Suppose you are a part of a thriving business.

You need to branch out and find that next big thing.

Or say, you want to change a behavior, like getting people,

a lot of people, to use less energy in their homes.

How would you go about it?

Design thinking is a powerful tool to tackle the unknown.

It's a means of going on an expedition

without a map, without even knowing the destination,

but with the confidence that you'll end up somewhere great.

Let's make it tangible, with an example

that captures the five key elements of design thinking.

Daylight was given the challenge of getting kids

in America to move more, to help fight childhood obesity.

The project started with an idea-- provide kids

with a digital music player that has a motion sensor.

Then, give them rewards based on their activity.

But the big question was, would kids really use it?

What could make the experience so compelling

that they would use it long enough

to see the health benefits?

Learn from people.

We began by talking with kids.

We spent time in their homes and schools across the country.

We listened to them share their motivations, habits, delights,

and frustrations.

The research included kids in the mainstream, but also

incredibly active kids and the very sedentary.

It turns out that those at the extremes

are really good at giving a voice to problems

that those in the middle might feel, but have a harder

time putting their finger on.

Find patterns.

We captured our observations on hundreds of Post-it notes

and laid them all out to make sense of what we learned.

Using informed intuition, we look for patterns

that pointed to opportunities.

Daniel said, I get bored with solo video games;

it's the multi-player ones that keep me coming back.

Meg said, I don't listen to music when

I'm running because I want to talk to people.

Define design principles.

These quotes, along with others, revealed

one of the design principles that

would help us get to a successful concept.

Facilitate social interaction at all times.

Many such design principles emerged.

Together, they form the guidepost

of an experience that we felt confident

would resonate with kids.

Make tangible.

We asked ourselves how-might-we questions,

to bridge the gap from design principles to specific ideas

and then, quickly turn the best of them into rough prototypes.

Iterate relentlessly.

Building physical devices out of simple cardboard

and mocking up digital experiences

with paper and pencil allowed us to learn quickly.

With each prototype, we tweaked and evolved the concept.

We brought digital and physical models to kids,

to listen and learn.

The concept evolved until we got to a compelling solution.

What we ended up with

was a new product category.

Before Fitbit and Apple Watch we developed an activity tracker

that gave kids a portal to an online world

where they could share and celebrate their real world accomplishments

with each other and their families.

In a six-month clinical trial, the impact

was a 59% increase in physical activity.

Learn from people.

Find patterns.

Define design principles.

Make tangible.

Iterate relentlessly.

Whatever the challenge, design thinking

is a powerful tool to reveal new ways of thinking and doing.

and doing.

What in your world could benefit from design thinking?