Leveraging Human Centric Design for Better Problem Solving (free ebook extract)

The following is an extract from my brand new, free ebook titled Cracking the Code: Master Problem Solving with Human Centric Design. I wrote this free ebook as I’m a firm believer that design thinking, that is always putting the end-user first, is ultimately the best way to frame business problems. After all, if you don’t understand how and who is using a particular product or process, you have no chance of delivering a solution of any real value.

The following falls under the chapter titled “Understanding the User”. If you would like to get your free copy of my ebook, it’s now available on Gumroad.

Understanding the user

The first step in any problem-solving process is to understand the people involved in any given process. This means gathering information about their needs, goals, and pain points. This could include internal teams, departments etc or it could even be a personal pain point you’re facing in your own role.

This can be done through a variety of methods, such as user research, surveys, and interviews. By humanising any given process, we can create solutions that are tailored to specific needs and goals.

For example, let’s say we operate a gym and want to create a new mobile app for our customers. In order to understand the customers of our gym, we could conduct research to gather information about our customers fitness goals, pain points, and motivations. We might also conduct surveys and interviews to gather more detailed information about their habits and preferences. This information would then be used to inform the design and development of the app, ensuring that it meets the needs of our specific customer base.

Whilst it seems obvious, it’s astounding the number of times I’ve talked to clients, teams and other stakeholders who just assumed that they knew what their customers wanted without ever talking to them. By adopting this mindset, it’s a huge shot in the dark and you’re opening yourself up to potentially devastating consequences to your business.

Why I wrote this

I wrote “Cracking the Code” to illustrate how design thinking can be applied to a wide variety of business problems. Ultimately the concepts in the book have a common thread which is simplicity. Based on my personal journey from running a boutique agency, to now consulting in large regional and international organisations, I’ve seen first hand both sides of the spectrum; tunnel vision of end-user values and extreme disconnects due to corporate politics and team bloat. What I’m hoping to prove is that with the right thinking in place, regardless of the size of your company, team or organisation, there’s still great value in being hyper-focused on the wants and needs of your customers.