A practical approach to understanding and tackling user-centric challenges in today’s most demanding industries
Design thinking isn’t just a trendy buzzword; it’s a practical, problem-solving framework designed to tackle the complex challenges faced by B2B SaaS and health tech companies.
Using design thinking helps organizations address intricate challenges by putting users at the center of problem-solving, leading to more innovative, human-centered solutions that can improve engagement, adoption, and retention.
Whether you’re aiming to streamline your product’s onboarding process, enhance patient experience in a health app, or simplify operations, applying design thinking could be the key to success.
What is design thinking?
Design thinking is about creative problem-solving. Picture the beginning of the process as a tangled ball of ideas, needs, and assumptions. The goal is to gradually untangle that mess until the problem is clarified, and a clear, actionable solution can emerge.
If you gathered ten designers and asked for their definitions, you’d likely get ten different answers. For us, design thinking is a way to solve problems by understanding the needs of the people affected. It fosters innovation by prioritizing empathy, adaptability, and collaboration, aiming for solutions that are not only effective but sustainable.
In B2B SaaS, design thinking can address challenges like increasing user engagement or reducing churn, while in health tech, it helps streamline clinical workflows or improve patient accessibility.
Why design thinking isn’t just for designers
In B2B SaaS and health tech, it’s common to involve not only designers but also product managers, developers, customer support, and even frontline health professionals in the design thinking process.
Anyone with insights into user needs, customer pain points, or workflow issues can contribute valuable perspectives. Design thinking encourages cross-functional collaboration, where each participant brings their unique experience to the table, leading to a more comprehensive solution.
How to bring design thinking to your B2B SaaS org
Define clear goals
Establishing goals upfront is crucial. In a SaaS context, maybe your goal is to improve the user activation rate, while in health tech, it could be to enhance patient outcomes. Start with broad discovery questions:
- What strategic goals can design thinking help us achieve?
- How does our product need to adapt to stay relevant in an evolving market?
- What works in our current process that we want to keep, and what needs to change?
These questions guide your team toward a shared vision and keep the focus on real-world impact.
Build a diverse team
Innovation often stems from a mix of perspectives. A SaaS onboarding specialist will view user needs differently than a health tech compliance expert. Together, these diverse viewpoints enrich the design thinking process, enabling you to create solutions that are inclusive and effective.
Get into the right mindset
Effective design thinking requires facilitators who encourage open dialogue and respect everyone’s contributions. It’s important to:
- Create a positive and purpose-driven atmosphere.
- Capture everyone’s ideas and insights in real time, so they’re available for reflection.
- Be patient and open to looping back on ideas as they evolve.
The 5 steps of design thinking
Once you have a team, a direction, and goals organized, you can start moving through the process.
Research and develop empathy
This step involves gathering data and understanding the needs of those who use your products or services. Empathy is essential for identifying not only functional needs but emotional drivers as well.
In SaaS, for example, understanding why users churn can reveal underlying pain points in onboarding or feature usability. In health tech, observing how clinicians interact with software can uncover workflow bottlenecks.
- Collect data: Use customer feedback, competitor analysis, and user interviews to gather insights. What are competitors doing, and where do they fall short?
- Build empathy: Conduct surveys or interviews with customers to truly understand their motivations and frustrations.
Define the problem
Now that you’ve gathered insights, it’s time to refine the problem. Use what you’ve learned to specify the core issues. For example:
- Are there constraints like time, budget, or technical limitations?
- What new skills or resources might be required to address the problem?
Clearly defined problems set a solid foundation for ideation and solution-building.
In B2B SaaS and health tech, understanding the core issues—whether it’s identifying a feature that will enhance user retention or simplifying a patient’s journey through a health app—is the foundation for lasting solutions.
Ideate solutions
With a clear problem definition, start generating potential solutions. Techniques like mind mapping or sketching help make abstract ideas more concrete. Encourage everyone on your team to share their ideas, and use visualization to bring each idea to life.
It’s also valuable to use individual and group brainstorming methods. For example, have team members mind-map individually, then reconvene to discuss their ideas. This approach respects different thinking styles and reduces the chance of groupthink.
Consider everyone’s comprehension styles
Consider the different styles — some people like to think on their own, then contribute while others like to think out loud with a group — account for everyone’s personal style.
Personally, I think individual, silent mind mapping is a great way to brainstorm. Have your team spend 25 minutes putting their thoughts on paper, then spend 25 minutes discussing what everyone came up with. This allows people who need to think alone the time they need to produce quality ideas. This method also reduces groupthink or having people agree because they didn’t get the time they needed to think something through.
Similarly, spend time writing ideas on post-it notes, then silently group the post-its into categories by their patterns and dot vote to discover the most popular ideas. Each person can get three votes to use how they wish. Once the votes are cast, select the most popular ideas to prototype.
Prototype
For a SaaS product, a prototype might be a clickable mockup of a new onboarding flow. In health tech, it might be a wireframe of a patient interface that streamlines data entry for clinicians. Prototyping doesn’t have to be perfect; the aim is to create something quick and iterative.
Be ready to iterate multiple times. If a prototype doesn’t address the user’s needs, refine it or try a new approach. The goal is to test and learn from each iteration quickly.
Prototyping is essential in problem-solving because it allows teams to test ideas quickly and refine them based on real user feedback, saving time and reducing costly errors in development.
Test with users
Feedback from actual users is crucial. Once your prototype is ready, invite a small group of customers or end-users to test it. Gather honest feedback and look for patterns. Is there a common feature that users found helpful or confusing? This process helps you make informed improvements before a full rollout, reducing the risk of costly missteps.
If it was positive – great! You can bring your idea to market. If the feedback wasn’t the best, then it is better to iterate to minimize the business risk.
Real-world example: Prototyping in health tech
Imagine you’re a health tech startup aiming to launch a telemedicine platform. During prototyping, you discover that clinicians find it cumbersome to navigate between different patient records.
A quick test reveals that adding an in-session notes sidebar could save them valuable time. This insight could only be gained by involving real users in testing — an essential step in the design thinking process.
Final thoughts
Implementing design thinking in a B2B SaaS or health tech environment can be transformative. It requires patience, a collaborative spirit, and a commitment to understanding users’ needs. By following these steps, you’ll not only solve complex problems but also build a culture of innovation within your organization.
At Standard Beagle, we’ve seen firsthand how design thinking can drive real change. If you’re ready to integrate this methodology into your workplace, check out our resources below or contact us for a consultation.
Resources
- Interactive Design Foundation: What is design thinking and why is it so important
- IDEO: What is design thinking?
