By Nilson Yoshihara, Technical Account Manager at Software AG
A recent movement in organizations has been increasingly consolidated towards the search for innovative solutions that solve the new digital challenges: creative thinking or Design Thinking.
The context is relatively simple to understand: the arrival of new technologies such as mobile, cloud, social and big data changes the way people can and want to relate to companies, and this creates new challenges and opportunities for organizations. Citizens and customers today are “digital” and want to communicate with company processes in real time, using their smartphones and Facebook profiles.
However, traditional organizations need to prepare for this digital customer. The need for quick and effective solutions contributed for these companies to seek techniques and methods to encourage people to think about innovative solutions and that is where Design Thinking comes in as a process capable of bringing answers to the new challenges that arise every day.
The creative process always involves an observation phase, in which the participants immerse themselves to understand the customer's experience with products and services offered by the organization. The first change begins to emerge in this approach, as this process is focused on people and not on the product. It may seem simple to say that the organization is "customer-centric", but behind this concept, a major paradigm shift is required, in which the company takes the focus off its product portfolio and focuses on the customer's needs.
This new approach underscores the organization's need to understand the user's entire journey, their points of contact and moments of truth with this consumer. The knowledge of this experience is crucial for the company to understand which processes need to change, otherwise it may increase its image risk. The Design Thinking process helps not only to discover this journey, but also to generate ideas for solutions that cure the client's “pains”.
It is practically impossible not to think of ideas that can provide innovation in organizations without considering the digital world scenario that we are living in. During the phase of building ideas in the creative process, new insights emerge considering tools and instruments that we use on a daily basis - and that includes the devices, applications and digital experience that we all want to have.
Therefore, although they seem to be isolated issues, the practice of Design Thinking and digital solutions are connected. Society is changing rapidly as a result of digital transformation and this profound change creates possibilities for new businesses and services. That is why it is not an exaggeration to say that the adoption of the practice of creative thinking gained strength due to the need to find innovative solutions in response to the digital revolution.
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