Design Thinking for Tech: Solving Problems and Realizing Value in 24 Hours

In just 24 lessons of one hour or less, Design Thinking for Tech helps you inject techniques and exercises into your projects using the same systematic and creative process that designers have used for years. Anderson walks you through a simple four-phase Design Thinking model, showing how to loop back, keep learning, and continuously refine your work. You start by understanding the essential “what, how, when, why, and who” of Design Thinking. Next, you use core Design Thinking techniques to understand the big picture, focus on your most critical problems, think more creatively about them, take the "next best steps" toward problem resolution and value creation, and along the way rapidly iterate for progress. Every lesson builds on what you've already learned, with exercises crafted to deliver directly relevant experience. Regardless of your role in the world of technology, you'll learn how to supercharge success for any tech-related project, business initiative, or digital transformation. Learn how to... Apply a simple four-phased Design Thinking model in team and individual settings Inject game-changing methods into the project lifecycle Gain crucial “big picture” insights into how a situation has evolved over time Build and maintain healthier, more resilient teams Reskill teams to deliver greater business, functional, and technical impact Set and manage realistic expectations through a 360° view of your stakeholders Connect, communicate, and empathize with the right people at the right time Liberate the ideas trapped in your head so you can explore them deeply with others Think divergently, expand creativity, and work through uncertainty Navigate problems to quickly arrive at potential solutions Deliver incremental yet real value to people who desperately need it Start small to deliver greater value at velocity Improve how you approach and manage change Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common tasks. Practical, hands-on examples show you how to apply what you learn. Quizzes and exercises help you test your knowledge and stretch your skills. Notes and tips point out shortcuts and solutions.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Preface Prologue PART I: Design Thinking Basics Hour 1: Design Thinking Explained Thinking Slower to Deliver Faster A Process for Progress: Popular Design Thinking Models Our Design Thinking Model for Tech The Battle Between Perfection and Time The What: Techniques and Exercises The How: The Design Thinking Cycle for Progress The When: Ambiguity, Complexity, and Uncertainty The Why: Better Practices and Faster Outcomes The Who: Design Thinking by Technology Role Design Thinking in Action: Real-world Tech Examples What Not to Do: Lessons Learned the Hard Way Summary Workshop Hour 2: A Design Thinking Model for Tech Human-Centered Thinking Design Thinking in Four Phases What Not to Do: Exclusively Left to Right Summary Workshop Hour 3: Design Thinking for Small Audiences Design Thinking for Me Learning More Quickly Thinking and Problem Solving Coping with Ambiguity Prioritizing Next Best Steps for Uncertainty Executing More Effectively What Not to Do: This Isn't for Me Summary Workshop Hour 4: Resilient and Sustainable Teams Design Thinking for Tech Team Alignment Design Thinking for Sustainable Teams Responsibly Operating at Speed What Not to Do: The Archipelago Effect Summary Workshop Hour 5: Visible and Visual Teamwork Making Teamwork Visible and Visual Tools for Visual Collaboration Executing a Design Thinking Exercise What Not to Do: Keeping It All Inside Summary Workbook PART II: Understanding Broadly Hour 6: Understanding the Lay of the Land Listening and Understanding Assessing the Broader Environment Understanding and Articulating Value What Not to Do: Ignore the Culture Fractals Summary Workshop Hour 7: Connecting with the Right People A Framework for Finding and Prioritizing People Exercises for Stakeholder Mapping and Prioritization Exercises and Techniques for Engaging Stakeholders What Not to Do: Stick to the Happy Path Summary Workbook Hour 8: Learning and Empathizing From Stakeholders to Personas Three Types of Empathy A 360-Degree Model for Empathizing A Recipe for Empathizing What Not to Do: Ignore the 20 Percent Summary Workshop Hour 9: Identifying the Right Problem Identifying and Understanding a Problem Three Exercises for Problem Identification Techniques and Exercises for Problem Validation What Not to Do: Jump In! (to the Wrong Problem) Summary Workshop PART III: Thinking Differently Hour 10: Introduction to Thinking Differently Ideation and Thinking for Problem Solving Divergent and Convergent Thinking Warm-ups for Thinking Differently Techniques for Clearing the Mind What Not to Do: Stay Convergent! Summary Workshop Hour 11: Guardrails for Thinking Creatively Constraints and Guardrails Simple Guardrails for Thinking Differently Exercises for Thinking Through Risks Crazy Techniques for Extreme Thinking What Not to Do: Avoid the Silly-Sounding Stuff Summary Workshop Hour 12: Exercises for Increasing Creativity Creativity and Thinking Techniques and Exercises for Creative Thinking What Not to Do: Concluding Thinking Too Early Summary Workshop Hour 13: Exercises for Reducing Uncertainty Next-Step Thinking for Uncertain Situations Reducing Uncertainty and Ambiguity Working Through Uncertainty and What's Next What Not to Do: The Brute-Force Path Summary Workshop Hour 14: Thinking for Problem Solving From Ideas to Potential Solutions Visual Exercises for Problem Solving What Not to Do: Skimp on Brainstorming Summary Workshop PART IV: Delivering Value Hour 15: Cross-Teaming and Communicating for Outcomes Cross-Boundary Teaming for Collaboration Techniques for Working Across Teams Techniques for Communications Challenges What Not to Do: Using Words When a Picture Is Needed Summary Workshop Hour 16: Prototyping and Solutioning by Doing The Prototyping and Solutioning Mindset Making Progress versus Solving the Entire Problem Techniques for Making Planned Progress What Not to Do: Ignoring the Inverse Power Law Summary Workshop Hour 17: Solutioning Small and Fast The Progress Mindset: Showing Up and Starting Small Realizing Value Through Objectives and Key Results Starting Small and Delivering Fast Techniques for Delivering and Executing to Think For a Limited Time Only What Not to Do: The Forever MVP Summary Workshop Hour 18: Delivering Value at Velocity Delivery Techniques for Increasing Value Velocity Team Considerations for Velocity Change Control Considerations for Velocity What Not to Do: Shrink Sprints to Speed Up Summary Workshop PART V: Iterating for Progress Hour 19: Testing for Validation The Testing Mindset Traditional Types of Testing Testing Techniques for Learning and Validating Testing Tools for Feedback What Not to Do: Automate Everything Summary Workshop Hour 20: Feedback for Continuous Improvement Simple Feedback Techniques Strategic Feedback and Reflection Techniques What Not to Do: Wait for Late Feedback Summary Workshop Hour 21: Deploying for Progress Avoiding Perfection Traps Novel Techniques for Making Progress Edge Case Techniques for Deploying and Realizing Value What Not to Do: Deploying Too Soon Summary Workshop Hour 22: Operating at Scale Techniques and Exercises for Effective Scaling Operational Resiliency Techniques Techniques for Sustaining Systems and Value What Not to Do: The Scale versus Features Mandate Summary Workshop Hour 23: Making Change Sticky Change Management and Adoption The Four-Phase Change Process Methods for Creating Awareness Techniques for Providing Purpose Driving Readiness Through Design Thinking Four Techniques for Adopting Change Techniques for Timing Change What Not to Do: Change Management Can Wait Summary Workshop Hour 24: Design Thinking for Project Velocity Project Management Velocity Leadership and Governance Stakeholders and Expectations Development Approach Risk Management Schedule Management Managing Scope Delivery and Quality Communications and Collaboration What Not to Do: No Courage, No Future Summary Workshop Appendix A: Case Study Quiz Answers Appendix B: Summary of Design Thinking Techniques and Exercises Appendix C: Design Thinking in Action (by the Hour) References     9780137933037    TOC    10/10/2022

About the Author :
George Anderson is a program director for Microsoft and an adjunct professor and guest lecturer for several universities. George holds Stanford Innovation & Entrepreneurship as well as Innovation Leadership credentials, PMI's Wicked Problem Solving and Prosci's Change Practitioner certifications, an MBA with a focus in Human Resource Management, and a PhD in Applied Management and Decision Sciences. As a program director, George assembles and leads global tech teams that help organizations transform themselves. George's architects and consultants provide the technology and business skills necessary to design and develop business-enabling technology solutions, and George and his project managers provide the leadership, governance, and communications necessary to deliver those solutions. In these ways, George's teams solve problems that drive meaningful change and measurable value. George knows first-hand the power of thinking and executing differently to change our world and often shares those learnings and experiences. He has co-led worldwide design thinking communities within Microsoft and has incorporated design thinking techniques and exercises into several of Microsoft's governance methods and project delivery methodologies. Since 2002, George has also been assembling authoring teams to publish popular technology planning and implementation books, including Teach Yourself SAP in 24 Hours (2015) and SAP Implementation Unleashed (2009). More recently, he has shared how Design Thinking can be applied to our work and personal lives through Stuck Happens: 95 Simple Life Hacks for Thinking and Thriving (2021). And George and his team shared guidance and techniques organized around PMI's Process Groups in Design Thinking for Program and Project Management (2019). Design Thinking for Tech: Solving Problems and Realizing Value in 24 Hours marries George's love of people, high-tech software development, platform-based business solutioning, and Design Thinking. It bridges the real-world intersection of technology and more than 130 Design Thinking techniques and exercises useful in learning, empathizing, and solving difficult problems while providing early and repeatable value along the way. Connect with George on LinkedIn or through email at George.Anderson@Microsoft.com.