Design Thinking Applied in Digital Marketing
In the words of Tim Brown, one of the greatest promoters of this methodology, Design Thinking “is a discipline that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods to match people’s needs with what is technologically feasible and what a viable business strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunity.”
Design Thinking is not a new methodology. In his article “Design Thinking” published in 2008 in the Harvard Business Review, Tim Brown considers Thomas Alva Edison as a precursor. However, today it is highly useful for solving almost all types of problems. Thanks to Design Thinking, we understand the importance of empathizing with the customer before prototyping and launching a new product; in addition, it has proven to be very valuable for innovation and for strengthening teamwork.
Considering this approach, it’s no surprise that it can be applied to Digital Marketing. To understand how Digital Marketing relates to Design Thinking, it’s important to recall the base definition and methodology of Design Thinking.
Design Thinking and Its Relationship with Digital Marketing
Deep empathy for people makes our observations powerful sources of inspiration.
- David Kelley (Tuitea esta frase)
Its origin is debated by experts. Tim Brown considers Thomas Alva Edison a precursor because of his way of working, which already employed some of the principles of what would later be called Design Thinking. Others believe it was at the Bauhaus where this way of thinking first began to be used.
But the point at hand—how does Design Thinking relate to Digital Marketing? The goal of marketing is to generate value and communicate it through advertising. This is where Design Thinking converges with Marketing, since in creating value we must empathize with customers and discover their needs.
According to each school of thought or specialist in the field, various Design Thinking tools can be identified. What tends to remain more consistent, however, are the stages of this methodology, which are detailed in the following framework, along with some of its tools.
Empathy maps
These are frameworks that allow us to get to know potential customers—their tastes, needs, and problems. They take into account the following aspects:
What does the potential customer think and feel? This refers to their perceptions, feelings, and emotions, which can be identified through interviews, focus groups, or market research.
What do they hear? This point considers the potential customer’s environment: what kind of content they consume, and what they hear from friends and family that may influence their decisions.
What do they observe? This can also relate to their immediate environment, whether family or work. Their observations can serve as a starting point for defining a problem.
What do they say and do? Oftentimes people say one thing but do another—this is an opportunity for marketers to devise solutions to potential customers’ problems. For example, a person may say they want to live a healthy lifestyle but perhaps does not follow an adequate diet. Here, it’s worth asking whether this is due to lack of time, resources, etc., and from there, work toward finding a solution.
Problem Statement
Unlike other methodologies, in Design Thinking the problem statement comes after listening to people—this is why the methodology is said to be based on empathy.
Let’s take as an example launching a Mexican recipes app. The developer of this app might approach potential customers and ask: “How would you like to have all your recipes in one place so you can cook them easily?”
Here, they’ve already skipped the steps of the empathize stage. Potential customers might respond, “Oh yes, that’s great.” But if the developer had created an empathy map with better questions and a customer-centered focus instead of focusing on their own app idea, they might have discovered that most of their potential customers already know their favorite recipes by heart, and that the app would be more useful if it included other types of international recipes.
To properly define the problem, customer stories must be considered by answering the following questions:
Who is the customer or potential customer?
What do they want?
Why do they need it?
It should be noted that sometimes we think there is a problem, but after listening to people we realize that what originally seemed to be the problem is not the real one—or sometimes, there isn’t even a problem to solve.
In Digital Marketing, defining problems and customer stories is a perfect starting point for identifying how your product or service solves your potential customer’s challenges.
Buyer Persona
Buyer Personas, also known as Marketing Personas, are frameworks in which we build archetypes representing our potential customer. They can be as detailed as necessary. Some elements they may include are:
- Person’s name
- Description of who they are and what they do
- Demographic data such as age, gender, place of residence, socioeconomic level, etc.
- Personality
- Hobbies
- What motivates them
In conclusion…
Design Thinking is still relevant for solving a variety of problems, and the challenges we face in Digital Marketing are no exception. The tools used in Design Thinking are highly useful for defining the tone of communication we should use and the experiences we need to build in order to create better relationships with potential customers through the Internet.