Decographic's Blog

Graphic Design Using the Design Thinking Process

Written by Daniela Belevan | August 5, 2016

 

When designing, it is important to have the design thinking process fresh in your head. In fact, design thinking is always keeping the end user in mind. But why is it important? It creates a cycle that can be repeated until an effective solution or design is created.

Design thinking is a process that takes advantage of the empathetic, creative, innovative, and analytical skills in order to provide the best solution to a problem. In other words, creating good graphic design means you have to look for a perfect solution to the problem as well as a way to get the message across easily.

Below are 5 steps in graphic design using the design thinking process.



Step 1: Empathize

The first step in human centered design is learning about the audience that you are designing for. At this stage, you really have to understand the problem and analyze it well. Consider the path of how a designer begins their project. First, he grasps the situation as a whole to better comprehend the problem. Keep in mind that the purpose of human-centered design is to come up with the best solution to solve the issue.

 

LEARN MORE: What is Design Thinking?

 

Step 2: Define

Now that you have gathered enough information from step 1, you are now ready for the second phase. Since you already collected your insights from the previous step, now you can analyze and interpret them. Make sure you are also reflecting on the problem, as it is requirement in order to create a plan on how to solve it.

 

Step 3: Ideate

As the solution is presented, you have to allow your mind to go into deeper thinking. In this step you will bring all your ideas to the table. Having a creative mindset brings you to coming up with a creative design solution.

 

 

Step 4: Prototype

This is the phase where the end user can apply a creative solution that has been collected from Step 3. This is the point where the solution is being revealed. Here, things may go wrong in the design process, and it is up to you and your team to fix it before the final test.

 

Step 5: Test

At this point, the final test allows you to have an idea in taking advantage of the solution. Design thinking is not just having the solution and not reviewing it. Instead, feedback and observation has to be collected to know whether or not you understood the process.

 

In a real scenario…

The client then contacts the designer and asks them to complete a project. The moment the graphic designer contacts the client and explains the possibilities, the artist has now entered the first stage.

Designing isn’t easy. But with these five steps, design thinking may come smoothly.

 

 

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