An introduction to design thinking
Design thinking is a human-centered approach to problem-solving that emphasizes empathy, creativity, and iterative prototyping. It aims to understand users’ needs and desires, fostering a unifying language for multidisciplinary collaboration and leading to more innovative solutions more quickly.
The design thinking process consists of six main steps: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test, and implement (Figure 10.1). It begins with empathizing with the customer and understanding their needs, gains, and pains. Next, the problem is defined based on gathered insights. During the ideate step, potential solutions are generated, followed by rapid prototyping and testing with real users for feedback. At the end of these five steps, we can implement the elements into the final production of our VR project. By prioritizing customers’ needs, design thinking generates novel ideas that delight users, ensuring continuous improvement and refinement...