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Design Thinking

Design Thinking

Solve problems creatively to innovate, enhance user experience and more

Spend about 10 seconds on social media and it’s easy to see the problems that exist. Customers are fed up with frustrating customer service and difficult user experiences. They’ve had enough of traditional product development and service design where the idea comes first and the customer need follows.

And, their patience is thinner than ever. In fact, 65 percent of customers say they’ve ended a brand relationship after a single negative experience.[1] Research shows this isn’t changing anytime soon.

Business is not alone in these challenges. Government agencies and non-profit organizations are now expected to address intractable wicked problems—problems too big for any one organization to solve on its own.

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Seeing beyond problems to opportunities

Where others see problems, we see opportunity. Legions of loyal customers, donors and volunteers await companies willing to listen, problem solve and innovate. Design thinking provides the methodology for unraveling masked customer frustrations and developing actionable solutions turning customer frazzle into joy.

What is design thinking?

Design thinking puts users at the core of problem-solving by engaging users in both defining the problem and brainstorming solutions. Sometimes, users tell us organizations have been solving the wrong problems. Other times, they can help us hone in on specific processes that are the worst offenders. In many cases, their deep experience or expectations set the stage for more elegant, simple, streamlined solutions.

Design thinking’s methodology helps us view problems from multiple perspectives—most importantly, that of users (where interviews, data analysis, empathy mapping and persona development come in). Developing visual representations of problems and solutions to aid in development of a shared understanding is another (where tools such as journey mapping, process mapping, sketches and prototyping lend value).

Differentiating among design thinking firms

At Blue Door Consulting, our passion for design thinking began after watching frustrated digital users attempt to navigate websites in 2005.

We realized the online user experience problems we were seeing mimicked problems we saw offline. Too commonly, user-experience problems masqueraded as marketing challenges.

We realized the need for a holistic approach that put empathy for users at the core of problem solving. And, we saw incredible opportunities to increase sales, drive customer retention, improve non-profit outcomes and strengthen relationships among service providers.

We’ve built our company around these capabilities, developing expertise in market research, brainstorming, strategic facilitation, user experience design, customer experience design and data analysis.

Whether it’s providing a more intimate understanding of customer needs or uncovering innovative, high-yield processes, we’ve walked next to clients as they’ve increased sales, improved customer retention and built a base of raving fans, solved wicked problems and enhanced outcomes.

Whatever challenge we are tackling, our design thinking team remains focused on the overall goal: removing barriers to customer delight.

Customer Experience & Service Design

When you want deeper connection to customer needs, our customer experience design team will collaborate with you to optimize customer journeys.

Market Research

If you need actionable insights from qualitative and quantitative research to drive your decision-making, Blue Door Consulting’s market research team can help.

Strategic Planning facilitation

If you’re looking for a strategic planning process that gets buy-in and results, we can help. We use design thinking principles in strategic facilitation.

UX/UI

Looking to eliminate customer frustrations? Blue Door Consulting’s UI and UX team focuses on experiences and aesthetics that build customer connection to your brand.

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Choosing a design thinking firm

If you are looking for a design thinking firm that will partner with you to look at problems differently, bring user insights into your problem-solving process, brainstorm solutions and develop a shared understanding of customer needs and solutions, please contact us for a complimentary one-hour consultation.

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