Design thinking: the approach that puts people at the heart of innovation

Innovation and creativity are at the heart of the event industry’s organizational approach. It is necessary to renew each time to offer to each date a dimension out of the common and unique. Maintaining this creative force is therefore a key issue. Formalized byStanford University, desing thinking is an approach that helps companies renew and innovate.

Design thinking: when creativity is based on collective intelligence

While new information and communication technologies, artificial intelligence and predictive techniques are evolving at a rapid pace, design thinking puts people back at the heart of innovation and creativity. According to the definition of the d.school, the design school of the prestigious American university of Stanford, this approach aims at putting together analytical intelligence and intuitive competence. Clearly, the formal process and creativity combine to achieve a goal in line with customer expectations.

Design thinking has 5 steps:

• The first step isempathy, which consists of analyzing the needs and expectations of customers.
• The second step clearly defines the situation and the challenges to be addressed based on the information collected during the empathy phase.
• Third, we must find solutions to the problems raised. This step usually consists of brainstorming. The sharing of ideas is essential for the emergence of innovative proposals.
• The fourth step of the design thinking process aims at modeling and testing the proposed solutions. This phase is called prototyping.
• The last step is to test the prototyped solution and get feedback from the customer.

Design thinking: what’s in it for the event industry?

Design thinking allows us to take into account the particularities of the participants in order to propose programs that correspond to them. Emphasis will be placed on empathy. This will make it easier to define tailor-made activities.

A preliminary analysis of the participants is therefore necessary in order to draw up a typical profile or the different profiles that will make up the audience. From the choice of location to the selection of activities to the composition of the menu, each element of the event will be motivated by the expectations and needs of your employees.

Thanks to design thinking, the risk of many participants becoming bored or disinterested in the proposed program will be minimized. This creative work methodology also ensures a more authentic experience. It is easier to take on more original, unusual or off the beaten track engagements. A technophile public will be very interested in an animation based on drone races or a day in virtual reality. For sporty participants, a treasure hunt in the middle of nature will arouse their enthusiasm. In the case of a heterogeneous audience, we can bet on federative activities, like an afterwork on a rooftop or a humanitarian team building.

At Autentik Events, we focus on this personalized approach to ensure that everyone has an unforgettable and authentic experience.