A design thinking workshop is a human-centered process that teaches you and your colleagues how to innovate. The workshop encourages everyone to work together so that they can find creative solutions to different problems.
The design thinking workshop benefits your business, your brand, your customers, and every dedicated member of your team. The workshop comes with many business benefits, from boosting morale to encouraging creativity. If you have never been a part of any workshop before, you might be wondering about how they work.
Let’s take a closer look at the seven benefits of design thinking workshops:
1. Reduce the risk of launching an idea that doesn’t work
Have you already designed and launched a new product, only to realize your customers did not need it? Even worse, they didn’t like your idea at all? If so, you know how launching a new idea can be risky.
A design thinking workshop shows you how to prototype and test your ideas before launching them. It dramatically reduces the risk of wasting time and money on something that isn’t a success.
2. Save a lot of precious time
Spending some time in a few design thinking workshop sessions will allow you to save a lot of precious time in the end. You will learn how to figure out what your target customers need and want. Plus, you can develop and test products, as well as deliver results in a timely manner. Again, you will not risk wasting your time on something that won’t work.
3. Involve everyone in a unique creative process
Design thinking workshops are not only for designers. They are meant to involve every member of your team, even if their daily tasks don’t require much creativity.
Everyone will be invited to generate ideas. Then, the whole team will work together to test those ideas and figure out which ones could become a new product, service or solution. This process is all about teamwork and innovation.
4. Provide everyone with useful design skills
With a design thinking workshop, anyone can learn how to think like a designer. The process involves figuring out the target user’s main points and translating them into a simple statement that everyone can understand.
Afterwards, it becomes easier for the whole team to generate ideas that could help solve the main problem. This way of thinking is useful to solve business problems and challenges. As a bonus, it can also become helpful in other areas of your life.
5. Encourage teamwork and brainstorming
In a big company, employees working in different departments might not get a chance to work closely together. However, a design thinking workshop gives everyone an opportunity to join forces. They can combine their different skills and strengths to find an innovative solution to any problem.
In a workshop, no idea is too simple or too silly to be shared. Not all ideas will be developed into something concrete, but they all have the potential to start insightful discussions and reflections. Everyone can contribute to the design thinking process, which will help the whole team achieve outstanding results.
6. Stay relevant with innovative solutions
No matter which industry you are in, you certainly have a lot of competitors. If you keep offering the same products or services to your customers, you could eventually fall behind companies developing and selling innovative ideas.
A design thinking workshop can come to the rescue by improving your current offer. The process creates new products or services that will allow you to leave your competitors behind.
7. Give your customers exactly what they want
When you test prototypes for new ideas, you can request and receive feedback from real users. This will help you make sure your product or service meets their needs. Design thinking workshops then help you give your customers exactly what they want and need, resulting in happier, more loyal customers. Since you will focus on how to help users instead of profiting from your new idea, you have more chances of reaching both of these goals.
Scheduling a design thinking workshop with your team is a good idea if you are about to embark on a massive project. A design thinking approach makes it easier for you to think outside the box. Plus, you can find solutions that simplify challenges and improve products and services.
Do you feel like you could use some new creative thinking skills? Would you like your business to innovate and to stand out from the competition? Maybe it’s time for your company to do a design thinking workshop!
