Design Thinking with Trustpower

2 Jun

Problem-solving skills to give us the best opportunity at innovation - a skill relevant to any tech career. So how can we elevate the way we innovate? Trustpower recently hosted a bootcamp introducing a set of processes called Design Thinking. The skills gained through Design Thinking apply to roles beyond the design industry. In any internship role, both you and your employer can benefit from understanding this concept.

Trustpower uses Design Thinking to put people first

To kick-start quality thinking and to challenge assumptions, you need to start with a brainstorm. Float every idea, and sift through them with a human-centric approach- it works! The team at Trustpower uses Design Thinking to develop an understanding of what their customers and stakeholders need and want. This helps them put people first, one of Trustpower’s core values. People are an integral part of how Trustpower engages in their business and they encourage collaboration when deciding on how to approach a problem.

The Challenge

Trustpower created a unique challenge to take attendees through this process. Firstly, the Trustpower team and Summer of Tech alumni spoke to the students about Design Thinking. Students were given four characters: Greg the 55 year old truck driver, Maureen who was 77 and retired, 60 year olds and somewhat tech savvy Barry and Simone, and elderly social couple who love a chat, Dave and Edith.The challenge question: How might Trustpower create an experience that enables our more mature customers (over 55) to confidently and securely participate in digital transactions?The ideal outcome was for them to be confident to connect and feel they belong in an ever-increasing digital world. Understanding the customerStudents were encouraged to work together on this challenge and were moved into breakout rooms to work collaboratively. There were three opportunities to work in groups:

Empathise to build a journey map with a selected persona. Identify where the potential pain points in a Trustpower customer’s journey could be.
Ideate by getting as many ideas down as possible - quantity over quality! Now was the time to consider and imagine a scenario that might solve the selected persona’s pain. How might they feel during this scenario? What did they think their highs and lows might be as they travel through this scenario?
Prototype by picking an idea and building a picture storyboard based on the solutions

At the end of the bootcamp, each group shared their process and ideas. It was very fun to see how in a short amount of time students could replicate the problem-solving process from real-world scenarios. The students learned about the value of the design thinking process, and how we can apply it during our own career journies. Thank you to the Trustpower team for sharing your expert advice!