IBM Systems Magazine, Mainframe - January/February 2018 - 11

for someone," Hill explains.
"Design thinking is distinguished
by bringing multiple disciplines
together to make sense of a
complex problem and to explore
solutions together."
Like with any new approach,
there can be resistance. The
pushback to beginning-to-end
collaboration stems from adherence
to a traditional approach to
projects. "The centers of power
are frequently optimized around
disciplinary silos. Marketing silos.
Development silos. Operational
silos. Within each silo, it's easier
to make decisions based on the
metrics and language of that silo,"
he notes.
When departments act
autonomously, they can make
decisions based on what allows
them to meet their individual goals
and objectives. "Then you have
to go through a painful process
of deciding what values and
measures you're going to prioritize
overall. That frequently comes into
conflict with the human outcome
you want," he says.
"When we think of developing
any kind of offering that will be
successful in the marketplace, we
have to look beyond any of our
particular professional domains
and look at the domain of the user,
which provides a common frame of
reference for everyone on a team."

Through a User Lens
Product innovation sometimes
starts with a new technology and
searches for a way to use it. The
user-centric methodology of design
thinking smashes that mold.
Organizations must keep
the focus of their products and
services on the user. The design
thinking approach establishes a
practice, or habit, of emphasizing
throughout the entire design
process the people who will
directly use the product or service
being created.

"You need to know who your
users are, the problems they face
and how to solve them," Hill says.
A key to creating a successful
design is the ability to observe and
reflect on the relevance, appeal
and usability of a product, then

learn and make incremental improvements.
This is the core of the Design Thinking Loop,
which is a continuous cycle to:
*

Observe what's important to users
and how design ideas meet their
expectations

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IBM Systems Magazine, Mainframe - January/February 2018

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