How Design Thinking Can Totally Transform Your Tech Solution
When you build, pls put yourself in your users' shoes for a change 🫠🫠
Olá, Dear Innovator 😎
We keep testing out different intro greetings on this newsletter (‘cos we can 🤭). Do you have any favourites, so far?
Let us know in the comment section. We loooove hearing from you 🥰
And no. We didn’t forget.
Happy Weekend to you, Tech Genius 🥳🥳🥳🥳
If you made your weekend plans by Thursday this week, congratulations! The next two days just might be a blast for you (Breathe, it’s a good thing. Your laptop needs a break from you anyway 😅)
And if you didn’t, come closer for a little secret…
🤫🤫
It’s precisely because of you that we have our newsletters slated for Saturdays. So if you’re on nobody else’s mind today, rest easy knowing you’re always on ours 🫶🫶
NOW, PROCEED TO THE GOOD STUFF! 👇
Have you ever found yourself using a tech product and thinking, "Who even designed this thing? It doesn’t make any sense!" 😅
We've all been there, and sometimes it might not even be the entire product that you might have an issue with. You know that feeling, right?
It might be just that one feature that seems out of place 🫣, that one button that doesn’t quite do it for you. It might be the way the notifications pop up on the app, the colour scheme on the website’s background… just something.
Sadly, Dear Innovator, some of your users might be part of this crowd too!😬 Your product is giving them the ick and you don’t even know about it (tsk, tsk, tsk)
When it comes to building products that people actually love to use, nothing beats Design Thinking. Or simply call it the ‘user-centered method’
Design Thinking is all about putting your people first.
Let’s say you’re developing a new e-commerce platform, for example. Instead of guessing what features your users might like, the best way to start is by talking to them, to find out exactly what they need.
Do they want a faster checkout process? Maybe they need better product recommendations? 🤔🤔
What challenges will they face when they are using this platform? How can their experience be smoother and faster?…. and so on
These are the questions to ask, Dear Innovator! This is what ground zero should look like for you.
The product that you’re building on hand will determine the kind of questions that you and your team will ask. So, be honest, did you start this way?
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Want to see Design Thinking in action? Let’s look at some global leaders:
Airbnb 🏡: In its early days, Airbnb struggled. The turning point came when they deeply understood their users—both hosts and guests—and redesigned their platform to address their pain points.
They made changes to the quality of pictures that are used for listings on their platform, and this insight (and others) led to a 30% increase in their bookings1. This user-focused approach propelled Airbnb to over 6 million listings worldwide and $8.4 billion in revenue in 20232
IBM 💻: Currently, IBM has embedded Design Thinking into its DNA, though this wasn’t always the case. By 2018, the company had trained thousands of their employees in this methodology, which has led to more than 300% ROI on their projects3
IBM’s success demonstrates that Design Thinking isn’t just about making products—it’s about driving business outcomes by aligning innovation with user needs.
Spotify 🎵: Spotify is known as the king of personalization. Their strength lies in their relentless focus on user experience. By using Design Thinking, they are continuously improving their app based on real users’ feedbacks4. In 2023, Spotify grew to over 500 million active users5, all because they understood (and still understand) their users’ needs.
How Nigerian Innovators Are Using Design Thinking? 🚀
From the stables of the Consonance Community of Innovators, we give you Figo Payment!
Figo Payment might not be a name you hear every day, but they’re making waves in Nigeria’s fintech scene with some clever features. They let you send and receive money, split bills with friends, and create payment links for your business—all in a flash 🚀
But Figo didn’t stop at just the basics. They used Design Thinking to really nail what users needed. By chatting with their customers, they found out people wanted quicker transfers and better security. So, they added lightning-fast transactions via email addresses⚡, real-time notifications, and easy business integrations.
Don’t you just love it when innovation takes the front seat? 😍
The key takeaway here is that your users are the heart of your business. If you’re not thinking about their needs, someone else will, and they’ll win your customers over 🙄
In all this, your goal, Dear Innovator, is to make sure that your product fits into your users’ lives, and it solves their problems in ways that are both useful 💷 and delightful ✨
Do this, and everybody goes home happy. It’s a win-win!! 💯
5K Never Looked More Attractive! 🤩🤩
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We are always proud of the members of the Consonance Community of Innovators
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Alsoooooo, if you're an HMO or Health Insurance provider, they have something in store for you too. Book a call with them today, to get started on solutions that’ll benefit your clients
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Keep buiding, Dear Innovator, and be back here on Wednesday!