What is design thinking?

Design thinking is a mindset in which an entrepreneur thinks about how the product their developing satisfies human needs. At the same time, an entrepreneur must also consider what is technologically feasible and economically viable. When entrepreneurs use design thinking to provide desirability to people, they try to understand the unmet needs of the people that the product is being created for. By empathizing with customers, the entrepreneur can identify their product’s strengths and weaknesses. Using this information, the entrepreneur can then address concerns raised by the consumers and build upon its positive attributes. It is in this step that the entrepreneur has to come up with a problem statement that is written from the consumer/stakeholder’s perspective. After that, the entrepreneur begins the brainstorming process that is focused on creating a solution to the problem statement. This involves exploring as many ideas as possible and jotting them down into mind-maps. This step helps to better understand the feasibility of certain ideas, which can then be narrowed down to a few actually feasible solutions to address the problem statement. These ideas are then made concrete through prototypes, so that the entrepreneur can further examine the product’s strengths and weaknesses. In an effort to find the best possible solution, prototypes are often redone, repurposed, or even scrapped altogether with a whole new prototype taking its place. Once the entrepreneur has perfected the prototype, it can then be tested by consumers and stakeholders, where their feedback will be collected and taken into consideration. Observing people’s thoughts about a product and receiving feedback from experimental prototypes can significantly improve the final product’s efficacy as a solution to the problem statement, thus promoting a more successful end-product.

How has design thinking influenced a product I use?

Design thinking has influenced all sorts of products. For instance, the smart phone that I use is made up of many different, yet specific hardware components that are designed to fit a powerful computer into a smaller form factor. This takes considerable time in research and development, since the device must be appealing to the general consumer that is not very technologically savvy, and also meets the needs of different types of users. The mainline smart phones of today are expected to satisfy the needs of productivity, photography, multimedia streaming, gaming, and more. Smart phones must also meet the consumer’s aesthetic and ergonomic standards while also having optimal performance. For example, to have a slimmer profile, Apple smart phones started having their headphone jacks removed, much to the chagrin of their customers. Users loved having this feature and of course it meant that they had to acquire an adapter to use their wired audio peripheral, or just buy a wireless audio device instead. Over time, as technology progressed and users adopted wireless earbuds/headphones, the standards have changed so much that most users don’t consider the missing headphone jack to be a problem anymore. Other companies also started removing their headphone jacks so that they could compete with Apple. This is an example of design thinking, where Apple’s initially controversial idea became more and more feasible into the future and even revolutionized smart phone design.

What are the connections between opportunities and planning?

There are several connections that can be made between opportunities and planning. For instance, good planning presents good opportunities. That is, when a person plans out what they want to do, how they want to do it, and what others want them to do, this puts that person on a track that will likely lead them towards opportunity. For example, a freshman college student is planning what career field they want to study, how they are going to succeed (time management, research, collaboration, in-person vs. online classes, etc.), and what others expect of them (the university, employers, etc.). Following through with the plan will result in many different opportunities for the student, this could be an internship or job opportunity, or even an entrepreneurship with another student that they never thought was possible. The reverse is also true—good opportunities require good planning. This means that when a person already sees an opportunity over the horizon, they must devise a solid plan to reach it.

What opportunities have I missed?

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I missed out on going to multiple in-person classes which could have helped me get into closer contact with my professors and peers that could have presented me with some opportunities. I missed out on gaining certain insights early on in the Cybersecurity program that could have been beneficial to me in planning what I was going to do. At the time, there were some things I didn’t even know that I didn’t know. However, this may have helped me in a way because I had to take it upon myself to research this career field to better understand what is expected of me, and from there I planned out what courses to take, what certification to pursue, etc. I may have missed out on certain internship opportunities due to my lack of prior knowledge in the cybersecurity career field, but with time and research I now know what I want to do, what my employers want me to do, and how I’m going to do it.

Can a successful venture be unethical?

A successful venture can certainly be unethical. Entrepreneurs have to worry about adapting their mission and vision to the external environment and internal organization. Often times, in order to fulfill their vision, the entrepreneur chooses to pursue unethical ideas so that they can minimize costs. For example, in an effort to cut manufacturing costs, Apple relied heavily on child labor from Suyin Electronics, one of their Chinese-based suppliers at the time. When Apple learned about this unethical practice in 2013, they chose to still rely on the company for more than three years. Now, this became even more unethical on Apple’s part—first, more research could have been done on their part to determine if Suyin was following supply chain ethics policies, and second, they hesitated to stop doing business with an unethical business entity that relies on child labor to meet their quota. There are more instances in which Apple, and many other companies, partake in unethical business practices to minimize costs. Despite this, we, as consumers, will continue to look the other way as we contribute to the success of these companies.