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Design Thinking for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses: Putting the Power of Design to Work

Design Thinking for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses: Putting the Power of Design to Work

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by Beverly Rudkin Ingle
Publisher: Apress
Release Date: November 2013
ISBN: 9781430261810
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Book Description

Having met Beverly Ingle and hearing her speak about design thinking, I was enlightened and enthused. With a depth of knowledge and obvious passion for the usage of design thinking, she has already helped many business people, myself included, inject greater creativity into problem solving to deliver better results—something that is a must for left-brainers! She has an amazingly refreshing ability to create deep understanding within her audience, and a hands-on, practical approach ensures that the results are manageable and within your grasp.

—Jill Robb, CEO, Ambition Digital; Belfast, United Kingdom

Design Thinking for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses: Putting the Power of Design to Work is the first book on the subject for smaller businesses.

Until now, design thinking—a methodology for solving business problems and identifying opportunities—has been the playground for companies with big budgets, giving them the advantage of the innovation that comes from using the latest design thinking tools emerging from Stanford, Harvard, Northwestern, and elsewhere.

Now, thanks to design thinking expert Beverly Ingle, entrepreneurs and small-business owners can make the design thinking playground their own—and on a much smaller budget. Ingle provides the tools entrepreneurs need as well as step-by-step processes that show how to use design thinking methods to transform your business and drive organizational success.

Design Thinking for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses offers just enough theory to provide you with working knowledge of design thinking, but its value lies in the practical, proven, hands-on information that you can put to use immediately. You will learn:

  • How to incorporate design thinking processes into everyday operations, and in what areas of business the approach is most valuable

  • How to use the most prevalent and popular design thinking tools (like ideation, prototyping, and rapid branding) effectively

  • How to use design thinking to identify and achieve your business goals and create new business models

  • How to create revenue-boosting new products and services using design thinking

  • How to improve the customer/user experience to create more loyal, profitable customers

    • By the time you've finished reading the last chapter of Design Thinking for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses, you will not just be thinking about producing new products and services, boosting customer service, or developing new business opportunities—you'll be doing it. Best, it'll show up in the top and bottom lines.

    What you'll learn

  • How to incorporate design-thinking processes into everyday operations, and in what areas of business the approach is most valuable

  • How to use the most prevalent and popular design-thinking tools (like ideation, prototyping, and rapid branding) effectively.

  • How to use design thinking to identify and achieve your business goals and create new business models

  • How to create revenue-boosting new products and services using design thinking

  • How to improve the customer/user experience to create more loyal, profitable customers

    • Who this book is for

    Entrepreneurs, and small-business owners along with their senior leadership teams.

    Table of Contents

    1. Title Page
    2. Apress Business: The Unbiased Source of Business Information
    3. Dedication
    4. Contents
    5. Foreword
    6. About the Author
    7. Acknowledgments
    8. Preface
    9. CHAPTER 1: Introduction to Design Thinking
      1. What Is Design Thinking?
      2. The Phases of Design Thinking
      3. A Deeper Dive
      4. Summary
    10. CHAPTER 2: The Role of Research in Design Thinking
      1. Design Thinking Research Is Different
      2. Quantitative versus Qualitative
      3. The Four Roles of Research
      4. Summary
    11. CHAPTER 3: Designing a Business Strategy
      1. A Strategy Is Born
      2. Circles of Influence
      3. Summary
    12. CHAPTER 4: Designing Live Customer Experiences
      1. Your Bricks-and-Mortar Location
      2. Color Theory and You
      3. The Human Element
      4. Align Employees to Customer Expectations
      5. Summary
    13. CHAPTER 5: Designing Digital Customer Experiences
      1. The Online Experience
      2. The Mobile Experience
      3. The Social Media Experience
      4. Summary
    14. CHAPTER 6: Designing Services and Service Delivery
      1. Services as Solutions
      2. The 5 Whys
      3. Making the Intangible Memorable
      4. Service Delivery Pathways
      5. Risk of Abandonment
      6. Summary
    15. CHAPTER 7: Designing Marketing
      1. Rapid Branding
      2. Designing a Marketing Plan
      3. Summary
    16. CHAPTER 8: Designing for Change
      1. Going Beyond Your Gut
      2. Facing Change Head-On
      3. The Need for Speed
      4. The Matrix Holds the Answers
      5. Summary
    17. CHAPTER 9: Designing for Growth
      1. Why Growth Is Important
      2. Growing Gracefully
      3. Designing New Hires
      4. Cross-Pollinating Ideas
      5. Summary
    18. APPENDIX A: Case Studies
      1. Design Thinking and Branding Strategy
      2. Design Thinking and Business Strategy
      3. Design Thinking and Customer Experience
      4. Design Thinking and Change
      5. Design Thinking and Research
    19. APPENDIX B: Metrics for Design Thinking
      1. Relevant Metrics
      2. When to Measure Performance
      3. Measurement and the Iterative Nature of Design Thinking
    20. APPENDIX C: Glossary of Design Thinking Jargon
      1. Common Design Thinking Terminology
    21. APPENDIX D: Resources
      1. Read, Read, and Read Some More
      2. Never Stop Learning
      3. Form Follows Function
      4. Templates
    22. Index