What is Design Thinking?
Into self-help but have been struggling with your personal development process? If so, you may need to use a more effective approach: the innovative design thinking method.
Many people think finding purpose in life entails this miraculous revelation where, out of nowhere, all of your life experiences suddenly culminate in a big aha moment. But it doesn’t work like that. As Harvard Business Review exclaims you don’t need to wait for an epiphany.
In fact, you don’t find purpose, you determine it. However, doing so can be incredibly difficult if you don’t know where to start or lack a reliable process you can leverage. The design thinking method is a creative process that combines a designer’s intuition with a strategist’s sensibility for an innovative yet practical way to generate viable solutions.
What I value most about adopting this as a self-help strategy is that it is solution-oriented. Using the process forces you to build a growth mindset as you apply creative, critical, and constructive thinking toward a positive future outcome.
This is contrary to being problem-oriented where you are fixated on the issue itself or focused on why it emerged. Problem-oriented thinking may help you identify the cause of an issue (perhaps so you can avoid making the same mistake twice) but it will not help you solve it.
When it comes to personal development you don’t want to get bogged down with negative thinking such as: why has it taken me so long to find my purpose, shouldn’t I have figured this out by now, why is it so hard to find myself? Instead, shift to solution-oriented thinking, as you’ll employ with the design thinking process, which helps you reframe your situation and start thinking in terms of “how might“ instead.
By defining themes and insights, you’ve identified problem areas that pose challenges to the people you’re designing for. Now, try reframing your insight statements as How Might [I] questions to turn those challenges into opportunities for design. We use the How Might [I] format because it suggests that a solution is possible and because they offer you the chance to answer them in a variety of ways. A properly framed How Might [I] doesn’t suggest a particular solution, but gives you the perfect frame for innovative thinking. — IDEO
Design Your Life
I studied design thinking at Stanford University’s d.school and have been using it to solve problems and uncover opportunities ever since — that includes personal, creative and business problems. The Stanford design thinking methodology uses a 5-step process.
I’ve repurposed the 5-step design thinking process so it is applicable to personal growth (though I also use it in creative and business problem-solving as the model was originally designed for). This guide shows you how it can be adapted and used in a self-help capacity, specifically to assist you with finding your purpose:
Empathize — what matters most?
Define — what are the needs?
Ideate — what are potential solutions?
Prototype — what’s a good representation?
Test — what works, what doesn’t?
Empathize
In a business context Stanford defines the empathy phase as learning about the audience you are designing for via observation and interview. The empathy stage prompts you to ask questions such as who is my user and what matters to them?
In personal development you can adapt this step to be all about gathering information (about yourself) in a nonjudgmental way. You can ask yourself questions such as what matters to me most and why?
Reflect on the ideologies you've already been exposed to (perhaps this is a religion you were raised to believe) but also seek different schools of thought (this could be a new philosophy that inspires you) and try to learn about them with an open mind. Additionally, think about your personal interests and affinities.
Taking inventory of all the different things (ideas, interests, philosophies, etc.) you naturally gravitate to can give you a good sense of what matters to you most.
Define
In Stanford’s d.school we were taught that the define phase is about creating a perspective based on insights gathered about your audience by asking the question: what are their needs? You can apply this to your purpose-finding efforts by synthesizing all of the information you’ve gathered in the Empathize phase and shaping your point of view.
Of the different schools of thought, interests, and principles that resonate most, ask yourself: how might I use one or more of these ideas to improve myself? Which of these meet my most pressing needs as it pertains to personal development? Can I actually live my life by any of these ideas?
Ideate
The ideate phase tends to be the most fun. This is where you take your notes from the Define phase and come up with as many potential creative solutions as possible, even wild ideas. In this step you want to brainstorm how you could build a purpose around the specific principles and interests that you resonate with.
For example, when I went through this exercise myself some years ago, Stoicism was one of the concepts I gravitated to because it was a good fit with my personality. I then brainstormed various ways I could build a purpose rooted in this philosophical belief system.
One of my ideas was to become a modern day Stoic philosopher, which I was not seriously considering but wrote it down anyway. In fact, many of my early ideas were not that compelling. However, the act of brainstorming expanded my perspective about what was possible and eventually led to solid ideas I was excited to pursue (such as starting this publication).
Use this exercise to vet different schools of thought that resonate with you until you have a laundry list of ideas. Some you may be very excited about and others not so much. But jot everything down because this phase is more about quantity than quality.
Prototype
Prototyping is when you develop a representation of one of your most promising ideas to better visualize how it can be a potential solution. Go back to your notes from the Ideate phase and select one or two of the ideas you feel most inspired by and motivated to start building on.
After the Ideate session you should have a core set of principles that you really believe in and be able to summarize them into a succinct statement of purpose. That statement is the foundation of your prototype. You can build from there.
For instance, when I went through the prototype phase I decided to start a blog about minimalism and simple living. It was just a side project, a first attempt at bringing one of my core values to life. That blog unexpectedly went viral and I was able to monetize it and then sell it for a substantial sum. So you never know where prototypes may lead you.
Test
According to the Stanford design thinking method, the Test phase is when you share your prototype with your original audience and get feedback on what works and what doesn’t. You can also get feedback on your statement of purpose and early prototype by seeking outside counsel on it (from trusted friends and family, a life coach, etc.)
You can also start to apply it to real life situations to get a sense of how this statement translates in a practical way. Ultimately you will be able to refine your purpose to a simple and succinct statement, then start orienting your life around it.
Finding purpose in your life may not happen overnight. Your design thinking process could take a couple of months to work through or a couple of years. But what’s most valuable about this process is that each phase enriches and enlightens you. As you advance towards the main goal you are also developing yourself along the way.
