Design thinking is a method used in product development that implicates investigation of the business goals, user problems, and desirable solutions. Nowadays, it has a significant influence on the mobile app development industry too. It also helps to define and tackle unobvious UI/UX design issues.

Design thinking is an approach that is based on in-depth research of user problems and helps to make a product completely human-oriented. It also means balancing desirability, technical feasibility, and economic viability of a product. This method commonly includes five steps: research, problem identification, ideation, prototyping, and testing. These steps can occur simultaneously as well as repetitively, particularly when it comes to user testing.

Research

At this phase, a mobile app development team usually conducts an investigation of the market, target audience, the client’s needs, and business goals. At the beginning of a product development process, you should understand people you are creating a product for. Investigate target users to figure our their actual needs, problems, and desires. With this data in hand, the team can move further to the problem definition stage.

Problem Definition

Now, you can clearly see what problems your target users face in their daily lives. At this step, mobile app designers and developers thoroughly research collected data, conduct surveys, and interviews with target groups. With these insights, they can define real user’s problems and shape the initial vision of solutions that a business can offer to its target audience.

This step includes generating assumptions and brainstorming for ideas and solutions. The team should identify the most viable ideas and incorporate them into a mobile app concept. Usually, product developers collaboratively evaluate all the brainstormed opinions and solutions before the product prototyping begins.

Prototyping

The time has come to create the first mobile app prototypes. These are an initial app version that demonstrates how brainstormed ideas and solutions work in real life. Prototyping helps to find product infelicities and errors at a very early stage. If conducted masterfully, prototyping helps save time and money spent on user testing. It is a very important step in the product development process across different industries.

User Testing

At this stage, the team tests a prototype with real users, to find out errors and bugs before a product launch. User testing may occur at different stages of a mobile application development journey. To test a solution additionally is never wrong since it can significantly improve user experience. And as known, great UX is the key to mobile app success .

Delivery and Launch

This step may seem simple in its structure, however, it is not. Besides app development and launch, it also includes a huge number of iterations and improvements. Product scaling happens once the testing of a prototype is successfully completed.

Why Is Design Thinking So Crucial for Mobile App Development?

Design thinking brings innovation to mobile app development. Tackling a user problem applying innovation and creativity is very important for a business. It helps to make both a digital product and a brand distinguishable in the market.

To be successful, a business needs to continually incorporate innovations and deliver intuitive and user-friendly products. It is the moment when design thinking plays its biggest role. Many successful IT companies admit that design thinking and particular attention to creating a great UI/UX are at the core of any digital product development process. Design thinking helps teams provide unique user experiences.

As per the statistics, 80% of members of Generation Z have their mobile phones with them 24/7, in the daytime and during the night. It also means an increasing need for convenient mobile apps that can solve various user problems.

These people dictate the future of many industries and businesses. To stay in the game, companies should develop excellent mobile experiences for their tech-savvy customers. They should also inject these digital products with a dose of design thinking to make them even more interesting for the audience.

Mobile app development, combined with design thinking, has already revolutionized the way many businesses operate today.

Design thinking helps also mitigate the risk associated with launching new ideas. It enables product developers to quickly learn on made mistakes as well as generate experimental and innovative solutions. Here is why:

1. Design thinking is the foundation for human-centered product development decisions; it is entirely focused on the end-users and solutions for their actual problems.
2. Design thinking often involves the collaboration of multidisciplinary teams and, consequently, means that they will apply their collective wisdom, expertise, and expertise to create better products.
3. Design thinking fuels unusual and innovative solutions that make a product stand out from its competitors.
4. Entering a market with an MVP (minimum viable product) is a great strategic decision. It allows product development companies to extract invaluable insights about target users, get their feedback, and release the upgraded version of a product later.

Benefits of Mobile Apps Developed With Design Thinking

Increasing sales

If a mobile application looks unique, intuitive, and solves the user’s problems, there is a high likelihood that it will attract even more attention to a brand and reach more users. It helps grow customer loyalty to a company, and it is manifested in the fast-increasing number of sales.

Marketing trend

A well-designed mobile application with seamless user experience can even become a marketing trend since it helps engage customers and build a positive brand image.

An excellent way to connect with customers

One of the most significant advantages of mobile apps created under the influence of design thinking is they help brands connect with their customers. Users can easily provide feedback and empower companies can learn and improve on their setbacks right from the users’ feedback.

Originally published at https://fireart.studio on February 19, 2020.