The first step in design thinking is defining the problem: What issue are you trying to solve? Is this a symptom of a deeper problem?

Define the problem you want to solve creatively, the stretch goals you want to achieve, and the desired outputs you want to generate.

Having discovered the roots of the problem, look at them with new eyes. Think like a beginner in order to jumpstart your curiosity and prevent any automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) that tend to arise when you are contemplating solutions to major challenges that involve making potentially big changes.

Generate ideas to establish features, functions, and any other elements that will allow them to solve the problems. Ask 'Why? What If' questions. Think outside the box to identify new solutions to the problem statement you’ve created. Think both inside-out and outside-in to understand how your new design will be perceived by the consumers.

Play simulation games with the most promising disruptive ideas to anticipate and address implementation challenges and to enhance your business design.

Produce some scaled down versions of the product or its specific features. Learning from prototypes is most likely to spark new ideas. Share these prototypes with your focus group to select the most promising solution for each of the problems to be solved.

Test the complete product using the most promising solutions identified during the prototyping phase. In an iterative process, the results generated during the testing phase are often used to redefine one or more problems and update consumer insights.

The feedback obtained during the testing phase will help you to derive deeper understanding of the product and its users, to reveal new insights, to create new ideas for the project, and to make alterations and refinements in the solutions to improve it.