Implementing Design Thinking for Business Engineers

For business engineers, design thinking offers a powerful mindset and toolkit to bridge the gap between technical feasibility, business viability, and human desirability.

So... What is Design Thinking?

Design thinking is a problem-solving approach that emphasizes empathy, experimentation, and iteration (Huyen, 2024). It originated from the world of design but has since transformed the way businesses, startups, and engineers face challenges.

The classic framework includes 5 key stages (Juniantari et al., 2023):

1. Empathize: Understand the people you're designing for.
2. Define: Reframe the problem based on insights.
3. Ideate: Brainstorm a wide range of creative solutions.
4. Prototype: Build quick, low-cost models of ideas.
5. Test: Gather feedback, iterate, and improve.

These stages are not always linear. Instead, it may loop back and forth, depending on the results.

How Do Business Engineers Use It?

1. Empathize

Start by listening to users, customers, or frontline workers. This step will help uncover hidden pain points that need to be addressed.

Tools that can be used:

• Interviews, shadowing, observation
• Empathy maps
• Customer journey maps

2. Define

After gathering insights, define a clear and focused problem statement. This step prevents optimizing the wrong thing.

Tools that can be used:

• Point-of-View (POV) statements
• Problem trees
• Root cause analysis

3. Ideate

This stage is all about brainstorming and throwing in all the ideas. It's where business engineers combine their technical knowledge and out-of-the-box thinking to produce creative ideas.

Techniques that can be used:

• Brainwriting
• SCAMPER
• Crazy 8s sketching
• Ideation workshops

4. Prototype

The prototypes don't have to be perfect. It just needs to be able to test out an idea's potential. Prototypes may be in the form of app mockups, redesigned forms, paper workflow simulations, etc.

Tools that can be used:

• Figma, Balsamiq, etc. for UI
• Flowcharts, Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN), etc. for processes
• Physical mockups or wireframes

5. Test

Show the prototype to real users. Gather feedback. Improve. Repeat.

This phase is to validate assumptions and make data-informed decisions.

Tools that can be used:

• Usability testing
• A/B testing
• Feedback forms
• Interviews
• Process KPIs (time, error rate, etc.)

Why Business Engineers Should Care

Design thinking helps business engineers to:

• Avoid solving the "wrong problem."
• Balance people-centered design with data and logic.
• Deliver better digital transformation outcomes.
• Work cross-functionally with product, IT, and operations teams.

References

Huyen, N. (2024). Fostering Design Thinking mindset for university students with NPCs in the metaverse. Heliyon, 10(15), e34964. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e34964

Juniantari, M., Ulfa, S., & Praherdhiono, H. (2023). Design thinking approach in the development of Cirgeo’s world Media. Jurnal Nasional Pendidikan Teknik Informatika (JANAPATI), 12(1), 42–55. https://doi.org/10.23887/janapati.v12i1.55203

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