Anchor on human needs and context before solutions. Reframe problems as opportunities; favor small experiments that produce learning over big untested bets.
When to Use
New products, workflows, or experiences where motivation, pain, and context are unclear—or when engineering constraints are dominating the brief.
Workflow
Empathize: identify who is involved, what job they are trying to do, where it hurts, and in what situations behavior breaks down (jobs-to-be-done, empathy maps).
Define: synthesize a crisp “How might we…” that targets the human problem, not a pre-chosen implementation.
Prototype: build the smallest artifact that makes the idea testable (sketch, script, stub, clickable flow).
Test: observe real reactions; capture surprises; iterate the problem statement if learning invalidates it.
Examples
Example 1: Internal tool adoption is low: interview three users on their actual workflow before adding features; HMW reduce context switching?
Example 2: Onboarding drop-off: paper prototype the first five minutes; test with one new user before polishing visuals.
1---2name: design-thinking3description: Design Thinking4---5# Design Thinking67Anchor on human needs and context before solutions. Reframe problems as opportunities; favor small experiments that produce learning over big untested bets.89## When to Use10- New products, workflows, or experiences where motivation, pain, and context are unclear—or when engineering constraints are dominating the brief.1112## Workflow131. Empathize: identify who is involved, what job they are trying to do, where it hurts, and in what situations behavior breaks down (jobs-to-be-done, empathy maps).142. Define: synthesize a crisp “How might we…” that targets the human problem, not a pre-chosen implementation.153. Ideate: diverge broadly (affinity mapping, brainstorming); defer feasibility scoring briefly.164. Prototype: build the smallest artifact that makes the idea testable (sketch, script, stub, clickable flow).175. Test: observe real reactions; capture surprises; iterate the problem statement if learning invalidates it.1819## Examples20**Example 1:** Internal tool adoption is low: interview three users on their actual workflow before adding features; HMW reduce context switching?2122**Example 2:** Onboarding drop-off: paper prototype the first five minutes; test with one new user before polishing visuals.
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Design Thinking It is listed under Coding & Dev Tools on SkillMD.
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sethdford (@sethdford) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.
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