The Design Thinking Process Broken Down Step-by-Step

You are creative—even if you don’t think of yourself that way (yet).The design thinking process is here to help you unlock that creativity and tackle challenges in a more human-centered, meaningful way.

In this video, IDEO U's Learning Experience Designer, Ellie Raissi, will walk you through the 7 phases of the design thinking process, from framing a powerful question to sharing a story that moves people to action. Whether you're a complete beginner or just looking to strengthen your creative skills, this process is for you. It’s not just a method—it’s a mindset. And once you start practicing, you’ll never look at problem solving the same way again.

⏱️ Timestamps
01:53 – Step 1: Frame a Question
3:27 – Step 2: Gather Inspiration
5:01 – Step 3: Synthesize for Action
7:03 – Step 4: Generate Ideas
9:29 – Step 5: Make Ideas Tangible
10:49 – Step 6: Test to Learn
12:52 – Step 7: Share the Story

Curious to read more? Check out our blog for a written guide to the design thinking process:

IDEO U is here to help you grow your creative confidence and lead change in your work and life. Subscribe for more videos on design thinking, leadership, and creativity.

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[vvmm]

Ideo, I think you guys understand problem solving, design fundamentals but why are you consultants? I mean why don't you directly engage with problem and build products for the world, in general? This question comes from a place of curiosity as to why IDEO is not creating value directly?

[ragavendram]

Am I wrong? Curiousity or Curiosity. There's a misspelled word in video.

[matthewseaver]

You should use Design Thinking to craft better educational videos. This was a word salad of definitions and doesn't give any tangible take aways for anyone to start design thinking themselves.