Design thinking methodology
In order to have a broad view of customer expectations, needs (including underlying ones, not necessarily formulated) and to achieve our business objectives, XR technology can be a mean towards immersive de-risking experience but it will not always be the right pain reliever. Be open-minded and listen carefully to customers, you don’t want to follow a “techno-push” approach.
For that purpose, design thinking methodology is a way to go from customer understanding to solution design. In this chapter, we will go through the different steps of design thinking.
XR technologies provide the opportunity to interact with the customer in a new way, for instance by creating different scenarios of alternative Saint-Gobain solutions for customers to compare. However, when engaging with new technologies, it is necessary to create a fundamental understanding of the customer’s pains and gains. This will allowto figure out the market demands, and the customers will be served by the proposed solutions.
So what is Design Thinking?
First and foremost, it is a human-centered approach: To find the right problem to solve and design the adequate solution based on the deep understanding of people needs, feelings and emotions.
Design thinking steps
Empathy 
Ideation 
Prototype Learn more in the Innovation Playbook
So how to start? Check out the The Innovation Playbook!
The Innovation Playbook covers several innovation tools, useful for anyone in Saint-Gobain working on differentiating and disruptive innovations. It is created to introduce you to Saint-Gobain innovation methodologies and give an overview of how to run any innovation project better. In it, you will discover concepts coming from Design Thinking, Lean Start-up and Business Model innovation that we have combined to bring the best out of any innovation project. They are particularly powerful for any project that leads you somewhat far away from your core business model and beyond incremental innovation, though they can bring very rich insights, helping you see beyond what you have taken to assume as granted and obvious.
The Playbook aims to inspire, challenge your own thoughts and usual practices. Just try what seems most interesting to you, learn, find insight, fail, try again and go one step further. With time, you will get deeper and deeper in each tool and phase of the methodology and keep uncovering new insight.
The Innovation Playbook is created by the Saint-Gobain Innovation Hub. To access the Innovation Hub platform on Sharepoint and to read more about the hub itself, click here.
In addition, you can also apply the Innovation Framework to structure your activity right from the start! The Innovation Framework is a blueprint that helps to establish a common language and best practices, thus setting the stage for successful innovation.
For more details, to get trained or to get more engaged with our in-house innovation community, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Innovation Development team!
