mostrarán todo lo que puedes lograr con un buen proceso de design thinking.

3 usos del design thinking en acción

Con los siguientes ejemplos te podrás dar una idea de cómo otras empresas han obtenido los mejores resultados con el método de design thinking.

1. De librería virtual a la revolución del ecommercer: Amazon 

El caso de Amazon es un ejemplo de cómo el diseño no se limita a la creación de un producto, sino que también atiende a la función de brindar un servicio innovador.

Su creador, Jeff Bezos, al comienzo de su negocio realizó un listado de los productos de bajo coste que más demanda tenían y así llegó a la conclusión de que los libros eran un producto ideal.  Y esa fue la razón por la cual inició una venta de libros por internet .

Después de un análisis constante de mercado , Jeff se dio cuenta de otras demandas que acompañaban la venta de libros por internet y así añadió distintos productos como los CD, DVD, videojuegos, entre otros. 

Pronto Bezos notó los cambios de consumo que la gente tenía en sus compras por internet y decidió resolver y atender aquellos problemas de los consumidores. ¿Y qué podría ser más funcional que una tienda que vende de todo?  De esta forma, rápidamente se abrió camino hasta posicionarse como la tienda en línea más exitosa del mundo , y cambiaría el concepto de comprar y vender. 

Amazon no ha parado, y continúa rediseñando la estrategia del marketplace que no pierde de vista los hábitos, deseos, necesidades y sentimientos del cliente.

2. Tesla aceleró el cambio

A pesar de que la primera idea de un automóvil eléctrico surgió en el siglo XIX, no logró venderse a gran escala. Así como se pensó que un día el uso de los carruajes a caballo sería reemplazado muy pronto por carros a motor, entrado el siglo XXI se anunciaba la llegada del automóvil que funcionaría con energía recargable, a la vuelta de la esquina.

Y en efecto, las llamadas de cambios ecológicos comenzaron a ejercer presión para dejar de usar los motores a gasolina. Pero existía algo más que un estrato de la sociedad esperaba con esta innovación:  las características físicas (como la velocidad), estéticas y de comodidad que otros autos de lujo o deportivos ofrecían.

Entonces, fue la compañía Tesla quien supo atender los requerimientos más exigentes y ofrecer la tecnología del motor eléctrico de Silicon Valley que revolucionaría el mercado.

Así Tesla comenzó el proyecto para cumplir con el primer objetivo de ofrecer un automóvil deportivo premium para  «acelerar la transición del mundo hacia la energía sustentable» .

3. El secador de pelo Dyson Supersonic

El diseñador industrial británico James Dyson ha creado un secador con lo último de la tecnología disruptiva que ha conjuntado con un estilo minimalista para transformar múltiples electrodomésticos comunes. 

El secador se lanzó al mercado después de pasar por rigurosas pruebas con diferentes tipos de cabello. Dyson rediseñó el difusor y la boquilla con un control inteligente que regula mucho mejor el calor.

El proyecto de este producto duró cuatro años , durante los cuales pasó por 600 prototipos para finalmente presentar un secador con un motor digital liviano, pero con una velocidad 8 veces mayor que los convencionales.

¿Cómo aprovecharás el design thinking en tus procesos? ¡Transforma las necesidades de tu público en soluciones únicas! Si quieres ver  ejemplos de design thinking que te servirán de inspiración, consulta nuestra entrada .

Preguntas frecuentes del desing thinking

Qué beneficios puedo esperar al adoptar el design thinking en mi empresa.

Puedes esperar una serie de beneficios significativos. Estos incluyen una mayor capacidad para resolver problemas de manera creativa y efectiva, una mejor comprensión de las necesidades y deseos de tus clientes o usuarios, y la capacidad de innovar y desarrollar productos y servicios que realmente satisfagan esas necesidades. Además, el Design Thinking fomenta un enfoque centrado en el ser humano, lo que puede mejorar la experiencia del cliente y fortalecer la relación con tu audiencia.

Cuáles son las 5 etapas del Design Thinking

El Design Thinking sigue un proceso de cinco etapas: empatizar, definir, idear, prototipar y testear. Comienza con la comprensión profunda de las necesidades de los usuarios, pasa por la definición clara del problema, la generación de ideas creativas, la creación de prototipos simples y la prueba de estas soluciones con los usuarios.

Cuál es la etapa más importante del Design Thinking

Empatizar: se destaca por su importancia en la comprensión profunda de las necesidades, deseos y contextos de los usuarios. Este paso da las bases para el resto del proceso, permitiendo que las soluciones desarrolladas sean verdaderamente relevantes y significativas para quienes las utilizarán.

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Using Design Thinking to Craft a Tailored Resume

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By Ray Chen

Your resume is (most often) the first introduction a recruiter has to who you are and why you are applying for a job. It’s important to make sure the resume reflects not only your interests, experiences, and skills, but makes a strong case for why you are a great fit for each job you pursue. In this article, we’ll use the five key steps of design thinking to help you tailor your resume for the roles you are applying for.

Click on “View Resource” to read more.

• Planificación de proyectos |
• Design thinking paso a paso y cómo inco ...

Design thinking paso a paso y cómo incorporarlo en la empresa

Design thinking es una metodología de diseño de resolución de problemas que te permite desarrollar soluciones centradas en las personas. El método de design thinking o pensamiento de diseño se desarrolló inicialmente en la escuela de diseño de Stanford, y cuenta con cinco etapas que te permiten resolver situaciones ambiguas o problemas. Descubre cómo estos cinco pasos pueden ayudar a tu equipo a crear soluciones innovadoras para problemas complejos. Actualización 11/11/22: En esta actualización hemos añadido más trucos que te ayudarán a comprender cómo integrar el design thinking en tu empresa.

El design thinking aplicado a la resolución de problemas empresariales integra diversas herramientas, mapas mentales, procesos y técnicas de diseño junto a otras herramientas de las ciencias sociales o la ingeniería para identificar, definir y abordar los retos de los negocios, la innovación y responsabilidad social.

Como seres humanos, debemos lidiar con problemas todos los días. Pero, ¿cómo podemos encontrar soluciones eficaces a problemas cotidianos teniendo en cuenta siempre las necesidades de las personas?

Así es como comenzó la metodología de Design Thinking.

¿Qué es Design Thinking?

El proceso de pensamiento de diseño, más conocido como Design Thinking , es una metodología de diseño de resolución de problemas que te permite abordar problemas complejos mediante un marco centrado en el ser humano. Este enfoque funciona especialmente bien para los problemas que no están claramente definidos o resultan de mayor complejidad.

Esto finalmente llevó a Herbert Simon, ganador del premio Nobel, a delinear una de las primeras iteraciones del proceso de pensamiento de diseño en su libro de 1969, “Las ciencias de lo artificial”. Si bien existen muchas variaciones diferentes del proceso de Design Thinking, “Las ciencias de lo artificial” es a menudo considerada la base de este método.

Un enfoque de pensamiento de diseño no lineal

El proceso de Design Thinking no es un proceso lineal. Es importante comprender que cada etapa del proceso puede (y debe) proporcionar información para los demás pasos. Por ejemplo, mientras realizas pruebas de usuario podrías descubrir un nuevo problema que no surgió durante ninguna de las etapas anteriores. Puedes aprender más sobre tus perfiles objetivo durante la fase de prueba final, o descubrir que tu declaración inicial del problema puede ayudar a resolver aún más problemas, por lo que debes volver a definir la declaración para incluirlos también.

El proceso de pensamiento de diseño es un proceso iterativo interminable. Tu equipo de diseño puede elegir cuándo se satisfacen las necesidades del usuario para formar un producto final, o pueden optar por iterar en el diseño para crear variaciones alternativas que resuelvan las diferentes necesidades.

Para qué sirve el Design Thinking

La metodología de Design Thinking está claramente enfocada a la innovación, tanto en desarrollo de nuevos productos o servicios como para la mejora de la experiencia del usuario en distintas fases. No sólo es una metodología eficaz para descubrir nuevos insights y soluciones sino que también es un sistema eficaz para afrontar los distintos retos que han surgido en los últimos años a las empresas.

El Design Thinking puede ayudar en los procesos de gestión del cambio para lograr tratar con los tres factores presentes en cualquier proceso de cambio. la discrepancia, la pertinencia y la eficacia. Por medio del Design Thinking y de sus herramientas, las empresas son capaces de dotar de sentido a las estrategias y cambios. A través de mapas mentales y de otras herramientas visuales es posible que los miembros del equipo identifiquen, organicen, reúnan y prioricen la información.

El método de Design Thinking también sirve para resolver problemas de forma innovadora. Es una herramienta muy eficaz y utilizada en muchos proyectos de innovación social.

Rediseñar procesos de negocio o diseñar nuevos modelos de negocio. Las técnicas de Design Thinking se han utilizado también para la innovación en la creación de modelos de negocio. Esta metodología permite a los directivos cuestionar las distintas partes de la cadena de valor y explorar tácticas más imaginativas y creativas.

También se utiliza la metodología de Design Thinking para crear y emprender y es un método muy utilizado por startups de todo tipo.

Ventajas de la metodología Design Thinking

El proceso de Design Thinking no es la forma más intuitiva de resolver un problema, pero los resultados que se derivan de él valen la pena. A continuación, te presentamos algunas otras razones por las que merece la pena implementar el proceso de Design Thinking en tu equipo.

1. Impulsa a la acción

El design thinking tiene como motor principal la creación. Se trata de crear para experimentar y aprender. Empuja a los integrantes del equipo a ensuciarse las manos y experimentar. Las estrategias derivadas de un proceso de design thinking no son “estrategias de sillón”.

2. Pensamiento “outside the box”

Un design thinker se siente cómodo con el cambio y aprenderá a pensar fuera de los roles convencionales para, de esta forma, encontrar ideas innovadoras y creativas a problemas complejos. En Design Thinking se trata de descubrir nuevas metodologías y formas de enfrentarse a los problemas o necesidades reales de los usuarios. El método de Design Thinking te ayudará también a encontrar insights útiles para tu proyecto y es una metodología muy utilizada por algunos tipos de startups e incluso en proyectos de innovación social.

3. Se centra en la resolución de problemas

Como seres humanos, no hace falta que hagamos un esfuerzo por encontrar problemas. Dado que siempre hay una gran cantidad de problemas que resolver, estamos acostumbrados a resolverlos a medida que ocurren. La metodología de design thinking te obliga a ver los problemas desde muchos puntos de vista diferentes.

El proceso de pensamiento de diseño requiere que te centres en las necesidades y comportamientos humanos y en cómo crear una solución que satisfagan esas necesidades. Centrarte en la resolución de problemas puede ayudar a tu equipo de diseño a encontrar soluciones creativas para problemas complejos.

Por otra parte, al poner al usuario en el epicentro para solucionar el problema, la metodología de design thinking nos llevará a una experiencia de usuario mejor.

4. Centrado en las personas

El design thinking es antropocéntrico, se centra en los usuarios del producto o servicio y sus clientes. Por eso, muchas de las herramientas utilizadas en design thinking tienen que ver con la observación y la escucha. Se trata de entender las necesidades a veces insatisfechas, a veces, desconocidas y en otras, inexpresadas de sus usuarios. Un ejemplo útil de estas herramientas es la creación del buyer persona.

5. Fomenta la colaboración y el trabajo en equipo

El proceso de pensamiento de diseño no puede darse de manera aislada. Requiere muchos puntos de vista diferentes de diseñadores, futuros clientes y otras partes interesadas . Las sesiones de lluvia de ideas o brainstorming y la colaboración son la columna vertebral del proceso de pensamiento de diseño. Se trata, sin duda, de una metodología que propicia el pensamiento creativo entre el equipo.

6. Fomenta la innovación

El proceso de Design Thinking es un proceso de innovación, se centra en encontrar ideas innovadoras y soluciones creativas que satisfagan las necesidades humanas. Esto significa que tu equipo está buscando soluciones creativas para problemas hiperespecíficos y complejos. Si están resolviendo problemas únicos, entonces las soluciones que generen deben ser únicas también.

El carácter iterativo del proceso de Design Thinking hace que la innovación no tenga límites: tu equipo puede continuar actualizando la usabilidad de tu producto para garantizar que los problemas de tu público objetivo se resuelvan de manera efectiva. Por esta razón, la metodología de Design Thinking es utilizada con frecuencia en departamentos de Innovación de empresas y en startups .

7. Piensa en el futuro

Esta metodología intenta anticiparse y trabajar con el futuro y sus incertidumbres. El proceso de design thinking habitúa a sus integrantes a trabajar con la incertidumbre y lograr a pesar de todo soluciones a los problemas. 

8. Es iterativo

Se trata de un proceso que constante de mejora que incluye una definición, redefinición, y evaluación constantes. Por esta razón, el prototipado es un elemento clave en los procesos de design thinking

9. Reduce los riesgos

Al tratarse de un proceso iterativo, en design thinking se aprende constantemente de los errores. Como, además, en esta metodología se tienen en cuenta todos los factores: mercado, competidores, proveedores y clientes, es mucho más fácil reducir los posibles riesgos. 

10. Impulsa la creatividad empresarial

Las empresas que utilizan el design thinking ayudan a sus empleados a sentirse más inspirados, a cuestionarse las primeras soluciones a los problemas y les motiva para reflexionar más y cuestionar más. Por eso, es también muy útil para crear nuevos productos o experiencias.

Fases del Design Thinking

Actualmente, uno de los modelos más populares de Design Thinking es el propuesto por el Instituto de Diseño Hasso-Plattner (o “ d.school ”) de la Universidad de Stanford. La razón principal de su popularidad se debe al éxito que tuvo este proceso en empresas exitosas como Google, Apple, Toyota y Nike. Estos son los cinco pasos designados por el modelo de la “ d.school ” que han ayudado a muchas empresas a tener éxito.

1. Empatizar

La primera etapa del proceso de pensamiento de diseño es observar el problema que estás tratando de resolver de manera empática. Para obtener una representación precisa de la manera en que el problema afecta a las personas, busca activamente a las personas que hayan tenido este problema anteriormente. Preguntarles cómo les hubiera gustado que se resuelva el problema es un buen punto de partida, especialmente debido a que el proceso de pensamiento de diseño se centra en el ser humano.

La empatía es un aspecto increíblemente importante del proceso de Design Thinking. Así pues, esta metodología requiere que los diseñadores dejen de lado cualquier suposición y sesgo inconsciente que puedan tener sobre la situación y se pongan en el lugar de otra persona.

Si tu equipo está buscando arreglar el proceso de incorporación de empleados de tu empresa, puedes entrevistar a los empleados contratados recientemente para ver cómo fue su experiencia de incorporación. Otra opción es pedirle a un miembro del equipo con más antigüedad que experimente el proceso de incorporación para que pueda saber con precisión cómo lo atraviesa el nuevo empleado.

2. Definición

A veces, el diseñador se encontrará con una situación en la que hay un problema general y no un problema específico que deba resolverse. Una forma de ayudar a los diseñadores a definir y delinear claramente un problema es crear declaraciones de problemas centradas en el ser humano.

La declaración del problema ayuda a enmarcar el problema de una manera que proporcione un contexto relevante y de una manera fácil de comprender. El objetivo principal de una declaración del problema es guiar a los diseñadores que trabajan en posibles soluciones para este problema. La declaración del problema enmarca el problema de una manera que destaque fácilmente la brecha entre el estado actual de las cosas y el objetivo final.

Consejo: las declaraciones de problemas se enmarcan mejor como una necesidad de un individuo específico. Cuanto más específico seas con la declaración del problema, más fácil será para los diseñadores crear una solución centrada en el ser humano.

Ejemplos de buenas declaraciones de problemas:

Necesitamos disminuir la cantidad de clics que el cliente potencial necesita hacer para completar el proceso de registro.

Necesitamos disminuir la tasa de cancelación de suscripción de los nuevos suscriptores en un 10 %.

Necesitamos aumentar la tasa de adopción de la aplicación para Android en un 20 %.

3. Ideación

Esta es la etapa en la que los diseñadores crean soluciones potenciales para resolver el problema descrito en la declaración del problema. Usa técnicas de lluvia de ideas ( brainstorming ) con tu equipo para identificar la solución centrada en el ser humano al problema que se define en el paso dos. Durante la fase de ideación también te resultará muy útil trabajar con mapas mentales.

A continuación, te ofrecemos algunas estrategias de lluvia de ideas que puedes usar con tu equipo para encontrar una solución:

Sesión de lluvia de ideas estándar: tu equipo se reúne y trata diferentes ideas de manera oral. Una de las técnicas que te resultará más útil es el método SCAMPER , ya que promueve la resolución de problemas de una forma innovadora.

Brainwrite: todos escriben sus ideas en una hoja de papel o en una nota adhesiva y cada miembro del equipo agrega sus ideas en la pizarra. 

La peor idea posible: lo contrario de tu objetivo final. Tu equipo produce la idea más tonta para que nadie quede como un tonto. Esto elimina la rigidez de otras técnicas de lluvia de ideas. Esta técnica también te ayuda a identificar áreas de tu solución real que puedes mejorar al observar las peores partes de una solución absurda.

Es importante que no descartes ninguna idea durante la fase de ideación de la lluvia de ideas. Te conviene tener tantas soluciones potenciales como sea posible, ya que las nuevas ideas pueden ayudar a desencadenar ideas aún mejores. A veces, la solución más creativa a un problema es la combinación de muchas ideas diferentes juntas.

4. Prototipo

Durante la fase de prototipado de la metodología de design thinking , tú y tu equipo diseñaréis algunas variaciones diferentes de versiones económicas o reducidas de la posible solución al problema. Tener diferentes versiones del prototipo le brinda a tu equipo la oportunidad de probar la solución y realizar mejoras.

Por lo general, otros diseñadores, miembros del equipo que no forman parte del departamento de diseño inicial y clientes de confianza o miembros del público objetivo son quienes prueban los prototipos. Tener varias versiones del producto le brinda a tu equipo la oportunidad de modificar y refinar el diseño antes de probarlo con usuarios reales. Durante este proceso, es importante documentar a los evaluadores que utilizan el producto final. Esto te brindará información valiosa sobre qué partes de la solución son buenas y cuáles requieren más cambios.

Después de probar diferentes prototipos mediante teasers, tu equipo debería tener diferentes soluciones sobre cómo se puede mejorar el producto. La fase de prueba y creación de prototipos es un proceso iterativo, por lo que es posible que algunos proyectos de diseño nunca terminen.

Después de que los diseñadores se toman el tiempo para probar, reiterar y rediseñar nuevos productos, pueden encontrar nuevos problemas, diferentes soluciones y obtener una mejor comprensión general del usuario final. El marco de pensamiento de diseño es flexible y no lineal, por lo que es totalmente normal que el proceso mismo influya en el diseño final. Si se trata del prototipo para un nuevo producto puede que te interese probar cómo podría funcionar en el mercado con una campaña de crowdfunding.

Cómo incorporar la metodología design thinking en tu equipo

Si quieres que tu equipo comience a usar el proceso de pensamiento de diseño, pero no estás seguro de cómo comenzar, aquí hay algunos consejos que te ayudarán.

Comienza de a poco: de manera similar a como probarías un prototipo en un pequeño grupo de personas, es conveniente probar el proceso de pensamiento de diseño con un equipo más pequeño para ver cómo funciona tu equipo. Ofrécele a este equipo de prueba algunos proyectos pequeños en los que trabajar para que puedas ver cómo reacciona. Si funciona, puedes comenzar lentamente a implementar este proceso en otros equipos.

Incorpora a miembros del equipo que pertenezcan a diferentes departamentos : el proceso de pensamiento de diseño funciona mejor cuando los miembros de tu equipo colaboran y generan ideas juntos. Identifica quiénes son las partes interesadas clave de tu diseñador y asegúrate de que estén incluidas en el pequeño equipo de prueba.

Organiza el trabajo en un software de gestión de proyectos colaborativo : mantén los documentos importantes del proyecto de diseño, como la investigación de usuarios, los esquemas de base y las lluvias de ideas en una herramienta colaborativa como Asana . De esta manera, los miembros del equipo tendrán una fuente central de referencias para todo lo relacionado con el proyecto en el que están trabajando.

Design thinking y Agile, dos metodologías complementarias

Probablemente, junto a design thinking también hayas oído mucho hablar sobre las metodologías Agile . Ambas metodologías son muy útiles en contextos empresariales y pueden ser, además, complementarias. La metodología Agile es una metodología de gestión de proyectos también iterativa en la que se trabaja con fases denominadas sprints. Además, para la gestión de proyectos se trabaja con un pila o listado de tareas pendientes necesarias para realizar el proyecto, denominado backlog.  

Ahora que sabes, qué es design thinking y qué es Agile, te estarás preguntando por sus diferencias y usos. Pues bien, mientras que con design thinking lograremos encontrar la solución o idea creativa, la metodología Agile nos permitirá poner en marcha el proyecto, trazarlo y construirlo.

Fomenta el pensamiento de diseño colaborativo con Asana

El proceso de pensamiento de diseño funciona mejor cuando los miembros de tu equipo trabajan de manera colaborativa. No quieres que algo tan simple como la falta de comunicación obstaculice tus proyectos. En cambio, recopila toda la información que tu equipo necesita sobre un proyecto de diseño en un solo lugar con Asana.

Recursos relacionados

¿Qué es el diseño de proyectos? 7 pasos que incluyen consejos de expertos

Administrador de proyectos: 4 roles en el ciclo de vida de un proyecto

¿Qué es un árbol de decisiones? Un análisis de 5 pasos para tomar mejores decisiones

Qué son las dependencias en la gestión de proyectos y cómo gestionarlas

Using Design Thinking to Craft a Tailored Resume

July 24th 2019

Your resume is (most often) the first introduction a recruiter has to who you are and why you are applying for a job. It’s important to make sure the resume reflects not only your interests, experiences, and skills, but makes a strong case for why you are a great fit for each job you pursue. In this article, we’ll use the five key steps of design thinking to help you tailor your resume for the roles you are applying for.

What is Design Thinking?

Design thinking is a framework that helps us creatively solve problems efficiently. There are five steps to the process: (1) Empathize, (2) Define, (3) Ideate, (4) Prototype, (5) Test. I’ll be showing you how these steps can be applied to creating a resume that communicates your skills and experiences so you stand out to the hiring committee.

Empathize: Understanding who is reading your resume

Users are at the center of design thinking. For resumes, the main user for your resume is the recruiter.

A recruiter’s primary goal can be to find applicants worth passing off to the hiring manager, who often decides if a candidate should move forward in an interview process. They have a set of qualifications and review hundreds (if not thousands!) of applications to narrow down their candidate pool.

Some studies show that recruiters spend an average of 7 seconds on a resume. To get a sense of what this feels like, you can try your hand at reviewing resumes in 6 seconds in this simulation. This statistic may be sensationalized, but regardless, you can expect a recruiter to spend no more than 1-2 minutes when reviewing a resume.

What design principles can we extrapolate from these insights that you should apply to your resume?

Your resume needs to be scannable. The key pieces of information that makes you qualified for the job need to be quickly gleaned. This can be achieved with clear visual hierarchy, concise language, and making sure your resume tells a cohesive narrative.

Your resume needs to be easily summarized. You should help the recruiter advocate for you to the hiring manager. Before putting pen to paper, ask yourself -- if the recruiter were to pitch you as a candidate in 3-4 sentences, what would you want them to say? Make sure your resume communicates this pitch.

Remember, your resume needs to only be a trailer, not an entire movie. All your resume needs to accomplish is to prove that you’re worth getting to know as a candidate. Don’t feel the pressure to condense all your experiences and skills onto one sheet of paper.

Define: Digging into the job description

Look at the job description, and split up the listed requirements into “must haves” and “nice-to-haves.”

Do a little bit more research at this phase, because job descriptions can be vague, and recruiting can be industry-specific or company-specific—informational interviews or even research on LinkedIn can help you understand the difference between required and preferred skills. Use the “must have” skills to synthesize a “how might we” statement that will help you stay focused on what your resume should convey. In design, we frame the problems we are solving for with “how might we” to reinforce the idea that we are open to many different solutions. Every aspect of your resume should be able to tie back to this problem statement.

Example: “How might we craft a resume that demonstrates that I have sufficient project management experience, people skills, and am technically qualified for the People Analyst role at Google”?

Ideate: Connecting the dots

Now, start thinking through how your experiences demonstrate the skills, experiences, and values that the recruiter is looking for. Take a piece of paper and fold it lengthwise to create two columns. Jot down your experiences, key accomplishments, projects, and qualifications on one column. Jot down the Job Requirements on the other. Start connecting the dots -- which of your qualifications demonstrate your ability to meet the job requirements?

Be open at this phase! Look especially at transferable skills, and challenge yourself to make the connection between seemingly irrelevant experiences. For example, even if you’ve held a service job that may seem irrelevant to an office job you’re applying for, you may be able to talk about the people skills you’ve gained from customer service work.

Prototype: Creating Your Resume

Only at this phase should you open your actual resume! Use your two-column chart to edit bullet points for each experience on your resume. This means that your resume may look very different for different roles. You may even leave out a past experience in favor of adding more details to another if that past experience has no direct connection to the job you are applying for. Again, it is more important to create a focused, cohesive narrative with your resume rather than to capture all of your skills and experiences.

After you’ve listed out your experiences, let’s do a temperature check. Does it sufficiently answer your “how might we” statement? Is it scannable and easily summarized?

Test: Don’t skip this step!

As designers, we’re always looking to iterate our designs. You should be doing the same with your resume. The key to testing is simply to put your prototype in front of real people and being open to critique. It’s easy to get attached to something you’ve created, but getting feedback on your resume is key to making sure it makes sense to others, and not just yourself.

Find someone in your network that you trust to understand the job you are applying for and the qualifications it requires. Ask them to read your resume and point out which parts they have questions on or were confused about, and which parts they thought stood out. If you conducted informational interviews with people in similar roles and/or companies, ask them to review it. Oftentimes, they’ll be able to give suggestions that others not in the field or company may not have.

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Ideas Made to Matter

Design thinking, explained

Rebecca Linke

Sep 14, 2017

What is design thinking?

Design thinking is an innovative problem-solving process rooted in a set of skills.The approach has been around for decades, but it only started gaining traction outside of the design community after the 2008 Harvard Business Review article [subscription required] titled “Design Thinking” by Tim Brown, CEO and president of design company IDEO.

Since then, the design thinking process has been applied to developing new products and services, and to a whole range of problems, from creating a business model for selling solar panels in Africa to the operation of Airbnb .

At a high level, the steps involved in the design thinking process are simple: first, fully understand the problem; second, explore a wide range of possible solutions; third, iterate extensively through prototyping and testing; and finally, implement through the customary deployment mechanisms. 

The skills associated with these steps help people apply creativity to effectively solve real-world problems better than they otherwise would. They can be readily learned, but take effort. For instance, when trying to understand a problem, setting aside your own preconceptions is vital, but it’s hard.

Creative brainstorming is necessary for developing possible solutions, but many people don’t do it particularly well. And throughout the process it is critical to engage in modeling, analysis, prototyping, and testing, and to really learn from these many iterations.

Once you master the skills central to the design thinking approach, they can be applied to solve problems in daily life and any industry.

Here’s what you need to know to get started.

Understand the problem 

The first step in design thinking is to understand the problem you are trying to solve before searching for solutions. Sometimes, the problem you need to address is not the one you originally set out to tackle.

“Most people don’t make much of an effort to explore the problem space before exploring the solution space,” said MIT Sloan professor Steve Eppinger. The mistake they make is to try and empathize, connecting the stated problem only to their own experiences. This falsely leads to the belief that you completely understand the situation. But the actual problem is always broader, more nuanced, or different than people originally assume.

Take the example of a meal delivery service in Holstebro, Denmark. When a team first began looking at the problem of poor nutrition and malnourishment among the elderly in the city, many of whom received meals from the service, it thought that simply updating the menu options would be a sufficient solution. But after closer observation, the team realized the scope of the problem was much larger , and that they would need to redesign the entire experience, not only for those receiving the meals, but for those preparing the meals as well. While the company changed almost everything about itself, including rebranding as The Good Kitchen, the most important change the company made when rethinking its business model was shifting how employees viewed themselves and their work. That, in turn, helped them create better meals (which were also drastically changed), yielding happier, better nourished customers.

Involve users

Imagine you are designing a new walker for rehabilitation patients and the elderly, but you have never used one. Could you fully understand what customers need? Certainly not, if you haven’t extensively observed and spoken with real customers. There is a reason that design thinking is often referred to as human-centered design.

“You have to immerse yourself in the problem,” Eppinger said.

How do you start to understand how to build a better walker? When a team from MIT’s Integrated Design and Management program together with the design firm Altitude took on that task, they met with walker users to interview them, observe them, and understand their experiences.  

“We center the design process on human beings by understanding their needs at the beginning, and then include them throughout the development and testing process,” Eppinger said.

Central to the design thinking process is prototyping and testing (more on that later) which allows designers to try, to fail, and to learn what works. Testing also involves customers, and that continued involvement provides essential user feedback on potential designs and use cases. If the MIT-Altitude team studying walkers had ended user involvement after its initial interviews, it would likely have ended up with a walker that didn’t work very well for customers. 

It is also important to interview and understand other stakeholders, like people selling the product, or those who are supporting the users throughout the product life cycle.

The second phase of design thinking is developing solutions to the problem (which you now fully understand). This begins with what most people know as brainstorming.

Hold nothing back during brainstorming sessions — except criticism. Infeasible ideas can generate useful solutions, but you’d never get there if you shoot down every impractical idea from the start.

“One of the key principles of brainstorming is to suspend judgment,” Eppinger said. “When we're exploring the solution space, we first broaden the search and generate lots of possibilities, including the wild and crazy ideas. Of course, the only way we're going to build on the wild and crazy ideas is if we consider them in the first place.”

That doesn’t mean you never judge the ideas, Eppinger said. That part comes later, in downselection. “But if we want 100 ideas to choose from, we can’t be very critical.”

In the case of The Good Kitchen, the kitchen employees were given new uniforms. Why? Uniforms don’t directly affect the competence of the cooks or the taste of the food.

But during interviews conducted with kitchen employees, designers realized that morale was low, in part because employees were bored preparing the same dishes over and over again, in part because they felt that others had a poor perception of them. The new, chef-style uniforms gave the cooks a greater sense of pride. It was only part of the solution, but if the idea had been rejected outright, or perhaps not even suggested, the company would have missed an important aspect of the solution.

Prototype and test. Repeat.

You’ve defined the problem. You’ve spoken to customers. You’ve brainstormed, come up with all sorts of ideas, and worked with your team to boil those ideas down to the ones you think may actually solve the problem you’ve defined.

“We don’t develop a good solution just by thinking about a list of ideas, bullet points and rough sketches,” Eppinger said. “We explore potential solutions through modeling and prototyping. We design, we build, we test, and repeat — this design iteration process is absolutely critical to effective design thinking.”

Repeating this loop of prototyping, testing, and gathering user feedback is crucial for making sure the design is right — that is, it works for customers, you can build it, and you can support it.

“After several iterations, we might get something that works, we validate it with real customers, and we often find that what we thought was a great solution is actually only just OK. But then we can make it a lot better through even just a few more iterations,” Eppinger said.

Implementation

The goal of all the steps that come before this is to have the best possible solution before you move into implementing the design. Your team will spend most of its time, its money, and its energy on this stage.

“Implementation involves detailed design, training, tooling, and ramping up. It is a huge amount of effort, so get it right before you expend that effort,” said Eppinger.

Design thinking isn’t just for “things.” If you are only applying the approach to physical products, you aren’t getting the most out of it. Design thinking can be applied to any problem that needs a creative solution. When Eppinger ran into a primary school educator who told him design thinking was big in his school, Eppinger thought he meant that they were teaching students the tenets of design thinking.

“It turns out they meant they were using design thinking in running their operations and improving the school programs. It’s being applied everywhere these days,” Eppinger said.

In another example from the education field, Peruvian entrepreneur Carlos Rodriguez-Pastor hired design consulting firm IDEO to redesign every aspect of the learning experience in a network of schools in Peru. The ultimate goal? To elevate Peru’s middle class.

As you’d expect, many large corporations have also adopted design thinking. IBM has adopted it at a company-wide level, training many of its nearly 400,000 employees in design thinking principles .

What can design thinking do for your business?

The impact of all the buzz around design thinking today is that people are realizing that “anybody who has a challenge that needs creative problem solving could benefit from this approach,” Eppinger said. That means that managers can use it, not only to design a new product or service, “but anytime they’ve got a challenge, a problem to solve.”

Applying design thinking techniques to business problems can help executives across industries rethink their product offerings, grow their markets, offer greater value to customers, or innovate and stay relevant. “I don’t know industries that can’t use design thinking,” said Eppinger.

Ready to go deeper?

Read “ The Designful Company ” by Marty Neumeier, a book that focuses on how businesses can benefit from design thinking, and “ Product Design and Development ,” co-authored by Eppinger, to better understand the detailed methods.

Register for an MIT Sloan Executive Education course:

Systematic Innovation of Products, Processes, and Services , a five-day course taught by Eppinger and other MIT professors.

• Leadership by Design: Innovation Process and Culture , a two-day course taught by MIT Integrated Design and Management director Matthew Kressy.
• Managing Complex Technical Projects , a two-day course taught by Eppinger.
• Apply for M astering Design Thinking , a 3-month online certificate course taught by Eppinger and MIT Sloan senior lecturers Renée Richardson Gosline and David Robertson.

Steve Eppinger is a professor of management science and innovation at MIT Sloan. He holds the General Motors Leaders for Global Operations Chair and has a PhD from MIT in engineering. He is the faculty co-director of MIT's System Design and Management program and Integrated Design and Management program, both master’s degrees joint between the MIT Sloan and Engineering schools. His research focuses on product development and technical project management, and has been applied to improving complex engineering processes in many industries.

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Design Thinking

In the past, design has most often occurred fairly far downstream in the development process and has focused on making new products aesthetically attractive or enhancing brand perception through smart, evocative advertising. Today, as innovation’s terrain expands to encompass human-centered processes and services as well as products, companies are asking designers to create ideas rather than to simply dress them up.

Brown, the CEO and president of the innovation and design firm IDEO, is a leading proponent of design thinking—a method of meeting people’s needs and desires in a technologically feasible and strategically viable way. In this article he offers several intriguing examples of the discipline at work. One involves a collaboration between frontline employees from health care provider Kaiser Permanente and Brown’s firm to reengineer nursing-staff shift changes at four Kaiser hospitals. Close observation of actual shift changes, combined with brainstorming and rapid prototyping, produced new procedures and software that radically streamlined information exchange between shifts. The result was more time for nursing, better-informed patient care, and a happier nursing staff.

Another involves the Japanese bicycle components manufacturer Shimano, which worked with IDEO to learn why 90% of American adults don’t ride bikes. The interdisciplinary project team discovered that intimidating retail experiences, the complexity and cost of sophisticated bikes, and the danger of cycling on heavily trafficked roads had overshadowed people’s happy memories of childhood biking. So the team created a brand concept—“Coasting”—to describe a whole new category of biking and developed new in-store retailing strategies, a public relations campaign to identify safe places to cycle, and a reference design to inspire designers at the companies that went on to manufacture Coasting bikes.

Thinking like a designer can transform the way you develop products, services, processes—and even strategy.

Thomas Edison created the electric lightbulb and then wrapped an entire industry around it. The lightbulb is most often thought of as his signature invention, but Edison understood that the bulb was little more than a parlor trick without a system of electric power generation and transmission to make it truly useful. So he created that, too.

• TB Tim Brown is the CEO and president of the international design consulting firm IDEO and the author of Change by Design (HarperBusiness, 2009).

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Design Thinking and Innovation

Key concepts, who will benefit, aspiring or current innovation managers, entrepreneurs, product managers, developers, and marketers.

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Content Week - Clarify: Empathy and Understanding

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Content Week - Ideate, Part 2: User Values and Behaviors

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Content Week - Develop: An Experimentation Mindset

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• Overcoming Developer and User Bias
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Srikant Datar Design Thinking and Innovation

Dates & eligibility.

No current course offerings for this selection.

All applicants must be at least 18 years of age, proficient in English, and committed to learning and engaging with fellow participants throughout the course.

Learn about bringing this course to your organization .

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Design Thinking and Innovation FAQs

What are the learning requirements in order to successfully complete the course, and how are grades assigned.

Participants in Design Thinking and Innovation are eligible for a Certificate of Completion from Harvard Business School Online.

Participants are expected to fully complete all coursework in a thoughtful and timely manner. This will mean meeting each week’s course module deadlines and fully answering questions posed therein. This helps ensure participants proceed through the course at a similar pace and can take full advantage of social learning opportunities. In addition to module and assignment completion, we expect you to offer feedback on others’ reflections and contribute to conversations on the platform. Participants who fail to complete the course requirements will not receive a certificate and will not be eligible to retake the course.

More detailed information on course requirements will be communicated at the start of the course. No grades are assigned for Design Thinking and Innovation. Participants will either be evaluated as complete or not complete.

What materials will I have access to after completing Design Thinking and Innovation?

You will have access to the materials in every prior module as you progress through the program. Access to course materials and the course platform ends 60 days after the final deadline in the program.

At the end of each course module, you will be able to download a PDF summary highlighting key concepts used throughout the course. At the end of the program, you will receive a PDF compilation of all of the module summary documents. We hope the module summary documents will serve as a helpful resource after you finish the course.

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Once you've earned your Certificate of Completion, list it on your resume along with the date of completion:

Harvard Business School Online Certificate in Design Thinking and Innovation [Cohort Start Month and Year]

List your certificate on your LinkedIn profile under "Education" with the language from the Credential Verification page:

School: Harvard Business School Online Dates Attended: [The year you participated in the program] Degree: Other; Certificate in Design Thinking and Innovation Field of Study: Leave blank Grade: "Complete" Activities and Societies: Leave blank

Description: Design Thinking and Innovation is a 7-week, 40-hour online certificate program from Harvard Business School. Design Thinking and Innovation will teach you how to leverage fundamental design thinking principles and innovative problem-solving tools to address business challenges and build products, strategies, teams, and environments for optimal use and performance.

The program was developed by leading Harvard Business School faculty and is delivered in an active learning environment based on the HBS signature case-based learning model.

What is the project?

Beginning in Module 2 of Design Thinking and Innovation, you will apply the tools you learn in the course to an innovation problem that is important or interesting to you, or you can use a provided scenario. In subsequent modules, you will use your earlier responses to build on your innovation project and make each phase of design thinking relevant to your own work.

Do I need to collaborate with others to complete the project?

No, each individual submits their own work in Design Thinking and Innovation, and all project work can be submitted without sharing it with others in the course. You are encouraged to share with others and ask for feedback, but collaboration isn’t necessary to advance through the course.

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World Leaders in Research-Based User Experience

Design Thinking 101

July 31, 2016 2016-07-31

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In This Article:

Definition of design thinking, why — the advantage, flexibility — adapt to fit your needs, scalability — think bigger, history of design thinking.

Design thinking is an ideology supported by an accompanying process . A complete definition requires an understanding of both.

Definition: The design thinking ideology asserts that a hands-on, user-centric approach to problem solving can lead to innovation, and innovation can lead to differentiation and a competitive advantage. This hands-on, user-centric approach is defined by the design thinking process and comprises 6 distinct phases, as defined and illustrated below.

The design-thinking framework follows an overall flow of 1) understand, 2) explore, and 3) materialize. Within these larger buckets fall the 6 phases: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test, and implement.

Conduct research in order to develop knowledge about what your users do, say, think, and feel .

Imagine your goal is to improve an onboarding experience for new users. In this phase, you talk to a range of actual users.  Directly observe what they do, how they think, and what they want, asking yourself things like ‘what motivates or discourages users?’ or ‘where do they experience frustration?’ The goal is to gather enough observations that you can truly begin to empathize with your users and their perspectives.

Combine all your research and observe where your users’ problems exist. While pinpointing your users’ needs , begin to highlight opportunities for innovation.

Consider the onboarding example again. In the define phase, use the data gathered in the empathize phase to glean insights. Organize all your observations and draw parallels across your users’ current experiences. Is there a common pain point across many different users? Identify unmet user needs.

Brainstorm a range of crazy, creative ideas that address the unmet user needs identified in the define phase. Give yourself and your team total freedom; no idea is too farfetched and quantity supersedes quality.

At this phase, bring your team members together and sketch out many different ideas. Then, have them share ideas with one another, mixing and remixing, building on others' ideas.

Build real, tactile representations for a subset of your ideas. The goal of this phase is to understand what components of your ideas work, and which do not. In this phase you begin to weigh the impact vs. feasibility of your ideas through feedback on your prototypes.

Make your ideas tactile. If it is a new landing page, draw out a wireframe and get feedback internally.  Change it based on feedback, then prototype it again in quick and dirty code. Then, share it with another group of people.

Return to your users for feedback. Ask yourself ‘Does this solution meet users’ needs?’ and ‘Has it improved how they feel, think, or do their tasks?’

Put your prototype in front of real customers and verify that it achieves your goals. Has the users’ perspective during onboarding improved? Does the new landing page increase time or money spent on your site? As you are executing your vision, continue to test along the way.

Put the vision into effect. Ensure that your solution is materialized and touches the lives of your end users.

This is the most important part of design thinking, but it is the one most often forgotten. As Don Norman preaches, “we need more design doing.” Design thinking does not free you from the actual design doing. It’s not magic.

“There’s no such thing as a creative type. As if creativity is a verb, a very time-consuming verb. It’s about taking an idea in your head, and transforming that idea into something real. And that’s always going to be a long and difficult process. If you’re doing it right, it’s going to feel like work.”  - Milton Glaser

As impactful as design thinking can be for an organization, it only leads to true innovation if the vision is executed. The success of design thinking lies in its ability to transform an aspect of the end user’s life. This sixth step — implement — is crucial.

Why should we introduce a new way to think about product development? There are numerous reasons to engage in design thinking, enough to merit a standalone article, but in summary, design thinking achieves all these advantages at the same time.

Design thinking:

• Is a user-centered process that starts with user data, creates design artifacts that address real and not imaginary user needs, and then tests those artifacts with real users
• Leverages collective expertise and establishes a shared language, as well as buy-in amongst your team
• Encourages innovation by exploring multiple avenues for the same problem

Jakob Nielsen says “ a wonderful interface solving the wrong problem will fail ." Design thinking unfetters creative energies and focuses them on the right problem. 

The above process will feel abstruse at first. Don’t think of it as if it were a prescribed step-by-step recipe for success. Instead, use it as scaffolding to support you when and where you need it. Be a master chef, not a line cook: take the recipe as a framework, then tweak as needed.

Each phase is meant to be iterative and cyclical as opposed to a strictly linear process, as depicted below. It is common to return to the two understanding phases, empathize and define, after an initial prototype is built and tested. This is because it is not until wireframes are prototyped and your ideas come to life that you are able to get a true representation of your design. For the first time, you can accurately assess if your solution really works. At this point, looping back to your user research is immensely helpful. What else do you need to know about the user in order to make decisions or to prioritize development order? What new use cases have arisen from the prototype that you didn’t previously research?

You can also repeat phases. It’s often necessary to do an exercise within a phase multiple times in order to arrive at the outcome needed to move forward. For example, in the define phase, different team members will have different backgrounds and expertise, and thus different approaches to problem identification. It’s common to spend an extended amount of time in the define phase, aligning a team to the same focus. Repetition is necessary if there are obstacles in establishing buy-in. The outcome of each phase should be sound enough to serve as a guiding principle throughout the rest of the process and to ensure that you never stray too far from your focus.

The packaged and accessible nature of design thinking makes it scalable. Organizations previously unable to shift their way of thinking now have a guide that can be comprehended regardless of expertise, mitigating the range of design talent while increasing the probability of success. This doesn’t just apply to traditional “designery” topics such as product design, but to a variety of societal, environmental, and economical issues. Design thinking is simple enough to be practiced at a range of scopes; even tough, undefined problems that might otherwise be overwhelming. While it can be applied over time to improve small functions like search, it can also be applied to design disruptive and transformative solutions, such as restructuring the career ladder for teachers in order to retain more talent. 

It is a common misconception that design thinking is new. Design has been practiced for ages : monuments, bridges, automobiles, subway systems are all end-products of design processes. Throughout history, good designers have applied a human-centric creative process to build meaningful and effective solutions.

In the early 1900's husband and wife designers Charles and Ray Eames practiced “learning by doing,” exploring a range of needs and constraints before designing their Eames chairs, which continue to be in production even now, seventy years later. 1960's dressmaker Jean Muir was well known for her “common sense” approach to clothing design, placing as much emphasis on how her clothes felt to wear as they looked to others. These designers were innovators of their time. Their approaches can be viewed as early examples of design thinking — as they each developed a deep understanding of their users’ lives and unmet needs. Milton Glaser, the designer behind the famous I ♥ NY logo, describes this notion well: “We’re always looking, but we never really see…it’s the act of attention that allows you to really grasp something, to become fully conscious of it.”

Despite these (and other) early examples of human-centric products, design has historically been an afterthought in the business world, applied only to touch up a product’s aesthetics. This topical design application has resulted in corporations creating solutions which fail to meet their customers’ real needs. Consequently, some of these companies moved their designers from the end of the product-development process, where their contribution is limited, to the beginning. Their human-centric design approach proved to be a differentiator: those companies that used it have reaped the financial benefits of creating products shaped by human needs.

In order for this approach to be adopted across large organizations, it needed to be standardized. Cue design thinking, a formalized framework of applying the creative design process to traditional business problems.

The specific term "design thinking" was coined in the 1990's by David Kelley and Tim Brown of IDEO, with Roger Martin, and encapsulated methods and ideas that have been brewing for years into a single unified concept.

We live in an era of experiences , be they services or products, and we’ve come to have high expectations for these experiences. They are becoming more complex in nature as information and technology continues to evolve. With each evolution comes a new set of unmet needs. While design thinking is simply an approach to problem solving, it increases the probability of success and breakthrough innovation.

Learn more about design thinking in the full-day course Generating Big Ideas with Design Thinking .

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10 Insightful Design Thinking Frameworks: A Quick Overview

If you’ve just started to embark on your journey into the field of design thinking , you may have noticed different frameworks cropping up here and there. This is nothing to worry about—it’s simply the result of different people’s perceptions of the design thinking process. To help you get your head around these interpretations, we’ve prepared a useful summary of the most popular design thinking frameworks used by global design firms and national design agencies .

Design thinking means many things to many people—not only in its definition, but also in its practical implementation. A wide variety of design thinking frameworks and visualizations exist in the world today , and each typically contains between three and seven stages. Before we dive into these different frameworks, let’s look at a quick overview of the fundamental principles which form the basis behind all variations of the design thinking process.

Traits that are common across design thinking processes:

Starts with empathy . A deep focus on the humans involved will ensure you stay on track and follow the course of action most likely to bring about preferred solutions for individuals, business and society.

Reframes the problem or challenge at hand. This helps you gain new perspectives and explore different ways to think about the problem, and allows a more holistic approach towards reaching a preferred solution.

Initially employs divergent styles of thinking. This allows participants to generate and explore as many solutions as possible in an open , judgment-free ideation space.

Later employs convergent styles of thinking. This will allow your team to isolate, combine and refine potential solution streams out of your more mature ideas.

Creates and tests prototypes. Solutions which make it through the previous stages get tested further to remove any potential issues.

Iterates. You will revisit empathic frames of mind as you progress through the various stages and may redefine the challenge as new knowledge is gathered.

The process is all done in a collaborative, multidisciplinary team that leverages the experience and thinking styles of many folks to solve complex problems. It can feel quite chaotic at first, if you’re not used to it—however, if done correctly, it can result in emergent solutions that are desirable, feasible and viable.

Different implementation frameworks or models have different names and numbers of stages, but they all consist of the same principles and all involve points at which you will empathize , reframe, ideate, prototype and test. Let’s now take a quick look at 10 popular frameworks to further understand this innovative and revolutionary process.

1. The 5-Stage Design Thinking Process—d.school

First, let’s look at the 5-stage model that we will be following in this course.

The Stanford Design School (d.school), now known as the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, initially taught design thinking via a simple but powerful 3-step process: Understand, Improve, Apply.

They have since built upon this, to formulate and openly share a famous 5-stage process which is widely used around the world, including here at the Interaction Design Foundation. The process they outlined is as follows:

The d.school also represents this 5-stage process through their hexagonal design thinking visualization. This ensures the stages are seen more as enablers or modes of thinking, rather than concrete linear steps.

The d.school’s model of design thinking consists of five iterative, non-linear phases: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test.

© Stanford d.School web, Public License. Source.

2. The Early Traditional Design Process—Herbert Simon

The earliest versions of the design thinking process still reflected the traditional design process . As design thinking evolved, however, deeper empathy, more collaboration and a multidisciplinary approach were thrown into the mix.

As Herbert Simon states in his 1969 seminal work The Sciences of the Artificial , the design process consists of the following seven stages: define , research , ideate , prototype , choose , implement and learn —and this has been the cornerstone of design processes ever since.

© Daniel Skrok and the Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

3. Head, Heart and Hand—AIGA

The American Institution of Graphic Arts (AIGA) states the value of modern design practice comes from designers’ unique blend of head, heart and hand. For example, design thinking participants wear many hats during the process and rely on their heads to solve complex problems. In the early stages, they also use their hearts to empathize and understand human needs and emotions . The particular gift of designers, however, is their ability to dive into practical creation by hand. The three combined create a holistic process which utilizes input from all of our faculties to be successful.

Designers have a unique blend of head, heart, and hand skills which combine to create holistic problem-solving abilities.

4. DeepDive™ Methodology—IDEO

The DeepDive™ technique was developed by IDEO as a way to rapidly immerse a group into a situation where they can effectively problem-solve and generate ideas. They expressed this variant of the design thinking process live on ABC Nightline back in the late ’90s.

An abridged version from the report about IDEO's DeepDive™ Methodology that was aired on ABC Nightline in the late '90s.

IDEO's DeepDive™ comprised the following steps:

© Daniel Skrok and Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

The DeepDive™ methodology was further documented and enhanced by Andy Boynton and Bill Fischer of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) business school, and Deloitte Consulting then acquired the rights in 2006.

5. The 3-Stage Design Thinking Process—IDEO

IDEO uses a different process and, while it only has three stages, it covers pretty much the same ground as the other processes in this compilation.

IDEO’s 3-Stage Design Thinking Process consists of inspiration, ideation and implementation.

© IDEO, Public License.

The three stages are:

Inspire : The problem or opportunity inspires and motivates the search for a solution.

Ideate : A process of synthesis distills insights which can lead to solutions or opportunities for change.

Implement : The best ideas are turned into a concrete, fully conceived action plan.

IDEO also released a deck of IDEO Method Cards which cover the modes Learn , Look , Ask and Try —each with their own collection of methods for an entire innovation cycle.

6. Design Kit: The Human-Centered Design Toolkit—IDEO

IDEO has also developed contextualized toolkits, which repackage the design thinking process. One such iteration focuses on the social innovation setting in developing countries. For this context, the terminology needs to be simplified, made memorable and restructured for the typical challenges faced in those environments. The Human-Centered Design (HCD) Toolkit they developed for this purpose was re-interpreted as an acronym to mean hear , create and deliver.

IDEO’s 3-Stage Design Thinking Process was reinterpreted as Hear, Create, Deliver to coincide with the “HCD” acronym for Human-Centered Design.

Hear : Similar to early phases in other design thinking processes , the hear stage develops an empathic understanding of users, and defines the problem the team is trying to solve. It helps participants gain a solid foundation in the context of the problem and sufficiently reframe it to take on new perspectives.

Create : The create stage is concerned with exploration, experimentation and learning through making—similar to the ideate and prototype phases in d.school’s 5-stage approach. Potential areas of exploration are pinpointed, and those closest to the problem will be engaged with further to co-create solutions. This allows design teams to maintain the highest levels of empathy during early design phases and weed out any potential problematic assumptions made by designers who do not sufficiently understand the context.

Deliver : The deliver phase of the HCD process is centered around logistical implementation. It also aims to help overcome any obstacles which may exist when rolling out a solution within the required context. It is essential that solutions integrate into communities and bypass other roadblocks during implementation, and this stage will help participants achieve that.

7. The “Double Diamond” Design Process Model—Design Council

In the mid-2000s the British Design Council popularized the Double Diamond diagram, based on Béla H. Bánáthy’s 1996 “divergence-convergence” model. The Double Diamond diagram graphically represents a design thinking process. It highlights the divergent and convergent styles of thinking involved, and is broken down into four distinct phases:

Discover : The start of the project is based around an initial idea or inspiration, often gained from the identification of user needs .

Define : These user needs are interpreted and aligned with business objectives.

Develop : Design-led solutions are developed, iterated and tested.

Deliver : The end product or service is finalized and launched into the market.

The Double Diamond diagram from the Design Council helps to visualize the divergent and convergent stages of the design thinking process, and highlights the different modes of thinking that designers use.

8. Collective Action Toolkit (CAT) — Frog Design

Frog Design is an organization committed to social impact. They developed the Collective Action Toolkit (CAT) as a way to make the design process accessible to communities around the world—with the hope it will help them organize, collaborate and create solutions for the specific problems which affect their local area.

Frog’s Collective Action Toolkit process.

© Frog, Public License.

Frog’s CAT breaks the process down into six stages:

Clarify your goal : Agree on the problem you want to try and solve, as well as what goals you want to achieve.

Build your group : Bring people together in your community, identify their strengths and map out their commitment to your goals.

Seek new understanding : Ask questions, explore how people live and discover unmet needs to inform and inspire your group, and gain others’ perspectives.

Imagine new ideas : Come up with new solutions and decide what makes some of them more achievable than others.

Make something real : Test and experiment your better ideas and see what you discover.

Plan for action : Organize what each group member should do to reach your shared goals.

Frog make it clear these stages form a non-linear process, and you might have to revisit stages multiple times during a project—particularly the clarification stage.

9. Designing for Growth—Jeanne Liedtka & Tim Ogilvie

Jeanne Liedtka is a professor at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, and Tim Ogilvie is CEO of innovation strategy consultancy firm Peer Insight. Both are experts in design thinking and strategic thinking, and their book, Designing for Growth , puts forward a unique spin on the design thinking journey. It reframes the terminology into a more inquisitive and intuitive set of four what questions:

What is ? Explore the current reality.

What if ? Envision alternative futures.

What wow s? Get users to help you make some tough choices.

What works ? Make the solution work in-market, and as a business.

“What if...?”—one of the most powerful phrases in the English language, and for good reason.

© Christine Prefontaine, CC BY-SA 2.0.

10. The LUMA System of Innovation—LUMA Institute

The LUMA System of Innovation process consists of looking, understanding and making.

© LUMA Institute, Public License.

The LUMA Institute is a global firm that teaches innovation and human-centered design. The team at LUMA have developed their own expression of the design thinking process which they have distilled into three key design skills: Looking , Understanding and Making.

They claim their system is flexible and versatile so it can be used for any type of problem, in any type of setting. The process unfolds through either a single set of activities or a combination of multiple methods—the latter being required for more complex challenges.

The Take Away

You could spend weeks exploring the many versions of the design thinking process which exist in the world today. Their differences and similarities are, in fact, celebrations of variety and non-conformity.

Now you’ve read the 10 most popular frameworks above, maybe you’ve decided on a favorite. Regardless of which approach you like the most, it’s important you peel away the steps and terminology and focus instead on its principles. At first sight, the design thinking process can seem mysterious, chaotic and, at times, complex. However, it's a discipline which will mature in you with direct practice. You will learn things in a practical manner and grow in confidence with each new experience of it. You may even be tempted to develop your own expression of these steps, modes and phases to suit a completely new context—that's part of the beauty of design thinking!

References & Where to Learn More

Herbert Simon, The Sciences of the Artificial , 1969.

Mike Morrison, Deep-Dive Brainstorming Technique – IDEO , 2018.

d.school, An Introduction to Design Thinking PROCESS GUIDE , 2010: https://web.stanford.edu/~mshanks/MichaelShanks/files/509554.pdf

David Clifford, Equity-Centered Design Framework .

IDEO, Design Kit: The Human-Centered Design Toolkit .

Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie, Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Tool Kit for Managers , 2011.

LUMA Institute, Our System .

Hero Image: © Teo Yu Siang and the Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

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Innovation Design Resume Samples

The guide to resume tailoring.

Guide the recruiter to the conclusion that you are the best candidate for the innovation design job. It’s actually very simple. Tailor your resume by picking relevant responsibilities from the examples below and then add your accomplishments. This way, you can position yourself in the best way to get hired.

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Pick from the thousands of curated job responsibilities used by the leading companies, tailor your resume & cover letter with wording that best fits for each job you apply.

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• Lead and coordinate design and innovation efforts to develop optimal solutions for the fulfillment and transportation network through equipment specification, material flow, process design, site layout, and intellectual property considerations
• Collaboration with internal teams and external vendors to generate high quality, cost effective solutions in very short periods of time
• Proficiency using business/technical software like MS Excel, MS Project, and CAD software
• Invent, conceive & design new products / systems / machines / services
• Ensure that the products have unique problem solving / benefits have exceptionally high performance and quality metrics, be user centered, come with innovative technology
• Focus on mid & long terms innovations (3 to 5 years)
• Focus on both incremental and radical innovations
• Develop design solutions to the best-in-class process flow to improve the throughput of the fulfillment facilities
• Coordinate with systems and operations engineering teams to develop product features and optimize the performance of the FCs
• Design, build, and improve order fulfillment infrastructure throughout the large-scale supply chain network
• Manage capital projects; create conceptual drawings, equipment specifications and bid documentation to facilitate a competitive bid environment
• Provide technical leadership for large-scale engineering projects
• Provide leadership and coordination between internal departments and vendors for multiple sites
• Work with complex MHE and packaging lines and process design based on Lean Manufacturing
• Own the design of physical fulfillment and logistics systems around the globe, to develop optimal solutions for the fulfillment and transportation network through site layout, equipment specification, material flow, process design, and intellectual property considerations
• Innovate with complex automated material handling equipment, packaging technologies, and systems including robotics and mechatronics across 100+ new fulfillment and logistics centers that are being built each year
• Simultaneously manage multiple projects and tasks while effectively influencing, negotiating, and communicating with internal and external business partners, contractors and vendors
• Simultaneously manage multiple high visibility projects and tasks while effectively influencing, negotiating, and communicating with internal and external business partners, contractors and vendors
• Lead and coordinate design and innovation efforts to develop optimal solutions for the transportation network through equipment specification, material flow, process design, site layout, and intellectual property considerations
• Invent, design, and implement engineering solutions to complex material flow/transformation and human/machine efficiency problems throughout the global Amazon supply chain
• Provide technical leadership for large-scale industrial engineering projects using MS Excel, AutoCAD, and MS Projects
• Good interpersonal relationship skills
• Good presentation & storytelling skills
• Proficient in MS Office: Excel, Word, and Power Point
• Responsible, dynamic, proactive, dedicated, discreet, organized and communicative
• University students enrolled in Design or Graphic Design or related courses
• Focused on results
• Successfully manage multiple projects
• Fluent English
• Willingness to work in a team environment
• Spark creative ideas and find inspiration in new, innovative ideas

15 Innovation Design resume templates

Read our complete resume writing guides

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• Works with staff members and stakeholders who submit ideas to develop those ideas into fully fleshed out concepts, conducting workshops, interviews, market research. Where appropriete prototype development and execution
• Translate cross – functional and senior management input into the project design, scope and desired outcomes
• Actively participates in Innovation initiatives, industry conferences to generate new ideas
• Be exposed to complex problems, project portfolio and collaborate with senior stakeholders across the bank
• Collaborate with customer to refine and translate voice of customers into actions, targets and specification

Senior Innovation Design Development Resume Examples & Samples

• Bachelor's degree in a related field
• Minimum of 5 years of directly relevant work experience
• Demonstrated verbal and written communication skills with an ability to clearly articulate goals and objectives
• Strong influencing skills and ability to champion complex projects both cross functionally and vertically within the organization
• Strong understanding of product construction, materials, and the product creation life cycle

Global Director, Innovation Design Resume Examples & Samples

• Provides leadership and content development for cross-functional teams in the front-end innovation process providing strong direction on activities (across observation, analysis, directions, ideation, concept refinement) that will lead to strong and high-quality outputs and concepts
• Provides business framing for all Design Innovation initiatives and projects, ensuring that innovation strategies are aligned with enterprise, brand, and financial objectives
• Well-versed and experienced in innovation ethnographic research, techniques, planning
• Able to develop criteria and point of view on innovation opportunity areas and prioritization
• Bachelor's degree in design, Masters preferred
• 10+ years of Design Strategy and Innovation experience
• A creative problem solver
• Ability to work in an ambiguous and dynamic work environment
• Can build strong relationships with multiple stakeholders and project leads
• Prior Supervisory Experience preferred

Director, Innovation & Design Resume Examples & Samples

• Develop and execute business plans that demonstrate the value of and general Plan executive interest and participation in new products and services
• Manage project teams (both divisional and cross-functional) including: leadership of project team, design and direction of analytic work, integration of analysis, development of deliverables, management of budget and client relations (internal and external)
• Direct staff to achieve financial and other objectives, recruit/develop staff and assure smooth administrative of department/business unit
• Minimum of ten years related business experience with at least 5 years of direct innovation management and consulting experience
• Business and/or innovation management graduate degree required
• Strong record of academic and professional achievement
• Experienced in staff management and development
• Experienced in project management
• Experience with business development and financial analysis
• Experience in creating client-ready project deliverables
• Experience working collaboratively within internal cross-functional teams and with external stakeholders to

Senior Consultant, Innovation & Design Resume Examples & Samples

• Support facilitation of stakeholder collaboration to advance innovation initiatives across ideation, concept development, and prototyping phases
• Bachelor’s degree or advanced degree in design and 5 – 7 years of relevant work experience in a design role
• Strong portfolio of leadership and client-ready deliverables
• Strong portfolio demonstrating mastery of human-centered design processes and ability to translate business opportunities, ideas, concepts and prototypes into visually compelling deliverables
• Experience supporting ideation, concept development, prototyping and piloting of business opportunities
• Experience leading projects that utilize lean project management methodologies and techniques
• Self-starter with ability to advance projects in an ambiguous environment and demonstrated track record of agility
• Demonstrated creativity in development of approaches and methods to solutions
• Proven ability to develop relationships with internal and external stakeholders as well as work independently
• Comfortable and adept at presenting to internal staff members and broader audiences

Consultant, Innovation & Design Resume Examples & Samples

• Understand context and insights to synthesize and distill ideas and concepts into design expression and compelling visual depiction
• Generate prototypes of varying fidelity utilizing human-centered design techniques
• Lead codification of design best practices and methods
• Contribute to final business deliverables for Senior Leadership, Blue Plans and other business stakeholders
• Bachelor’s degree or advanced degree in design and 3 – 5 years of relevant work experience in a design role
• Experience contributing to projects that utilize lean project management methodologies and techniques
• Ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams and excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Experience developing leadership and client-ready deliverables
• Technical proficiency with Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, etc
• Experience working in an innovation lab, incubator, accelerator or comparable experience desirable but not required
• Familiarity with healthcare industry and concepts desirable but not required
• Must pass Academy of Health Management Level I within first year of employment

Innovation & Design Thinking Intern Estagiário Resume Examples & Samples

• Good presentation & storytelling skills

Innovation & Design Engineer Resume Examples & Samples

• Evaluate and create physical processing and material handling solutions using cutting edge technology, robotics and data analytics to meet the product flow requirements based on Amazon design principles
• Identify and analyze key operational and financial metrics as part of program and feature selection in order to drive smart decisions
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, operations, or a related field + 5 years of experience, or Master’s degree in engineering, operations, or a related field and at least 3 years of progressively responsible experience
• Demonstrated use of analytical skills to solve complex engineering problems

Senior Innovation & Design Engineer Resume Examples & Samples

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (any discipline) or foreign equivalent, OR a related field OR 2+ years Amazon experience
• 5+ years of experience in the job offered or related occupation of Design/Innovation, Research & Development, Manufacturing/Process/Industrial Engineering, or related
• Master’s degree in Engineering (any discipline) or foreign equivalent, Operations, Business Administration, or a related field and at least five years of progressively responsible experience in the specialty

Senior Innovation & Design Manager Resume Examples & Samples

• 10+ years of experience in the job offered or related occupation of Design/Innovation, Research & Development, Manufacturing/Process/Industrial Engineering or related
• Experience must include direct management and leadership of teams that are staffed with professional engineers responsible for bringing engineering design projects to fruition
• Masters degree in Engineering (any discipline), Operations, Business Administration, or a related field and at least five years of progressively responsible experience in the specialty
• 12+ years leading teams that include well established and successful Research and Development groups
• Experience designing and delivering complex automated material handling systems, packaging technologies, and systems including robotics and high-speed manufacturing
• Proficiency using business/technical software like, MS Excel, and MS Project, and CAD software
• Proficiency with concepts like system architecture, organization, system dynamics, systems analysis, reliability analysis, and decision making
• 2+ years of experience in the job offered or related occupation of Design/Innovation, Research & Development, Manufacturing/Process/Industrial Engineering, or related
• Experience must involve management of engineering design projects
• Bachelors degree in Engineering (any discipline), or a related field or 2+ years Amazon experience
• Experience in designing physical systems with RFID technology

Innovation Design Engineer Resume Examples & Samples

• Bachelors degree in Engineering (any discipline), or 2+ years Amazon experience
• 2+ years of experience in the job offered or related occupation of Design/Innovation, Industrial Engineering, or related
• Ability to travel 40% globally to interact with internal and external business and technical leaders
• Masters degree in Engineering (any discipline), Operations, or a related field and at least five years of progressively responsible experience in the specialty
• Experience with complex automated material handling equipment, packaging technologies, and systems including robotics and high-speed manufacturing
• Proficiency with concepts like system architecture, optimization, system dynamics, system analysis, statistical analysis, reliability analysis, and decision making
• Design-in-Safety experience
• Lead and coordinate design efforts between internal teams and outside vendors to develop optimal solutions for the network, including equipment specification, material flow, process design, and site layout
• Develop and manage budget and contract documents including RFPs, change order controls, purchase orders, and invoicing
• Coordinate with local site management to ensure proper operator training, procedural compliance, maintenance and safety practices are followed for new and existing equipment
• Manage multiple projects and tasks simultaneously and effectively influence, negotiate, and communicate with internal and external business partners, contractors and vendors
• Facilitate process improvement initiatives among site operations, engineering, and corporate systems groups
• 5+ years of experience in the job offered or related occupation of Industrial Engineer, Process Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer, or related
• Experience using MS Excel, and MS Project, and CAD software (AutoCAD)
• Ability to travel up to 30% of time to installation sites throughout the United States
• Build fulfillment conveyor process models using FlexSim/Arena or simulation software packages to optimize the design flow
• Monitor and enforce project schedules and quality with vendors or subcontractors
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (any field), Operations, Business Administration, or a related field
• Experience with complex MHE and packaging lines or process design based on Lean Manufacturing or Toyota Manufacturing System
• Master’s degree in Engineering (any field), Operations, Business Administration, or a related and at least one year of progressively responsible experience in the specialty

Senior Innovation Design Engineer Resume Examples & Samples

• 5+ Experience in the job offered or related occupation of Design/Innovation, Industrial Engineering, or related
• Experience in designing fulfillment systems with storage equipment, material handling systems, automated sortation, and related automation equipment
• Masters degree in Engineering (any discipline), Operations, or a related field and at least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in the specialty
• Partners with R&D, consumer insights, brand managers etc. to develop new design platforms grounded in consumer insights and leverages technology and trends to create new sources of growth. This includes working with business partners to properly scope, brief, and plan innovation projects that may include concepting for new food/beverage products, services and experiences, or new business ecosystems. Provides leadership and content development for cross-functional teams in the front-end innovation process and activities (across observation, analysis, directions, ideation, concept refinement) that will lead to strong and high-quality outputs and concepts
• Has the ability to visualize new design platforms / products and can effectively leverage design tools (e.g. sketching, prototypes, video etc.) to bring their vision/recommendations to life
• Creates strategic framing for initiatives and projects, ensuring that future products/portfolios/platforms are aligned with business and brand objectives
• Should have experience with quantitative methodologies for demonstrating new concept value propositions, benefits, and positioning.Strong exp in conducting ethnographic research/creating methodologies/planning. Provides design leadership around innovation analysis/synthesis, including the ability to framework, articulate definitive innovation insights, clear design principles with clear link to ideation and idea refinement. Able to develop criteria and point of view on innovation opportunity areas and prioritization. Strong capability to identify people's unmet needs and is able to articulate and deliver that into a design strategy and business opportunity
• Able to plan and facilitate dynamic work sessions for both small and larger groups who may not be familiar with the innovation process or culture of innovation. Has experience in developing prototype and pilots for services, experiences, or in-market experiments. Able to lead "lean startup" build-learn-measure methodology. Influences with strong character as a cultural steward, providing clarity and direction in a fast moving culture. Must be an articulate communicator comfortable defending ideas, enrolling business partners, educating teams on methodology, and presenting to high-level stakeholders. A positive and motivating leader for innovation teams to build a strong innovation culture
• Bachelor's degree in Design, Masters preferred. 10+ yrs of Design Strategy and Design Innovation experience. Proven ability to communicate with a technical organization (e.g. R&D) and a creative mktg org. A creative problem solver and dot connector. Strong presentation skills
• Ability to work in dynamic work environment. Can build strong relationships with multiple stakeholders/project leads. Prior Global/Supervisory preferred

Innovation Design Resume Examples & Samples

• Answer requests from Country offices and regional teams within the scope of work, duly and timely
• Support innovation, design and communication efforts with technical expertise by supporting design of prototypes and specifications and evaluating them and “working out loud” through different mediums
• Provide regular updates on the emerging new design and communication technologies and advise on their applicability and value to development
• Facilitate design workshops and user journeys
• Develop blogs, infographics and other visual content to document and share
• 3+ years of professional experience in the field of innovative design and communication technologies, digital content development, data visualization or similar
• Experience in developing and maintaining modern web/mobile applications
• Good understanding of usability principles for user interfaces
• Proficiency in HTML/CSS/JS & CQ5
• Working knowledge of programming in PHP is required, knowledge of ColdFusion is an asset
• Excellent knowledge of design & development
• Good knowledge of social innovation and project management
• Experience in interpreting insights into potential design and innovation opportunities and solutions
• Strong experience with rapid prototyping methodology
• Good digital design and social media skills an asset
• Proved experience in handling a variety of internal business clients
• Experience in Asia and Pacific is an asset
• Technical proposal, including a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment
• Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex II
• Personal CV andP11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references
• Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex II
• Invent, conceive & design new products / systems / machines / services
• Products must significantly help Nespresso maintain the phenomenal growth that it has seen in the 3 last decades
• Focus on mid & long terms innovations (3 to 5 years)
• Find, source and develop information and details for efficient production resulting in excellent quality Production
• University degree (Master or PHD) in Design Engineering and/or Mechanical Engineering
• 5 to 10 years business experience in consumer industry as design engineer (small devices, consumer electronics or home appliances)
• Deep understanding of designing products to optimize manufacturability, aesthetics and performance
• Experiences working with Industrial Designer are a warmly welcomed
• Proven Project management skills
• Fluent in English. French is a plus

Innovation & Design Thinking Intern Resume Examples & Samples

• Design skills are necessary
• Coordinate and manage activities across various internal and external stakeholders including design, construction, operations, software development, and network planning groups
• Manage and participate in the development of technical requirements for range of project related needs including, Material Handling Systems (MHE), Warehouse Execution System (WES), PIT, and Ground Support Equipment
• Develop and maintain project plans for design related projects
• 5+ years of experience in the job offered or related occupation of, Manufacturing/Process/Industrial Engineering, Project Management, or related
• Project Management skills (Communication, Organization, etc)
• Experience with sortation/delivery systems for large, high-volume distribution centers
• Experience with material handling equipment that interfaces with aircraft
• Strong experience using business software such as MS Excel, and MS Project
• Ability to travel 20% globally to interact with internal and external business and technical leaders
• Experience managing the development of complex automated material handling equipment and systems including robotics and high-speed manufacturing
• Experience with process design
• Air Gateway experience
• Bachelors degree in Engineering (any discipline) or a related field
• Experience designing material handling equipment that interfaces with aircraft
• Experience with Small Package express carriers in a process design or operational capacity
• Air Gateway operations experience
• Automated controls experience
• Modeling/Simulation experience for large scale, high-volume distribution centers

Innovation Design Director Resume Examples & Samples

• Collaboratively develop innovation creative concepts
• Holistic Design direction and execution of concepts
• Hands on design (illustrations, prototypes and concepts) as needed
• Effectively presenting concepts to internal stakeholders
• Providing leadership, support and inspiration for Innovation Designers, contractors and vendors
• Bachelor’s degree in Graphics Design, Visual Communication, Multimedia Design, or related fields
• Excellent communication skills (both in conversation and in writing), particularly focused on articulating and defending design decisions and to effectively interact with business and software development teams
• Ability to work with technology & business experts to uncover and understand requirements and capabilities as they relate to design deliverables
• Proven track record partnering with multiple disciplines & complex teams on projects
• Relevant experience as a visual or graphics designer in designing Rich Mobile and Online Applications
• Technical depth
• Design Thinking Experience
• Great conceptual thinking
• Passion for user-cantered design
• Strong competency with Information Architecture
• Ability to differentiate and design for the mobile and desktop experience
• Love for all things interactive
• An amazing creative folio (including strong competency with Sketch, Quartz Composer, CS5 Suite, After Effects, Keynote)
• Passion for clean, functional & outstanding design
• Great attention to detail
• Ability to effectively manage multiple projects and work well in multi-disciplinary team environment and to tight deadlines
• A friendly and approachable attitude

Watson Health Innovation & Design Manager Resume Examples & Samples

• Develop the theory and practice of Design at Watson Health (i.e., a Watson Health Design Framework) focusing on the lean and agile design of cognitive solutions for health that enable human discovery and decision making
• Facilitate the evolution and adoption of IBM Design Thinking and Watson Health Design best practices and methods across our offering and partnership teams
• Facilitate collaboration and continuous learning in the Watson Health Design Community (e.g. through practice Guilds, story sessions, learning initiatives, etc.) to drive innovation, practice excellence, and a vibrant learning organization for our practitioners
• Support the development of a Quality Management System (QMS) for Watson Health which effectively integrates Design and Design Thinking
• Lead creative and holistic human centered thinking across diverse WH offerings and partnerships
• Define design strategy and approach for offering projects, partnerships, and innovation initiatives
• Develop Watson Health Design vision & innovation model and WH test kitchen
• Oversee WH partnerships and develop best practices to optimize client and partnership relationships
• Collaborate with offering managers to define and validate overall offering visions, value propositions, and solution concepts
• Leads interdisciplinary teams in the design, development and execution of strategic offering design projects for IBM Watson Health
• Advocate and promote Watson Health projects. Participate in the overall improvement of the Watson Health reputation thought leadership, design excellence, education and mentorship
• Harvest, synthesize, and communicate stories, insights, and lessons learned from the work of WH Design teams that inspire innovation and strengthen Watson Health and Watson Health Design as thought leaders in the design of transformative health care solutions for people
• Problem Solving:Ability to envision new solutions, and anticipate issues and assess opportunities, trends and impacts. Must be able to understand problem from multiple perspectives
• Design:Ability to apply design, user experience, and user research practices. Experience with Design Thinking principles
• Expand team capabilities: Demonstrated ability to mentor, coach, and grow the professional skills and craft of content designers and creators
• Business savvy: Leads negotiations between development and business leadership to collaborate in order to elevate the overall design
• Communication/Negotiation:Experience leading multiple, highly collaborative teams. Adept at working across locations and organizational boundaries. Experience partneringwith offering management, design, development, marketing, and other matrixed teams

Innovation Design Team Resume Examples & Samples

• B.A. in design or related field and a minimum of 6-8 years of experience on an innovation or like team
• Computer design system skills including Adobe Creative Suite
• Outstanding communication, facilitation and presentation skills, including visual storytelling
• Commercial sense, market knowledge, ability to research and apply market/trend information
• Must have experience in the process and practice of design thinking and lean processes, including but not limited to test plan writing and implementation
• Demonstrated ability to work independently with minimal supervision
• Strong organization and communication skills as well as a high tolerance for ambiguity, and the demonstrated ability to influence without authority
• Demonstrated expertise at problem solving, visualization and strategy development
• Experience working on multi-disciplinary teams within strategy, design, research and technology
• Outstanding track record of developing innovative, differentiated and winning strategies and products
• Entrepreneurial mindset
• Must be a team player, comfortable working in “white space” and with ambiguity
• Proactive leader with proven ability to take risks, and challenge the status quo and manage and drive change

Senior Mgr Innovation Design Resume Examples & Samples

• Generally focused on print/graphic design and UI web design (graphics, icons, color schemes, content, etc) for a wide range of projects, including but not limited to marketing materials, presentations, emails, website, editorial, Infographics and event booth designs
• Responsible for developing and executing creative ideas with strong design methodology while maintaining company brand standards
• Execute all phases of creative work from concept and project planning to delivery
• Manage projects appropriately to meet established deadlines
• Works on complex projects where analysis of business situations requires an in-depth evaluation of variable creative factors
• Uses considerable judgment to determine solution for complex projects and problems and seeks guidance
• Exercises judgment in selecting methods, techniques and evaluation criteria for obtaining results sought after by Creative team and Digital Office
• Supports project management of initiatives across the group
• Partner with various stakeholders, including those outside own area of expertise, to develop strategic solutions
• Collaborate with external agencies and internal departments to route and prepare creative projects
• Set and maintain high creative standards
• Execute and work within design best practices
• Manage designers, freelancers, & outside agencies when needed
• Typically requires a minimum of 8 years of related experience
• Can provide a portfolio of representative work
• Excellent graphic design ability and knowledge of typography
• Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office
• Understanding of Adobe Creative Suite, PowerPoint, HTML, CSS and their limitations
• Strong skills in print/graphic design, as well as UI web design are a must
• Takes the time to understand the strategic direction set by senior management as it relates to team goals
• Strong organizational skills, strong attention to detail; able to turn around projects quickly
• Ability to prioritize multiple responsibilities in a deadline driven environment
• Able to balance simultaneous creative projects from conception to completion
• Quick thinker with a clear and brand-consistent voice
• Able to work across both digital and print media types to support the team’s efforts
• Work well in a collaborative, team based environment (both work autonomously and as part of a team)
• Be a self-starter who enjoys collaborating and proposes new ideas and solutions
• Is flexible and able to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment
• Is fast and efficient and able to juggle multiple projects/priorities and meet tight deadlines
• Is an expert, proactive communicator, and possesses strong leadership skills

Director of Innovation & Design Resume Examples & Samples

• Deeply partnering with KIPP Foundation teams to look over the horizon and identify, test, and tackle new ideas and innovations
• Providing “flex capacity” for the organization, stepping in as needed on high-priority design projects – supporting teams in creating products that provide value to our leaders, teacher, and staff
• Defining and supporting strategies to drive implementation and scale products to the full KIPP network
• Supporting an organization-wide focus on user-centered product development and experimentation
• Design and run a process to pursue innovations
• Drive innovations from concept to pilot to launch
• In some cases, manage a portfolio of experiments
• Spend time in KIPP schools and outside of KIPP surfacing innovations and understanding and responding to network needs and challenges
• 8+ years of experience
• Amazing writing and presentation skills – the ability to convey complex ideas with simple language
• Ability and solid instincts to select and prioritize the “right problems to tackle.”
• Experience with product development and design thinking
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, including the interpersonal, diplomatic, and communication skills
• A bias for action, for finding solutions, and pushing for clarity
• Self-directed and results-oriented, with a track record of initiative and follow-through
• Experience working in a geographically distributed organization
• Ability to model KIPP’s values at all times
• Experience with charter or charter-like schools, non-profit management, non-profit consulting, and/or with students in low-income urban environments is preferred, not required
• Experience designing solutions for large, high-volume sortation operations
• Strong experience using business/technical software such as MS Excel, MS Project, and CAD software
• Experience with complex automated material handling equipment and high-speed manufacturing

Emerging Innovation Design Manager Resume Examples & Samples

• Develop an understanding of future trends, emerging areas of interest for the company, and the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal (PESTEL) factors that will influence identification and adoption of novel offerings
• Engage with leaders across the company responsible for innovation, growth, and strategy to develop and maintain perspective informing identification and shaping of domains based on strategic fit
• Collaborate with the Technical Emerging Innovation Design Manager to shape and develop the domains of interest for further evaluation and exploration
• Network with the community of external adopters, value-chain players, and end-users to develop insights on needs and segmentation derived from direct engagement, interviewing, and ethnography
• Engage with external resources in academia, 3rd party providers of market/consumer research, and consultants as required to develop market insights
• Use creative imagination to design novel and transformational opportunity concepts supported by market needs and/or future trends, and aligned with the company’s strategy
• Champion domains and opportunities by communicating a compelling vision and engaging stakeholders to gain support for progressive stages of exploration and pursuit
• Identify and reduce opportunity uncertainty – both commercial and technical – to maximize the likelihood of success (or terminate as appropriate)
• Lead innovation projects and diverse project teams to accomplish objectives
• 10+ years in customer facing positions including business development and/or marketing
• 5+ years in people leadership roles (line management and/or formal project/program leadership)
• Broad familiarity and aptitude in nutrition and health, industrial biosciences, and advanced materials industry verticals
• MBA (preferred)
• Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in a science or engineering field (preferred)
• Bring CAD Design expertise and resources to the ALPLA Innovation team
• Collaborate with the internal Innovation Team, as well as external partners, to invent and generate new, innovative ideas, concepts, mockups and prototypes
• Conceive and design new innovative products in the field of plastic packaging and beyond by considering both current and new manufacturing methods and technologies
• Contribute to a positive environment for innovation, climate and culture
• Expertise in 3D CAD Modelling, preferably Siemens NX
• Technical Background (HTL or FH)
• Innovative thinking, creativity, curiosity and openness for doing things differently
• Strong interest and/or experience in designing products (particularly rigid plastic and packaging components)
• Strong technical problem solving ability
• Knowledge of plastic manufacturing processes is of advantage
• Fluent English and strong German skills
• A modern and international working environment in a stable and continuously growing company
• Be part of a young and dynamic team
• Workplace in a very attractive region
• Opportunity to work autonomously in the defined area of responsibility
• Access to a wide range of training and continuous learning programs

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SHRM President and Chief Executive Officer Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, answers HR questions each week.

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Since leaving a job I have had for almost a decade, I have primarily conducted my job search online. I have used the same resume design since I started working 12 years ago. Should I update my resume design to be more effective? What do you recommend for building a modern resume? –Sandra

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr.: Updating your resume design can indeed be a wise move, especially if you’ve been using the same format for a long time. A fresh, modern design can help your resume stand out and leave a positive impression on recruiters and hiring managers. Here’s what I recommend for building a modern resume:

• Clean, professional layout. Opt for a layout that’s visually appealing and easy to read. Avoid cluttered designs and overly decorative elements that may distract from your content.
• Plain font. Stick to standard, easy-to-read fonts such as Arial, Calibri or Times New Roman. These fonts are widely accepted and are compatible with applicant tracking systems (ATSs), ensuring your resume is easily scannable by both humans and software.
• Keywords. Tailor your resume to each job application by incorporating industry-specific keywords and phrases relevant to the position. Many companies use ATS software to screen resumes, so this will increase the likelihood of your resume being noticed.
• Organized sections. Structure your resume into clear sections, including Contact Information; Summary or Objective; Work Experience; Skills; and Education, plus any additional relevant sections, such as Certifications or Volunteer Work. This organization makes it easy for recruiters to quickly find the information they need.
• Summary/objective statement. Start your resume with a summary that highlights your key qualifications and career goals. Keep it concise, focusing on what sets you apart and what you aim to achieve in your career.
• Accomplishment-oriented experience. When listing your work experience, focus on highlighting your accomplishments, rather than just listing job duties. Use quantifiable achievements whenever possible to demonstrate your impact, such as increasing sales by a certain percentage or leading successful projects.
• Skills section. Dedicate a section to showcasing your key skills and competencies, including both technical skills and soft skills that are relevant to the job. This section provides recruiters with a quick overview of your capabilities.
• Proofreading. Before submitting your resume, thoroughly proofread it to ensure there are no grammatical errors, typos or formatting issues. Consider having someone else review your resume to give you feedback and additional insights.

By updating your resume with a modern design and incorporating these key elements, you can increase your chances of making a strong impression in today’s competitive job market. Good luck with your job search!

I’ve been denied PTO requests on multiple occasions, which is becoming increasingly frustrating. Most of them are denied on the grounds of staffing needs. Do I have any recourse in fighting these denials? What can I do to ensure PTO approvals? –Chanette

You may indeed have some recourse in addressing these denied paid-time-off (PTO) requests. Start by reviewing your company’s PTO policy and procedures. Many employers have specific guidelines regarding PTO requests, including deadlines for submission and limits on the number of employees who can be on leave simultaneously, to ensure adequate staffing levels.

First, check if your PTO requests were made in accordance with company policy. If they were not, ensure that you adhere to the established procedures for future requests to increase the likelihood of approval.

However, if you followed company policy and your requests were still denied, consider discussing the matter with your manager or HR team. Seek clarification on the reasons for the denials and inquire about potential strategies to improve the approval rate for your requests.

It’s also essential to consider whether your state mandates sick leave, and if your company uses PTO to fulfill those requirements. If so, your employer may be obligated to approve leave requests that align with qualifying reasons for sick leave under the law. If you’re uncertain about your state’s sick-leave requirements, consult your HR team for clarification.

Ultimately, unless there is a contractual agreement or policy stating otherwise, employers typically have discretion in managing PTO usage. However, by following company procedures and addressing your concerns with management or HR, you may increase the likelihood of having your PTO requests approved more frequently.

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How do I update my resume to help land that job? Ask HR

Johnny C. Taylor Jr. tackles your human resources questions as part of a series for USA TODAY. Taylor is president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, the world's largest HR professional society and author of "Reset: A Leader’s Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval.”

Have a question? Submit it here .

Question: Since leaving a job I have had for almost a decade, I have primarily conducted my job search online. I have used the same resume design since I started working 12 years ago. Should I update my resume design to be more effective? What do you recommend for building a modern resume? – Sandra

Answer: Updating your resume design can indeed be a wise move, especially if you've been using the same format for a long time. A fresh, modern design can help your resume stand out and leave a positive impression on recruiters and hiring managers. Here’s what I recommend for building a modern resume:

◾ Clean, professional layout: Opt for a layout that’s visually appealing and easy to read. Avoid cluttered designs and overly decorative elements that may distract from your content.

◾ Font selection: Stick to standard, easy-to-read fonts such as Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman. These fonts are widely accepted and compatible with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), ensuring your résumé is easily scannable by both humans and software.

◾ Incorporate keywords: Tailor your resume to each job application by incorporating industry-specific keywords and phrases relevant to the position. Many companies use ATS to screen résumés, so this will increase the likelihood of your resume being noticed.

◾ Organized sections: Structure your resume into clear sections, including Contact Information, Summary or Objective, Work Experience, Skills, Education and any additional relevant sections such as Certifications or Volunteer Work. This organization makes it easy for recruiters to quickly find the information they need.

◾ Summary/objective statement: Start your résumé with a summary that highlights your key qualifications and career goals. Keep it concise, focusing on what sets you apart and what you aim to achieve in your career.

◾ Accomplishment-oriented experience: When listing your work experience, focus on highlighting your accomplishments, rather than just listing job duties. Use quantifiable achievements whenever possible, to demonstrate your impact, such as increasing sales by a certain percentage or leading successful projects.

◾ Skills section: Dedicate a section to showcasing your key skills and competencies, including both technical skills and soft skills relevant to the job. This section provides recruiters with a quick overview of your capabilities.

◾ Proofreading: Before submitting your resume, thoroughly proofread it to ensure there are no grammatical errors, typos, or formatting issues. Consider having someone else review your resume for feedback and additional insights.

By updating your resuméewith a modern design and incorporating these key elements, you can increase your chances of making a strong impression in today’s competitive job market. Good luck with your job search!

Ghosting a job Is it bad to ghost low priority potential employers? Ask HR

I've been denied PTO requests on multiple occasions, which is becoming increasingly frustrating. Most of them are denied on the grounds of staffing needs. Do I have any recourse in fighting these denials? What can I do to ensure PTO approvals? – Chanette

You may indeed have some recourse in addressing these denied paid time off requests. Start by reviewing your company's PTO policy and procedures. Many employers have specific guidelines regarding PTO requests, including deadlines for submission and limits on the number of employees who can be on leave simultaneously, to ensure adequate staffing levels.

First, check if your PTO requests were made in accordance with company policy. If they were not, ensure that you adhere to the established procedures for future requests, to increase the likelihood of approval.

However, if you followed company policy and your requests were still denied, consider discussing the matter with your manager or the human resources team. Seek clarification on the reasons for the denials and inquire about potential strategies to improve the approval rate for your requests.

It's also essential to consider whether your state mandates sick leave, and if your company uses PTO to fulfill those requirements. If so, your employer may be obligated to approve leave requests that align with qualifying reasons for sick leave under the law. If you’re uncertain about your state’s sick leave requirements, consult your HR team for clarification.

Ultimately, unless there is a contractual agreement or policy stating otherwise, employers typically have discretion in managing PTO usage. However, by following company procedures and addressing your concerns with management or HR, you may increase the likelihood of having your PTO requests approved more frequently.

Salaried, nonexempt What does that mean? Ask HR

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25 Milan Design Week Highlights We Can’t Stop Thinking About

By Jesse Dorris

All products featured on Architectural Digest are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The thing about Milan Design Week —those sprawling, fizzy springtime days and nights in which an ever-growing constellation of interventions, exhibitions, galleries, and pop-ups seek to complement Salone del Mobile , regarded as the world’s largest furniture and design fair—is that no matter what, you miss most of it. An appointment with a respected designer at her showroom means your taxi, should you find one, will never make it to the city outskirts to see the show of up-and-comers everyone is talking about at the drinks you won’t make it to because of the dinner at a legend’s astonishing palazzo. By 2 a.m., the crowds at Milan Design Week mainstay Bar Basso spill into the street, negronis sweating in their hands, trying to remember what they saw that day and what they want to see tomorrow.

Fair Pass, Activated

It was a record-setting year for Salone del Mobile attendance, which clocked more than 360,000 visitors, a 17% increase from 2023. Those figures come as little surprise to those darting through the buzzing fair pavilions, each one loaded with fresh debuts and collaborations. Yabu Pushelberg worked with Kohler , refreshing the crowds with forward-thinking showers and saunas illuminated by lights keyed to circadian rhythms, which hopefully kept the New York duo calm as they mounted a dizzying schedule of other collaborations, including a restful tribute to tatami mats for an outdoor collection with Molteni&C and an expansion of the pebble-inspired Elio seating collection for Tribù .

Elsewhere at the fair, Hannes Peer, one of two new creative directors at Minotti , offered a curveball in tribute to French icon Saint Laurent, installing in a Salone del Mobile showroom the slinky, asymmetrical, and very chic Yves modular sofa which instantly made some of the fair’s other rows of clean-lined furnishings look rather, well, square. Throughout the halls, one finish made a repeat appearance: reflective shine. At Poliform , a khaki-colored sheen coated dining and cocktail tables by Jean-Marie Massaud. At B&B Italia , Piero Lissoni’s extendable Assiale dining table was shown slicked in oxblood lacquer, and at Flexform , cocktail tables sported painted glass tops that gave off a slick glisten. Meanwhile, Edra took the trend to the max with a full-on mirrored dining table named Phantom—perfect for Milan, where it can reflect an elaborate painted ceiling.

Around Town

One Milan Design Week strategy is to fill up at the design buffet that is Salone del Mobile; another is to nibble all around town. One event everyone put in effort to see? Alcova , which after seven years is now firmly among Milan Design Week’s mandatory events, attracted lines some three hours long. But the wait was more than worth the chance to see Objects of Common Interest collaborate with Dooor to turn the basement of the iconic Villa Borsani into a minimalist maze of color fields worthy of Suspiria , or Supaform’s upstairs effort which transformed Osvaldo Borsani’s office into a rough-edged retro-futurist take on WFH.

Another hit was Sam Ross’s bright orange, brutalist plumbing maze for Kohler set at Palazza del Sanato; with its focus on engineering, it was a sculptural marvel. Nearby, in the Brera Design District, it was a mad dash from the Palazzo Citterio to see Loewe’s lighting debut—for which creative director Jonathan Anderson commissioned bright ideas from some two dozen Loewe collaborators, including Anthea Hamilton’s floor-lamp take on a kimono, which every onlooker ached to take home. From there, festivities continued at Piero Lissoni’s studio, which served espresso and looks at the maestro’s latest work, which included chunky marble shelving and a sleek stainless steel kitchen for Boffi dubbed Novanta.

There was also the bounty of the 5Vie district, where Artemest welcomed six international designers to make themselves at home in a jaw-dropping early 1900s mansion for the second-annual L’Appartamento by Artemest . On a warm Milan Design Week morning, Lauren Rottet showed the interaction between the ample sunlight and the golden glass bases of her tables in the living room, while VSHD Design’s Rania Hamed set up a conceptual dining room with space for both the original Baroque vibe and Adolf Loos’ anti-ornament sentiment on the menu.

As for actual meals, a few dozen were lucky enough to pull up a seat at We Are Ona’s gastronomic pop-up at Carla Sozzani’s Fondazione Sozzani, an airy space in Bovia that set designer Laura Floor wrung with atmospheric photography by Mark Borthwick. Beneath speakers broadcasting cicada, chef Megan Moore sent out plates of delicate morrell and white asparagus, or tender artichoke with black garlic nestled in a sleeve of dandelion. And among the most anticipated dinners in a week chockablock of covetable invites was surely the private dinner hosted by Kartell’s president, Claudio Luti, and his wife Maria, in the leafy gardens of their enviable private residence, where glasses of bubbly and bowls of pasta were followed by feather-light portions of summer panettone. Guests toasted new launches—including the AI Collection, Kartell and Philippe Starck’s first foray into artificial intelligence, and the Asia sofa collection Piero Lissoni dreamt up in his studio—and, when the evening threatened to end far too early, returned to Bar Basso to chew over the day’s events.

VSHD Design’s conceptual dining room at L’Appartamento by Artemest

Fashion House Favorites

LaDoubleJ took its Solar collection of plates inspired by sunny Spanish mosaics for a literal spin—its circus of motorized displays would have charmed Alexander Calder. Saint Laurent also dished up some lovely designs, reissuing a dozen plates Gio Ponti devised in 1957 for his Venezuelan Villa Planchart Segnaposto. Hermés sought to collapse past and present with a dramatic, social-media-ready presentation of its new home collection that mixed heritage jockey silks and whips with equestrian-themed dinner service and blankets. And Lucia Echavarria, the fashion designer behind Magnetic Midnight , used her Alcova interior at Villa Borsani as a stage for the handicraft traditions of her native Colombia. Some 80 artisans—straw marquetry mavens from Pasto and Caña Flecha weavers from Tuchin among them—helped craft the stylish range of furniture, carpets, and more for the inaugural home collection from Magnetic Midnight Maison.

The RL-CF1 Lounge Chair is inspired by Ralph Lauren’s own McLaren F1 Race Car.

Meanwhile, if design week go-ers wanted to guess what may lie within the impressive walls of the Ralph Lauren Palazzo, the Jaguar XK120 Roadster parked out front would be a helpful clue. The brand debuted Modern Driver, a collection of furniture, lighting, and tabletop inspired by Mr. Lauren’s passion for automobiles and crafted in such handsome materials as polished stainless steel, burl and mahogany woods, and channeled leather. The scene was set as if it were Lauren’s office, complete with replicas of his collections of miniature cars and sports and film memorabilia, lending to the cinematic, world-building experience the brand is so known for.

Of course, the days didn’t have enough time in them. Everyone felt this, even the brands. Nilufar Depot tried to escape time itself, with digital artist and designer Andrés Reisinger and Nilufar founder Nina Yashar casually encircled a mosaic of apples with a dozen delicate white chairs; nearby, a phonograph played an ambient record Reisinger made, to be listened to and meditated along with while seated. The space was a breezy counterpoint to Trancendental Meditation enthusiast David Lynch’s moody Thinking Rooms installation at Salone del Mobile, where blue velvet curtains revealed an armchair surrounded by brass tubes and abstract video—an unnerving reminder to look inward for inspiration, even within the constant thrum of the fair.

Another cosmic opportunity arrived courtesy of Lexus. Its installation was simply, and aptly, called Time . Inside Superstudio Più’s Art Point, Lexus Design Award winner Hideki Yoshimoto and his Tangent studio lined up interactive light sculptures before a massive screen of washi paper and bamboo. At the grand opening, Keiichiro Shibuya hypnotized the crowd with a wild performance, running his Prophet V synthesizer through a system of 31 speakers. After that, Marjan van Aubel’s solar installation felt like a necessary exhalation. Near a generous seating area covered in mirrors, visitors navigated holographic trees and stepped onto a platform within a white cube.

There, you could place your hand on a circle of cutting-edge bamboo fabric linked to a circle of sixteen solar lamps. The idea was to create your own bespoke sunrise. Because if you can’t make the days longer, at least make them your own.

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More From Forbes

Leveraging systems models: a strategic advantage for it professionals.

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Thomas Lim is the Vice-Dean of Centre for Systems Leadership at SIM Academy. He is an AI+Web3 practitioner & author of Think.Coach.Thrive!

IT professionals increasingly need to navigate projects arising from greater business complexity. The integration of systems models with established methodologies, like design thinking, agile and lean, presents a unique opportunity for IT experts to enhance their capacity and expertise. This systemic integration not only enriches their problem-solving tool kits but also ensures the delivery of innovative, sustainable solutions that align with the strategic objectives of their organizations.

The landscape of IT projects has expanded beyond straightforward software development to include complex ecosystems involving artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, big data and more. This complexity necessitates a holistic view of project management and solution development, where understanding interdependencies and emergent behaviors becomes crucial. Systems models, with their focus on the interrelations within and among systems, offer a comprehensive framework for analyzing and addressing these complexities.

Enhancing Design Thinking With Systems Thinking

Within the Design Thinking phases, there are opportunities to embed systems thinking models. For example, during the Ideate phase, using causal loops would help clarify the Theory of Success.

Agile methodologies emphasize flexibility, rapid iteration and stakeholder collaboration. Integrating systems dynamics into agile practices allows IT professionals to model and simulate the behaviors of complex systems over time. This predictive capability can inform sprint planning, risk management and the prioritization of features based on their potential impact on the system. By understanding the feedback loops and causal relationships that drive system behavior, IT teams can anticipate challenges and opportunities, leading to more informed decision-making and effective agile implementation.

The Best Romantic Comedy Of The Last Year Just Hit Netflix

Apple iphone 16 unique all new design promised in new report, rudy giuliani and mark meadows indicted in arizona fake electors case, diagnosing with the levels of perspective model.

The Levels of Perspective Systems Model categorizes viewpoints from which a system can be analyzed, ranging from concrete events to deep-rooted structures and mental models. This hierarchical framework includes the Events level, Patterns of Behavior level, Structural level and, sometimes, the Mental Models level. Each level offers a unique lens through which IT developers can understand and address complex challenges.

Enhancing Design Thinking

Design thinking emphasizes empathy, collaboration and iterative learning to solve problems creatively. By applying the Levels of Perspective Model, IT developers can deepen their empathetic understanding by recognizing not only the immediate needs (Events level) but also the underlying patterns and behaviors of users (Patterns of Behavior level). This approach allows developers to design solutions that are more closely aligned with users' evolving behaviors and preferences. Additionally, considering the Structural and Mental Models levels enable developers to identify and challenge assumptions about what users need or value, leading to more innovative and user-centric solutions.

Complementing Agile Methodologies

The Levels of Perspective Model can enhance agile practices by encouraging developers to look beyond the immediate backlog of tasks (Events level) and consider the broader patterns of team dynamics and project progress (Patterns of Behavior level). This wider perspective can help in anticipating challenges and opportunities for improvement.

Stacking Systemic Choices Using The Hierarchy Of Choices

The Hierarchy of Choices model offers a structured approach to decision-making that can greatly enhance the effectiveness of IT developers. By delineating decisions across five levels—fundamental, primary, secondary, tertiary and other choices—this model provides a comprehensive framework that aligns closely with design thinking and agile and lean methodologies, enhancing developers' capacity to deliver impactful, user-centered solutions efficiently.

Fundamental Choice: The Purpose Behind Existence

At the core of every IT project is the fundamental question: Why does this project exist? This aligns with the empathetic core of design thinking, which starts with understanding the user's needs and challenges.

Primary Choice: Defining Desired Outcomes

What results does the project aim to achieve? Identifying primary choices involves setting clear, measurable goals, a principle that resonates with the outcome-focused nature of agile methodologies. For developers, defining these outcomes provides a clear direction for the project, facilitating prioritization and helping to maintain focus on delivering value to the end-users.

Secondary Choice: Crafting The Strategy

Deciding on the strategy—how the project will achieve its goals—ties into lean thinking, which emphasizes value streams and waste elimination. For IT developers, understanding the chosen strategy informs the selection of technologies, architectural patterns and development practices that align with project goals. This strategic alignment ensures that resources are optimized and efforts are directed toward activities that directly contribute to the project's objectives.

Tertiary Choice: Selecting Tactics

Tactical choices concern the specific actions taken to implement the strategy. This is where agile practices shine, offering a flexible framework for iterative development, continuous integration and regular feedback loops. Developers, by making informed tactical decisions, can adapt to changes quickly, experiment with solutions and refine their approach based on real-time feedback, all while ensuring alignment with the overarching strategy.

Finally, the model includes a broad category for other choices, encompassing the operational decisions related to the what, where, how and when of project execution.

The Road Ahead

As IT professionals strive to navigate the complexities of modern projects, the integration of systems models with traditional methodologies like design thinking, agile and lean offers a powerful synergy. This systemic integration enables a holistic understanding of complex environments, fosters innovative problem-solving and supports the agile adaptation to change. By embracing these integrated approaches, IT professionals can elevate their expertise, deliver impactful solutions and achieve strategic alignment in their projects, ensuring their role as key drivers of digital transformation.

In conclusion, the relevance of systems models in the IT domain cannot be overstated. As we advance into a future where projects become increasingly complex and interconnected, the ability to integrate and apply these models alongside established IT methodologies will be a defining skill for IT professionals. This systemic integration not only enhances their capacity to address current challenges but also positions them to lead the way in shaping the digital landscapes of tomorrow.

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