Design thinking: How to create products and services your customers love

World-changing inventions are rarely the work of a single person. The creative process is one of collaboration, testing and re-design until an innovation meets human needs. We have found, through our consultative work with many types of businesses, that this way of working leads to creative problem solving, drives change and delivers value. In the digital age, it's fast becoming the only way to develop a consumer experience that delights.

There are four stages of human-centered design:

It is far too easy to focus on one component of design thinking, and downplay the rest. For example, we often see project teams start off by sketching concepts and developing prototypes and then exclaiming they've incorporated design thinking into their process. Recently, we met with a company that was developing a new concept for its stores; it showed us a list of cutting-edge technologies and several concepts for prototypes to take back to its senior managers. While some of the ideas were interesting, the company had skipped the customer research step and hadn't spent time with actual users. As a result, the experiences weren't built around an in-depth understanding of the needs and goals of customers, resulting in wasted time and money.

Conversely, we also encounter companies that directly listen to and observe their customers, but rather than spending time ideating and sketching, they quickly jump to a list of requirements. In this case, the project begins well, as team members jot down observations on sticky notes and group them on a wall, but instead of exploring the ideas in a visual manner, the team ends up translating the notes into a spreadsheet.

Performing any one of these activities in isolation – observation, ideation, prototyping and testing – misses the critical point of design thinking, which is both a journey and a mind-set. As the saying goes, "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts." By picking and choosing certain elements, the project team is likely to miss critical insights that could change the product or service from barely acceptable to delightful.

In the ideation stage, even though many people say they can't draw and are reluctant to create a simple sketch, 'having a go' dramatically changes not only your team members' understanding, but also your own. We call this "thinking aloud on paper," and just as talking to yourself can help crystalize your thoughts, the act of sketching – even stick figures – alters your thinking.

Similarly, testing doesn't always have to be formal, where users come into a lab and undertake tasks as others take notes behind a two-way mirror. With design thinking, testing and validation are often more informal. This stage shouldn't be held off until the prototype is complete; rather, user feedback should come at all stages. A prototype or experience simulation can also be taken into the field, where potential users – such as customers, business partners and employees – can playfully interact with it and provide genuine feedback.

Design thinking doesn't end when the product or service is launched. The Internet of Things (IoT) means many of our networked devices collect and share data on product usage, preferences and behavior. This is a treasure trove of real-time insights that can help organizations anticipate customer needs, enable continuous product improvement and serve up relevant content and experiences. Companies can virtually observe the consumer, uncover unmet needs and incorporate those insights into the customer experience.

"Digital oil" is what we call the richly refined insights generated in real time by networked devices, apps and online activity, recording customers' patterns of behavior and preferences.

One forward-thinking enterprise that is doing this well is Disney.

The entertainment giant has created what it calls the MyMagic+ experience, using a website, app and smart-wristband to learn more about guest preferences and tailor a personalized experience for them. Before their trip, guests can share information through the website about their personal preferences, favorite characters and resort features, and then use the app after their arrival to adjust their plans. The MagicBand, meanwhile, helps guide visitors through the park, manages ticketing and acts as a wallet when paying for dining and shopping. It can unlock the guest's hotel room when needed, order food in advance of arriving at a restaurant and enable staff to greet the guest by name.

Without changing a single feature about the park itself, MyMagic+ is transforming the amusement park experience by enabling data to flow to and from guests, allowing Disney to get to know them even better through their every interaction at the park. Disney has succeeded in merging the physical and digital worlds by turning a previously inert object – the wristband – into a gateway through which it can both understand and deliver what its guests want, when they want it.

The MagicBand blurs the lines between the physical features of the park, the digital capabilities of the band and the insights that Disney now has about the guest, which are also available to employees (or "cast members") in real-time, when it means the most. For example, proactively preparing a room with a portable play crib for a family traveling with a toddler goes far toward winning the guests' appreciation and loyalty.

Businesses should now start embracing and integrating design thinking throughout their organizations - but it's not an add-on. It will require integration and re-orchestration of how the company relates to customers on all channels.

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Adapted from Human-Centric Design: How Design Thinking Can Power Creative Problem-Solving, Drive Change and Deliver Value, by Theo Forbath, Global VP, Digital Transformation, Cognizant Digital Works and Kipp Lynch, Associate VP, UX Research & Design, Cognizant Digital Works.