In our new STEIN series, “Seizing Opportunities,” we share our insights on approaches that companies can use to achieve long-term success. What does the term “Design Thinking” actually mean? STEIN spoke with a Design Thinking expert and asked stonemasons to explain how this method can be useful in their day-to-day work.

David Kelley, Terry Winograd, and Larry Leifer developed Design Thinking at Stanford University in California as a concept for creative problem-solving. “The basic idea behind Design Thinking is that interdisciplinary teams, in particular, can create genuine, outstanding innovations. The Design Thinking process aims to bring together as diverse a range of experiences, opinions, and perspectives as possible regarding a given problem. Design Thinking evolved from industrial design. Therefore, it is primarily aimed at developing innovative products and services that are tailored to human needs,” reads the introduction on kreativitätstechniken.info. But what exactly does Design Thinking mean, how do you use it to solve a problem, and what does it entail?

Design Thinking involves various phases, plus a preparation phase. According to design thinker and certified designer Tobias Greissing from Wittighausen in Baden-Württemberg, the preparation phase is particularly important. “In this phase, the problem is defined without predetermining the outcome. It’s crucial that all participants see the problem in the same way. At the same time, a suitable environment must be created in an inspiring location. Ideally, this includes several people—up to twelve—from different areas of the business, such as sales and accounting; trainees, the managing director, and external experts can also expand the group,” explains Greissing, who regularly teaches Design Thinking in the skilled trades through seminars. According to Greissing, a prerequisite for a design thinking process is being open to the topic and ready for change. “Because many people have completely forgotten how to be creative—they only strive to work effectively.” This preparation is followed by six phases of the Design Thinking process, which all participants go through together.

The first phase focuses on understanding the problem. Participants develop a shared understanding of the topic and grasp the context. In the second phase, they immerse themselves in the users’ world, going out to meet customers to identify their needs, observe them, and interview them. Empathy—rather than personal interpretations and assumptions—is essential here. In the third phase, the first step is to answer the question, “Is this still our problem?” and to draw conclusions from the first two phases—“Understanding” and “Observing”—and jointly define the central challenge. The fourth phase is characterized by generating many ideas to solve this problem. Within a specific, predetermined timeframe, numerous ideas—including some out-of-the-box ones—are developed using targeted creativity techniques, collected, continuously presented, and discussed. Then, one idea is selected and presented to the end user. If the end user isn’t receptive to it, the process returns to the ideation phase or even the understanding phase. “The rationale is that if the project fails early on, participants can quickly move on to new ideas,” Greissing explains. The diversity of the team helps generate high-quality solutions. In the fifth phase, prototypes are developed anddemonstrated as models. This provides an opportunity to re-engage with the user. Testing takes place in the sixth phase. Before moving to final production, the results are presented to users once more, and the decision is made whether or not to proceed with manufacturing. These six steps can be repeated multiple times. It’s also possible to backtrack from one step to a previous one to make corrections. “The concept can be refined until the best possible solution is found or the approach must be discarded,” explains Greissing. The website of the Central Association of German Crafts (ZDH) states: “The innovation approach known as Design Thinking helps solve problems creatively and quickly—in multidisciplinary teams with a focus on the user. This user-oriented approach also plays a central role in the skilled trades.”

The Federal Association of German Stonemasons (BIV) has also recognized this approach and organized a half-day seminar on Design Thinking for 35 female master craftsmen at the beginning of the year, with Tobias Greissing as the instructor. Masood Bashary from the association’s office on the selection of this seminar topic: “We wanted to make it clear to the participants that every problem can also represent an opportunity. The first step is simply to understand a problem, then to put yourself in the customer’s shoes, and from there to develop products that meet their needs or are in line with current trends. Stonemasons are, by nature, very creative people. We wanted to equip them with additional creative techniques for approaching a new product, thereby making the first step in the product development process—which centers on the customer’s needs—easier for them. It’s about trying something different for a change—with the Design Thinking methodology, stonemasons can approach problems proactively rather than always just reactively.” After the Federal Association took the lead, the District Master of the Hessian State Guild Association of Stonemasons and Stone Sculptors in Frankfurt also proposed organizing a seminar on Design Thinking, adds Sonja Mücke of LIV Hessen.

Read more in STEIN 10/2019.