Design Thinking Workshop (I): Introduction and planning of AMRs

Having started with this objective, our team of scientists and practice partners has made great progress. With this in mind, in this article we would first like to introduce you to the advantages of the design thinking method and then briefly explain the concrete implementation in the FlexTools project. Finally, we will provide you with additional information on the topic of design thinking.

Design thinking - methodology, advantages and application

Design thinking is a methodical approach that combines creativity and systematic thinking to solve complex problems and develop innovations. The process is often used in product development and is particularly valuable as it focuses on user needs while ensuring that the final solutions are both innovative and feasible. Design thinking typically goes through the six phases: Understanding, Observing, Defining Perspective, Ideating, Prototyping and Testing. The advantages of design thinking are manifold and have a positive impact on the development of products and services. In our project, the consistent user-centricity was realized through the application partners and the development of personas.

For the objectives of our specific workshop, we shortened the process and only went through the phases of understanding, observing and finding ideas in order to understand the requirements from the user's perspective. The workshop began with an introductory phase, followed by alternating individual work and brainstorming sessions in which the participants actively contributed their ideas and suggestions. For remote implementation, a digital whiteboard was used with Miro(https://miro.com/de/), allowing all participants to work in parallel. Finally, the information collected was evaluated and prioritized to ensure that the planning tool we will develop in the coming months meets the needs of the users and creates real added value for the introduction of AMR at small and medium-sized automotive suppliers.

Summary:

To summarize, the workshop was a complete success. With the objective of collecting and defining the requirements for a new type of planning tool, comprehensive results were efficiently achieved by applying the design thinking method. In the process, our team gained profound insights into user needs and challenges. We are already looking forward to discussing the processed results together at the first consortium meeting next week and starting development as soon as possible!

Further information

If, like us, you are interested in the design thinking method, you can find further information at the following link:
https://visits-vorgehensmodell.lfo.tu-dortmund.de/hilfestellungen/video-design-thinking/

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