Design thinking is for everyone

Design thinking is for everyone

The most terrifying question, perhaps, in product management is how do you know that you are making the right product? Managers understand that the moment a product does not satisfy the end-user, that product and the entire process that led to its creation, has been a total waste of resources, energy, and time. 

As a project manager or business product owner, you want a product that meets the specific needs of your customers. If it is not useable, of what need is the product? Design thinking is that problem solving technique that reveals the exact pain point of your customers and help present customer-driven solutions. Design thinking accesses problems through a human-centered design lens.

Design thinking gets you started faster. Every team in your company understands what is been built. The goals are clearer and customer motivated. Making it easier to set priorities. 
However, it will be a complete misapplication to restrict the design thinking process to certain teams within the organization while excluding others. 

Design thinking is for everyone. 

You need every team to be onboard. At one point or another, you will find their input important. Stakeholders, product and project management, market research, development, testers, IT, design, even the legal team should all be included in the design thinking process. 
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Think of it as “the more teams involved, the better the idea generated”. While one team accesses the situation from a market dominance perspective, another sees it from the angle of patent; how the company can own exclusive rights to the idea and make more profit. 

Every team included in the design thinking process offers a unique design idea. They can do this because the design thinking exercise requires them to assume the role of the customers. 

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In design thinking, every discipline is important. 

Whether you intend to adopt lean (to test ideas quickly) or agile (to build ideas quickly), design thinking prepares your entire team. It helps you achieve prompt measurable understanding of how well your design ideas will fix customers' problems. And the last thing you want is any department falling short in their roles because they were not integrated into the design thinking process.