The Design Thinking Methodology: How Every Multi-Millionaire Uses This Simple Strategy to Build Wealth (Detailed guide to design thinking)

Unlocking Wealth with Design Thinking: Transform Ideas into SuccessLadies and gentlemen, first of all, thank you for reading this article. When I first heard about the Design Thinking methodology, I was impressed by its simplicity and effectiveness in executing new business ventures. I was a 19-year-old kid with a dream of building my own company and being a self-employed boss. I was already making substantial income online by flipping electronic items but now that I heard about Design Thinking I could identify what problems my products were solving for my clients and how they were improving their lives. 

Our lives are filled with purpose, but how many of us can saythat our lives are driven by purpose? Even if you have some direction in your life when was the last time you took the time to sit down and reflect on your life’s journey to date? This video is for you if you’ve ever asked yourself these questions. In today’s video, I’ll show you how every multi-millionaire uses the Design Thinking methodology to build wealth.

So what is Design Thinking?

Designthinking is the process of starting from a problem and then figuring out all of the possible solutions and creating one final, actionable solution. As anexample, when you have an idea for a new business but need funding for it, design thinking lets you think about a wide range of ways to make money online to save up enough capital to start your new venture. While not every millionaire uses design thinking this way, it can be helpful if you're struggling to make ends meet.

Design thinking works because it helps you find multiple solutions to a problem. The next time you're trying to think of a way out of debt, for example, try thinking about how you can make money online by either teaching courses or starting a side business like freelance writing. You'll be surprised at how many options there are and how much easier it is when you aren't limited in your options from day one.

Finally, remember that design thinking isn’t limited to making money online; it can be applied whenever you have an issue and are looking for potential solutions.

Where did design thinking come from?

Design thinking has been around since the early 1900s, but it was formally introduced in the 1940s as an approach to creating innovative products. It was originally used by industrial designers, who took a more human-centric approach to design and focused on solving problems from the user's perspective. The methodology has since evolved into a broader way of problem-solving that can be applied in any industry and is being embraced by individuals from all walks of life who want to improve their lives or those of others.

Design thinkers look at problems through various lenses, including abstract and emotional perspectives, and use empathy with others' needs to create innovative solutions for real-world problems. One wealth-building strategy they employ is shared risk and reward. They put themselves in situations responsible for potential success and failure. Some of the most famous examples are Steve Jobs co-founding Apple Computer with Steve Wozniak, author Harper Lee taking control of her novel's movie rights, George Soros betting billions against England's currency when he felt like his country would fail after Brexit, George Lucas leveraging his success in Hollywood to finance companies such as Pixar, Industrial Light & Magic, and Skywalker Sound; Alex Ovechkin turning down huge contracts so he could stay close to home, and Tim Duncan opting out of NBA free agency because he didn't want other teams controlling his fate. Timothy Ferriss talks about how this idea played out in his own life, I risked my last 4million dollars on a new company and project. I started traveling full-time. If I were fired or broke my leg skiing and couldn't travel, I'd be screwed. 

What does this mean for you? Just like all these people who have achieved financial independence, if you're willing to make risky bets on your future successes you will build wealth online and retire sooner than you think!

What are the steps to follow?

Design thinking methodology is a process that starts withidentifying and defining what the problem or opportunity might be, followed by creating and prototyping potential solutions. These potential solutions are then tested by collecting feedback from the target audience. The rich use this strategy to build wealth. 

1) Empathize – Research to develop an understanding of yourusers. 

2) Define the problem - Figure out what you're solving for,how you'll know when it's solved, and what your desired outcome is. 

3) Ideate – Generate a range of crazy, creative ideas. 

4) Prototype:  Create potential solutions - Brainstorm as many ideas as possible and allow them to shape into rough prototypes of what they could look like to test them with real people who have the same problem.

5) Test – Return to your users for feedback

6) Implement – Put your vision into effect

Step 1 – Empathize.

The first step in the design thinking methodology isempathy. It's about getting into the mindset of your user or customer andunderstanding what their needs are. What does their life look like? What are their struggles? You might be surprised at how much you can learn by sitting down with a person and just asking them questions!  Get on a call, have coffee, or even go for a walk - get in the shoes of someone who will use your product. You need to figure out the people you are trying to sell your products or services to. You need to understand what makes this particular person or group of people click. What makes them go to work, what do they hate at their work, and what do they wish was better? All of these questions are what you need to get answers to. Empathizingwith your market of people is the first step and it’s the research step todevelop an understanding of your users. Drill this into your head because it’s really important. 

Once you have those answers you will be able to move on tothe next step.

Step 2 – Define Problem Space.

The second step in design thinking is defining the problemspace. You must find a problem that a lot of people have. This means that the solution for that particular problem will have a market. The problem needs to be strong enough so that people are willing to pay for your solution. This is the second step in generating a business idea. This is how millionaires do it, they identify a problem and then brainstorm ideas on how can they solve that problem. Then they execute. Now you might be asking yourself where can I find these problems?

Where can I find problems to solve?

It is surprisingly easy to find problems to solve in modern society. Look forpeople on the internet who are complaining about something. Where can you find these people? What are some places where you can find people complaining? Well, those places are social networks and online communities. People congregate to complain in places such as Twitter, Redditt, Facebook groups,  Discord servers, forums, blogs, etc. 

If you want to find problems on Twitter just search for something along the lines of: - “I hate” or “This is frustrating”. You will find countless business ideas you can solve for people. Using this method you can even find clients, prospects, and people to test your website or any other form of digital solution. 

Step 3 - Ideate: Generate a range of crazy ideas.

Ideation is an important stage in the design thinkingprocess because it involves generating as many ideas for new products orservices as possible. The goal during this process stage is not necessarilyfinding the picture with the best chance of succeeding but instead finding out which idea has a good chance of succeeding based on initial research. Producing a large range of ideas often narrows down the range and allows one or two better options to emerge. For example, when building furniture, you might try making different chairs by adding arms or no arms; changing the fabric; using different types of wood; adding wheels; etc., before deciding which chair type to invest in.

Step 4 – Prototype: Build real, tactile representations for a range of your ideas.

Remember that the goal of prototyping is not to create afinished product but rather, it is meant to be a way of demonstrating andtesting your ideas. Prototyping enables you to experiment with differentaspects of your idea for you to determine which ones work best. It also helps you identify any potential issues before you spend too much time and money building something that doesn't work or meet your needs. 

To prototype an invention, for example, think about whatmaterials would be needed for the invention to function properly. You might need some sort of power sources like electricity or batteries, various types of sensors, motors, and other necessary components depending on the type of invention that you're trying out.

You can then use this representation as the base foradditional prototypes. For instance, if you decide to build a new car modelusing 3D printing technology, you can continue prototyping by adding more features such as headlights, bumpers, and windows until the design is complete.

Forget focusing on how the result will look; keep in mindthat prototypes are simply tools for experimentation and design iteration.

Your goal for this stage of the process should be buildingan MVP. MVP is short for Minimum Viable Product. Minimum Viable Product is exactly what it sounds like. It’s there for you to test the market, get all the negative feedback possible and improve from there. It has to be done as fast as possible, released as fast as possible, and upgraded as fast as possible. MVP is not a finished Bugatti, it’s a DYI skateboard. 

Step 5  - Test: Return to your users for feedback.

Testing is a critical part of the design thinkingmethodology. It's when you go back to your users for feedback and ask them how they would use your product. It could be that your idea is still too early in the design process, or it could be that features are missing. Either way, by testing you'll have a more clear understanding of what people want and need from your product.

If something doesn't resonate with users, then it probablywon't resonate with customers either, so you should take this opportunity to make any changes before moving on. When you're done testing and making changes, repeat steps 1 through 5 until you have a finished product that matches up with what people want.

Step 6 – Implement; Put the vision into effect.

This is the final step in the design thinking methodology,and it's where you take all of your insights and turn them into reality. You'llhave a better idea of how to get started after reviewing steps 1 through 5, but some ways to make your vision a reality include: writing a plan, developing prototypes, building relationships with key stakeholders such as investors or regulators, managing risks and uncertainties such as budgeting for setbacks or unexpected costs, and more.

Bonus advice: Understand the Current Situation

A big part of the design thinking methodology isunderstanding your current situation. First, take a step back and ask yourself these questions: What do I have now? What do I want? What's my goal? Then, start sketching out solutions that will get you from where you are now to where you want to be. Sketching is important because it gives ideas concrete form. Remember that there are no right or wrong answers and sometimes the most obvious solutions can lead you in a different direction than what you originally thought. The key is not just coming up with as many ideas as possible but focusing on generating as many ideas as possible that solve multiple problems at once. What's the best way to generate new ideas? 

1. Study people who are doing things differently from howthey're usually done (For example, say you're trying to come up with new waysto help families stay healthy - instead of looking at food labels for nutritioncontent, try looking at how astronauts eat.) 

2. Look for inspiration in other fields that are similar butdifferent (If your product is shoes and one major competitor is Nike, look forinspiration in the military industry). 

3. Think about what things you don't like about how thingscurrently work (This applies especially well if you're working in a company).

4. Try to think about what question you've always wanted tobe answered but never found the answer to (e.g., How does X happen?) 

5. Read an unrelated book or magazine and see if any of theinformation sparks an idea for your project 6. Find a spot in nature and sitthere for 10 minutes 

7. Take 10 minutes per day to write down any thoughts thatpop into your head 

8. Get feedback from anyone who might be able to offer valuableinsight

I hope this chapter of the video inspired you to understandyour current situation and where can you go from there. 

Additional learning resources.

Here are seven additional resources where you can learn moreabout design thinking: 

1. The Design Thinking Playbook by Bruce Mau.

2. Invent Your Future by Jay Samit.

3. The Creative Entrepreneur by George Kembel. 

4. The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen.

5. Innovation Tournaments by George Kembel.

6. Innovation Happens Elsewhere (video).

7. The Art of Possibility (book).

‍