Preparation
01 · Frame the design challenge
- Define the problem in human terms using the "How Might We..." (HMW) format: open-ended, solvable, and centered on a specific person.
- Instead of "Improve the onboarding process," use: "How might we help new team members feel capable and connected in their first month?"
- A well-framed HMW question is the workshop's compass — all subsequent work orbits around it.
02 · Form diverse teams
- Groups of 3–5 people work best. Diversity of background, role, and perspective strengthens the output.
- Assign one facilitator per team to guide the process without directing the solutions.
03 · Prepare materials
- Post-it notes in multiple colors, markers, large paper sheets or whiteboards per team.
- Printed templates: empathy maps, POV statement sheets, dot stickers for voting.
- Prototyping supplies: cardboard, tape, scissors, clay, printed wireframe templates.
- A timer visible to all teams to maintain pace and energy.
Step-by-step instructions
1
Phase 1 — Empathize (45–90 min)
- Teams research the experience of the people they are designing for through interviews, observation, or immersion.
- If users are present: run short 1:1 interviews (15–20 min each). If not: use secondary sources — reviews, complaints, ethnographic reports, personas.
- Capture findings on sticky notes — one insight per note. Organize them on a shared empathy map: What do they SAY / THINK / DO / FEEL?
2
Phase 2 — Define (30–45 min)
- Synthesize empathy findings into a Point of View (POV) statement: a single sentence capturing the user's core need and the surprising insight behind it.
- Format: "[User] needs [need] because [unexpected insight]."
- Example: "A first-year teacher needs to quickly feel like a trusted peer because professional isolation is the primary driver of early attrition."
- The POV becomes the team's filter: all ideas are evaluated against whether they genuinely serve this human need.
3
Phase 3 — Ideate (45–60 min)
- Generate as many ideas as possible before evaluating any. Defer judgment is the non-negotiable rule of this phase.
- Use structured ideation techniques: Brainstorming, Crazy 8s (8 sketches in 8 minutes), SCAMPER, or Worst Possible Idea (generate terrible solutions first to unlock creative inhibition).
- After generating, teams vote with dot stickers on the most promising ideas. Select 1–3 to prototype.
4
Phase 4 — Prototype (30–60 min)
- Build fast, rough representations of selected ideas. The goal is a tangible artifact to think with and test — not a finished product.
- Prototypes can be: paper sketches, cardboard models, role-play scenarios, storyboards, clickable wireframes, or service blueprints.
- Core rule: build to learn, not to impress. A prototype that fails in testing teaches more than one that looks polished but never gets tested.
5
Phase 5 — Test (30–60 min)
- Share prototypes with real users or people outside the design team. Ask them to interact and think aloud.
- Observe without intervening. Note what surprises, confuses, or delights them.
- After testing, return to earlier phases based on findings. Insights from testing often send teams back to Define or Ideate — this iteration is the method working as designed.
6
Debrief and next steps (30 min)
- Each team shares their key learnings from the full cycle — what they discovered, what they built, what they learned from testing.
- Define what needs refinement, what is worth developing further, and what has been ruled out.
- Agree on next iterations or a development roadmap.
Materials
Post-it notes in multiple colors and markers
Large paper sheets or whiteboards for each team
Printed empathy map and POV statement templates
Prototyping materials: cardboard, tape, scissors, clay, printed wireframe sheets
Dot stickers for voting
Visible timer for all teams
Practical recommendations
Resist the pull toward solutions. The Empathize and Define phases are the most underestimated and the most important — shortcuts here undermine everything that follows.
"Fail fast, fail cheap" is not a slogan — it is operational. The purpose of prototyping is to surface bad ideas before investing in them, not after.
Don't skip the debrief. What teams learn about how they learn is often more durable than any specific solution they generate.
For beginners, a Sprint format (3–5 days) gives the process room to breathe. A condensed workshop (3–4 hours) works well for teams already fluent in the method.
Virtual adaptation: use Miro or Mural with digital sticky notes, embedded timers, and phase templates. Zoom breakout rooms function as team workspaces. The test phase can be conducted via recorded video calls with users.
Inspiration
Application examples by context:
- Education: Students redesign an aspect of their own school — the library, the homework system, the cafeteria — using real interviews with classmates and staff as the empathy foundation.
- Healthcare: A hospital team redesigns patient admission by shadowing patients through the process and mapping pain points through direct observation.
- Community development: Neighborhood residents co-design a new public space through a workshop that centers the needs of elderly residents and youth through structured empathy research.
- Nonprofit innovation: An organization uses Design Thinking to reimagine volunteer onboarding after discovering through interviews that volunteers feel purposeless in their first weeks.
- Design Sprint (Google Ventures): A 5-day compressed version with fixed daily phases, developed for digital product teams. Replaces months of development cycles with a single structured week.
- Mini Design Thinking (2–3 hours): Condensed version running the full 5-phase cycle with shorter time boxes. Ideal for introductions and training sessions.
- Service Design Thinking: Applies the DT framework specifically to service experiences, adding tools like service blueprints and customer journey maps.
Consulted sources
- Brown, T. (2009). Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation. HarperCollins.
- IDEO (2015). The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design. IDEO.org.
- Knapp, J., Zeratsky, J. & Kowitz, B. (2016). Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days. Simon & Schuster.
- Plattner, H., Meinel, C. & Leifer, L. (Eds.) (2011). Design Thinking: Understand, Improve, Apply. Springer.
- Liedtka, J. & Ogilvie, T. (2011). Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Tool Kit for Managers. Columbia University Press.
