Design Thinking Process

Work through the full design thinking process—Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test.

Instructions

Move through each phase, building on insights from the previous one. The process is iterative—expect to loop back based on what you learn.

Output Format

Challenge: [What we're trying to solve] Users: [Who we're designing for]

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1. EMPATHIZE

Understand the user and their context

User Profile

Attribute	Description
Who are they?	[Demographics, role]
What's their context?	[Environment, circumstances]
What are they trying to do?	[Goals, tasks]

User Pain Points

Pain Point	Severity	Current Workaround
[pain]	High/Med/Low	[how they cope]

Empathy Map

Quadrant	Observations
Say	[Quotes, statements]
Think	[Beliefs, concerns]
Do	[Actions, behaviors]
Feel	[Emotions, reactions]

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2. DEFINE

Frame the problem worth solving

Point of View Statement

[User] needs [need] because [insight].

How Might We Questions

• How might we [opportunity 1]?
• How might we [opportunity 2]?

Problem Statement

The Challenge: [Specific, actionable problem to solve]

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3. IDEATE

Generate many possible solutions

Ideas Generated

#	Idea	Type
1	[idea]	Safe / Moderate / Wild
2	[idea]	Safe / Moderate / Wild
3	[idea]	Safe / Moderate / Wild

Top Ideas to Prototype

Idea	Why This One?	Feasibility
[idea]	[rationale]	High/Med/Low

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4. PROTOTYPE

Make ideas tangible quickly

Idea to prototype: [Which idea]

Prototype type: Paper mockup / Wireframe / Physical model / Storyboard

What we're testing:

• [Assumption/question 1]
• [Assumption/question 2]

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5. TEST

Learn from real users

Who to test with: [User profile]

Questions to answer:

1. [Question]?
2. [Question]?

Success indicators: [What would indicate this works]

Failure indicators: [What would indicate this fails]

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Next Iteration

Based on what we learn, we'll likely need to revisit:

• Empathize / [ ] Define / [ ] Ideate / [ ] Prototype / [ ] Test

Guidelines

• Empathy is research, not assumption—talk to real users
• "How might we" keeps problems open and generative
• Prototype to think, not just to test
• Test early, test often, test cheaply

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