On October 23rd, I had a blast chatting with Jessie Cohen Shternshus of Improv Effect, about applying principles of improvisation to product design and design thinking.
Product Design and Design Thinking
A few highlights from our conversation:
1. At the heart of improv and product design using design thinking methods is empathy. Focus on what your customers really need.
2. Empathy starts with great listening. When you interview (and later do rapid prototyping with customers), drop the scripted agenda and really listen to what customers have to say and the subtext of what they don’t say.
3. Create an environment that embraces innovation and failure (define what they mean to employees) and that requires leadership.
4. Bake principles of improvisation (yes and!, listening, empathy, etc) and design thinking into your company as early as possible so it’s easier to scale.
Of course, there’s more. You’ll have to check out the podcast below.
Enough talk: Listen to the Podcast!
I’d love to hear from you. How have you used improvisation and design thinking approaches in your product design work?
