Desirability
Desirability is at the heart of the design thinking process, emphasizing a deep understanding of human needs, emotions, and behaviours. The primary focus is on creating solutions that people want and will embrace. By starting with empathy, design thinking ensures that the solutions developed resonate with the end users. This user-centred approach encourages designers to step into the shoes of the users, uncovering insights that might not be immediately obvious but are crucial for developing products, services, or systems that people genuinely desire. When desirability is prioritized, the outcomes are not just functional but also meaningful, leading to higher adoption rates and customer satisfaction.
Viability
Viability in design thinking relates to the business aspect of the solution, ensuring that it can be implemented sustainably within the constraints of the organization or context. It involves evaluating whether the solution aligns with the organization’s strategic goals, financial capabilities, and market realities. By considering viability, design thinking bridges the gap between creativity and practicality, ensuring that the solutions not only meet user needs but also contribute to the long-term success of the organization. This aspect ensures that the innovations are not just desirable but also capable of thriving in the competitive and often resource-constrained environments where they will be deployed.
Feasibility
Feasibility in design thinking focuses on the technical and operational aspects, ensuring that the solution can be effectively developed and implemented with the available resources and technology. It involves assessing the practical limitations and capabilities, including technological infrastructure, team expertise, and time constraints. By addressing feasibility, design thinking ensures that the ideas generated are not just imaginative but also realistic and achievable. This aspect is crucial for turning concepts into tangible solutions that can be successfully executed, ensuring that the innovation process leads to actionable outcomes that can be brought to market or implemented within the intended environment.
By balancing these three elements, design thinking ensures that solutions are not only appealing and valuable to users but also practical to implement and beneficial to the organization. This holistic approach increases the likelihood of successful innovation, as it encourages a comprehensive examination of the problem space, considering human needs, business realities, and technical possibilities. The result is a well-rounded solution that is desirable to users, viable in the market, and feasible to execute—ensuring that innovations are both impactful and sustainable.