How does design thinking turn a customer problem into innovative solutions?
Apply design thinking and ideation techniques to generate and select innovative solutions to a defined problem.
How the five-stage design thinking process and structured ideation techniques like brainstorming and SCAMPER generate and select innovative, customer-centred business solutions.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this dot point is asking
You need to show you can use a recognised innovation process to move from a defined customer problem to a chosen solution, and justify why you selected it.
The five stages of design thinking
Design thinking keeps the customer at the centre rather than the product.
- Empathise - understand the customer deeply through interviews, observation and immersion. The aim is to feel the problem as the customer feels it.
- Define - synthesise what you learned into a clear problem statement, often a "How might we..." question (for example, "How might we help time-poor students eat a healthy breakfast?").
- Ideate - generate many possible solutions without judging them yet.
- Prototype - build quick, cheap representations of the best ideas.
- Test - put prototypes in front of real customers and learn from their reactions.
It is iterative, not a straight line. Testing often sends you back to redefine the problem or generate fresh ideas.
Defining the problem well
A sharp problem statement focuses ideation. A weak one ("make a good app") produces weak ideas. A strong one names the user, their need and the insight: "Year 12 students need a fast, cheap breakfast because canteen queues make them skip it." The "How might we" format then opens this up for solutions without locking in any one answer.
Ideation techniques
- Brainstorming - rapid, judgment-free idea generation, building on others' ideas. Defer evaluation.
- SCAMPER - prompts to transform an existing idea: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse.
- Mind mapping - branching from the central problem to explore related ideas.
- Worst possible idea - deliberately generating bad ideas to free up thinking and reveal what good looks like.
- Crazy eights - sketching eight ideas in eight minutes to force volume.
Selecting the best idea
Once you have many ideas, choose using explicit criteria, such as:
- Desirability - do customers actually want it?
- Feasibility - can you realistically build and deliver it?
- Viability - can it make money?
A simple scoring matrix (rate each idea 1 to 5 against each criterion) makes the decision transparent and defensible - useful evidence for your assessment.
Desirability, feasibility and viability together
The three selection criteria are not a checklist to pass once but a lens for understanding why an idea might fail. An idea that is desirable and feasible but not viable (customers want it and you can build it, but it cannot make money) is a charity, not a business. One that is desirable and viable but not feasible (wanted and profitable, but you cannot actually deliver it with your resources) is a fantasy. And one that is feasible and viable but not desirable (you can build and profit from it, but nobody wants it) is the most common cause of start-up failure. The strongest ideas sit where all three overlap, and a scoring matrix that rates each idea against all three forces the entrepreneur to confront the weakest dimension rather than fall in love with a single attractive feature.
Linking forward
Your selected solution becomes the basis for the value proposition and Business Model Canvas. Keep your "How might we" statement, idea list and selection matrix - they evidence your innovation process in both the school assessment and the external Business Plan.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SACE Board exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SACE 20224 marksOutline the five stages of the design thinking process and explain why the process is described as iterative rather than linear.Show worked answer →
The five stages are empathise (understand the user deeply), define (synthesise a clear problem statement), ideate (generate many possible solutions), prototype (build quick, cheap representations) and test (put prototypes in front of real users).
The process is iterative because testing routinely sends the team back to an earlier stage: a failed test might reveal the problem was wrongly defined, prompting a return to define or empathise, or it might spark fresh ideation. Insight gained at any stage can loop back, so the stages are revisited rather than completed once in sequence.
Markers reward all five stages in the correct sense and a clear explanation that learning at later stages feeds back into earlier ones, with an example of a loop.
SACE 20236 marksExplain the principle of 'diverge then converge' in ideation, and evaluate how using a structured technique such as SCAMPER together with a selection matrix improves the quality of the chosen solution.Show worked answer →
Diverge then converge means first generating as many ideas as possible without judgement (diverge, quantity over quality), then narrowing down against criteria (converge). Mixing the two, judging while generating, suppresses creativity.
SCAMPER (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse) supports the divergent phase by systematically prompting transformations of an idea, producing a wider, more varied pool than unstructured brainstorming alone. A selection matrix supports the convergent phase by scoring each idea against explicit criteria such as desirability, feasibility and viability, making the choice transparent and defensible.
The evaluation should argue that combining the two raises quality because it widens the option set and disciplines the choice, while noting limits: scoring is subjective and depends on honest customer evidence. Markers reward a correct explanation of diverge-converge, the distinct role of each tool, and a balanced judgement.