The Intersection of Design Thinking and User Experience

Think of it as the front end of the front end, this fusion of methods for solving
problems for real people and creating a better experience for them.
By fusing Design Thinking and User Experience you learn the sociopsychological wants and desires of your user base and understand their
world, as well unpacking attitudes, reactions, and emotions about a specific
tested object.
When practiced together we begin to see how human-centered a technology
innovation can be. The intersection of the two methods gives an in-depth,
general understanding of the audience for whom you are creating and also
detailed, specific user feedback about a particular product, platform, or
service.
Allow a brief explanatory, topical detour, a gentle reminder:
Design Thinking is a method for creating innovative products and services.
Design Thinking doesnt start with a business problem per se, but rather a
consumer or customer problem.
User Experience (UX) gauges a persons responses, perceptions, and
emotions about a particular Web or mobile experience, but can also be used
for hard or actual 3-D products. According to the ISO definition, user
experience includes all the users' emotions, beliefs, preferences,
perceptions, physical and psychological responses, behaviors and
accomplishments that occur before, during, and after use, but is focused on
use.
At the most theoretical levels both Design Thinking and User Experience help
people find what they need.
Key differences, however, include the intentionand the solution itself.
Typically with Design Thinking the intention is to find the gaps in the persons
experience in the world that could be augmented with innovative products or
services; whereas in UX the general context of testing is make incremental
improvements in something that is already under development but not yet

launched. The UX designer is looking for how to meet preferences for a

solution under development (the Define phase is already complete, so to
speak), but in Design Thinking the solution arises out of a deeper discovery
into the usage category without any preset notions about solutions.
Both Design Thinking and UX are valuable disciplines, but both would be
more valuable to themselves and their users if they cross-pollinated, starting
with users earlier in the discovery and invention process.
Therefore, by creating a new hybrid of DTX (design thinking experience) you
go deeper into user empathy, ensure you are solving the right problem in
your prototypes, and delve even further into what makes desirable and
valuable experiences, and then take a richer level of insight into the actual
experience of a technology, product, or service.

Daily and Memphis News Article

Michael Graber is the managing partner of the Southern Growth Studio, an innovation and
strategic growth firm based in Memphis, TN. Visit www.southerngrowthstudio.com to
learn more.