MATEC Web of Conferences 201, 04003 (2018) https://doi.org/10.

1051/matecconf/201820104003
ICI 2017

Applying Design Thinking Process in Student’s

Project: A case of EGF Products
Chun-Ming Yang1,* , and Hong-Thien T. Man1
1
Industrial Design Department, Ming Chi University of Technology, Taiwan

Abstract. Design thinking process is best known as an effective, human-

centred approach to more creative problem solving. This method has been
applied as an innovative solution generation technique not only for
designers but in other disciplines as well. While Epidermal Growth Factor
(EGF) is an important growth factor in human body. It plays a crucial role
in recent biological researches for many health-care applications. This
study incorporated the design thinking process in EGF application products,
aims to encourage student designers to embark on this freshly new
problem-solving methodology in biological application, and hope to help
introduce new medical products in daily life. Two cases as the results came
out from the hands-on class project were also presented.

1 Introduction
Design Thinking has been growing as a central point in the contemporary design world
with a variety of applications not only focusing on just a single product but more becoming
a methodology to practice for innovations. From a large scale of the design industry, this
human-centred approach results in innovative impacts, to a smaller scale of academic
environments, applying design thinking also helps design students build up with creative
confidence and transform them into design thinkers [1].
In the journal “Notes on the Evolution of Design Thinking: A Work in Progress”, Craig
M. Vogel emphasized on the progression of design thinking within multidisciplinary
programs that could bring out a new model for innovation not just in universities but
companies to approach all of the unmet global human need [2]. Design Thinking has been
taught in successful design education at d.school, the Institute of Design at Stanford
University as a methodology for innovating routinely [3] with feasibility, viability, and
desirability to approach the real needs and desires of the human. Roger Martin also believed
that design thinking could bring potential effects on education when design thinking was
about the mental processes through a project-based workflow for problem-solving solutions
[4]. Moreover, Design Thinking might help students become empowered agents on their
own way of self-developing because of possessing both the tools and the confidence to
change the world [5].
There are three typical spaces in Design Thinking Process: inspiration, ideation, and
implementation [6] while Carroll and other researchers [5] proposed a conceptual

*
Corresponding author: [email protected]

© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
MATEC Web of Conferences 201, 04003 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201820104003
ICI 2017

framework with six key steps of Design Thinking Process: Understand, Observe, Point of
View, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. This study integrated the three-space model with six-step
framework to introduce a Design Thinking process to design student with hands-on practice
within a industrial design class project. This assignment is designed to bring the
fundamental concept of Design Thinking to unlock students’ potential abilities and creative
confidence. This paper begins with reviewing relevant literature, followed by Design
Thinking process conducted in this class project and then demonstrating results with the
cases from the EGF application project.

2 Literature Reviews
Design Thinking has a rich history in the academic environment from Bauhaus time to
Stanford’s d.school. And one of the reasons that coined Design Thinking as a valued
methodology is human-centeredness. In 1955, Dreyfuss also expressed the idea of human-
centred approach in his book, Designing for People [2]. Human-centeredness is not just
about emerging field of human factors and ergonomics but needs for logical approaches to
produce innovative solutions by focusing on making people the source of inspiration and
direction for solving design challenges [5]. Design Thinking Process is human-centred, not
technological or business-centred, and about the idea “need-finding” [7].
In the book “The Design of Everyday Things” by Don Norman, the human-centred
design process was introduced with four different activities: Observation, Ideation,
Prototyping, and Testing. These four activities are iterative to get closer to the desired
solution [8]. Tim Brown in his book “Change by Design” also pointed out three mutual
elements, which could bring success to any design program: insight, observation, and
empathy [1]. Carroll and other researchers mentioned that empathy, which comes from
observing, is the intellectual identification of the feelings and thoughts of others [5]. The
empathy could enable design thinkers to uncover people’s deep insights and implicit needs.
And with empathy, designers could stand in others’ shoes to connect with the people they
observed fundamentally [1]. For that reason, prototypes and drawings, scenario design,
storytelling, and role-playing are methods to bring potential solutions back into an
imagined situation to address users’ experience and emotional response for useful
feedbacks and an idea forward [1]. Especially, the culture of prototyping is really important
in Design Thinking Process when it focuses on being highly experimental to engage people
with artifacts for a better solution [5].
Carroll and other researchers believed that collaboration is essential to Design Thinking
Process [5]. The collaborative process in a class project was influenced by students’
willingness to listen to other’s ideas to take risks and to share their ideas with others. The
ability to work collaboratively is also one of the important factors in a design thinker’s
personality [9]. The best design thinkers need to work along together with other disciplines
to collaborate their own significant experience. Instead of working only with your own
knowledge or background, a problem or quest would be described on an open and
innovative site so that designers could get help from the creative minds of all over the
world to solve that problem or quest [3].
One of the important spaces in Design Thinking Process is Ideation – the process of
generating ideas to approach potential solutions [9]. There has been an increasing attention
on developing more effective methods for idea generation. However, among many methods
such as Brain-sketching, C-Sketch, 6-3-5, and Gallery Method [10], C-Sketch is considered
as a progressive idea generation method, especially in design related fields. C-Sketch
Method, a.k.a. Collaborative Sketching, is shown to be more effective in performing the
quality and variety of designs (Kulkarni et al., 2001). Design Thinking Process with C-
Sketch as an idea generation tool could encourage an environment to cut through traditional

2
MATEC Web of Conferences 201, 04003 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201820104003
ICI 2017

structure and mindset barrier to create an innovative mixture of new ideas. Responsibility
for the final outcome is not on any person but from the team’s contribution, so there will be
no “my idea” in a multidisciplinary team. Collaboration, therefore works much more
effective when team members are from different backgrounds or perspectives (Kelly, 2013).

3 Process & Methods

This research generated three spaces in design thinking process (Brown & Wyatt, 2010)
(inspiration, ideation, and implementation) with six design thinking phases proposed by
Carroll et al. (2010) (understand, observe, point of view, ideate, prototype, and test) to
develop a systematic framework for solving design problem. There were different creativity
activities and tools introduced as hands-on practices in different phases in order to help
students approach design-thinking concept and achieve specific tasks in each phase.
In Phase 1 – Understand, students conducted pre-research with data collection and
presentation to the expert in order to understand the fundamental relevant knowledge. In
Phase 2 – Observe, students were required to do a market survey to comprehend deeper
customers’ behaviors and needs as well as contemporary technologies and products on the
commercial market. In Phase 3 – Point of View, students with data analyzing figured out
the customers’ needs as well as narrowing down the design problem. In Phase 4 – Ideate,
students were instructed to use a various collection of hands-on practices with creativity
tools such as: Lotus Blossom Method, C-Sketch, AEIOU & 5W1H, Scenario & Storytelling,
to diverge and develop conceptual idea solutions. Finally with Phase 5 – Prototype and
Phase 6 – Test, students were required to come out either virtual or physical prototype for
testing to help students ensure if their design solutions could meet customers’ needs. Figure
1 demonstrates the framework of this research, which is based on three main spaces of
design thinking:

Fig. 1. Framework of this study

3.1 Phase 1: Understand

3
MATEC Web of Conferences 201, 04003 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201820104003
ICI 2017

After the design problem had been assigned, students were required to (1) conduct a
research for fundamental knowledge based on three questions: What is it? What can it help?
Is there any application in our daily life? So the students could get the general
comprehension about the technology with its background as well as the limitations; (2)
present the pre-research before an expert in that industry for a deeper understanding of the
problem.

3.2 Phase 2: Observe

With the fundamental understanding from Phase 1, students conducted a market survey
with a quick field trip to several commercial supermarkets in order to ensure if there is any
application with that technology available on the real market. Moreover, they interviewed
some potential customers to understand their using behaviours. This was also one of the
important characteristics of design thinking: human-centred approach.

3.3 Phase 3: Point of view

Students analyzed the data from two previous phases to narrow down the design problem
and define the customers’ needs.

3.4 Phase 4: Ideate

3.4.1 Brainstorming & Classification

After conducting the market survey, students were asked to write down all keywords
relating to products, technologies in the industry on post-it notes. After that, they
categorized them in groups of issues (Figure 2). This activity helped students focus on the
potential group of issues, which could meet the customers’ needs and be applied in the
industry.

Fig. 2. Post-it notes with keywords and issue groupings

4
MATEC Web of Conferences 201, 04003 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201820104003
ICI 2017

3.4.2 Lotus Blossom Brainstorming Method

Students set design topic in the centre of Lotus Blossom Map, and then fill the first layer of
boxes with main keywords from the previous phase (3.4.1). Those main keywords in the
first layer of boxes would be set as main topics in the centre of the second layer for
divergence. Following those new central keywords, students figured out more keywords to
expand the map until it was completed (Figure 3). Finally, the convergence of the Lotus
Blossom Map would be started from the outmost layer towards the centre. With the central
keywords of each layer, two other keywords would be chosen for the idea combinations.
There would be 8 idea combinations from the final map. They would be written in the
format: “Design topic = Keyword 1 + Keyword 2 + Keyword 3 +…+ Keyword n.” Lotus
Blossom Brainstorming Method could help students generate a much broader collection of
different ideas in a free-flowing and impulsive way (Chen, Yang & Lai, 2016).

Fig. 3. Lotus Blossom Brainstorming Map

3.4.3 Collaborative Sketch (C-Sketch)

From the idea combinations got in the previous phase (3.4.2), students would write down
that idea combination on the top of the sketch paper and performed a three-round
collaborative sketching. (1) The group conducted the first round to select the most potential
concept for proposal with experts’ discussion to dig into a deeper level on technical
solution of the conceptual idea. (2) Getting the experts’ feedbacks from the first round,
students continued on developing the conceptual idea and proposed again for the second
round of experts’ discussion. (3) In the final round, students focused on finishing the
conceptual idea according to the second round feedbacks from experts. Collaborative
Sketch could help students generate conceptual design solutions in a technological way,
which could meet customers’ needs. Moreover, sketching helps conceptual design solutions
visualized for much dynamic group discussion and idea generation [11].

5
MATEC Web of Conferences 201, 04003 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201820104003
ICI 2017

3.4.4 5W1H & AEIOU

From the conceptual idea chosen in the first round of C-Sketch (3.4.3), students would use
5W1H (standing for Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How) and AEIOU (standing for
Activities, Environments, Interactions, Objects, and Users) methods to define the
environment, target customers, and activities when using the products etc. These two
methods incorporated with Lotus Blossom Map and C-Sketch Method were to help
establish meaningful and appropriate design concepts to potential customers [12]. Moreover,
these methods also helped the conceptual idea solutions more detailed, completed, and
constructive for the later phase of scenario-based design.

3.4.5 Scenario & Storytelling

From the potential customers created in the previous phase (3.4.4), students developed the
personas with more detailed characteristics (name, gender, occupation, education, hobby,
and personality). The scenario framework was also created with a brief description (who,
where, what, and when). And then students developed storyboards to visually establish the
potential persona’s interaction with the conceptual design solution. Scenario Design &
Storytelling play important roles in developing the design concepts in which human-centred
approach was focused [12].

3.5 Phase 5: Prototype

Prototyping is an essential phase of design thinking even if it is created virtually or

physically. The power of prototyping is to generate results faster because the faster a
designer make an idea tangible, the sooner he/she would be able to evaluate it, refine it for a
better solution [1]. This phase was conducted with three times: (1) Students were asked to
create a virtual prototype with sketching or 3D modelling images. (2) After the discussion
with experts, students made a rapid prototype usually with paper at the scale 1:1 to ensure
whether the form would be suitable for the function and applied technology. (3) Finally, the
prototype would be refined again with details, usage instructions, and real material, still at
the scale 1:1, to improve the better image of conceptual solutions. Prototyping encouraged
students to interact with their own conceptual solutions to make sure if the design meets
potential customers’ needs.

3.6 Phase 6: Test

Following three times of prototyping, there were also three times of testing. (1) The first
time was to check if the conceptual sketches from phase 1.4.3 could be developed after the
discussion with experts about the possibilities and limitations. (2) Getting the experts’
advice from the first round, the design was developed and improved with a rapid prototype
at the scale 1:1. In this second testing, the conceptual design would be check if it could be
developed in the real commercial market. (3) At the final testing, with the feedbacks from
experts’ second testing, the conceptual product at the scale 1:1 with real material and
completed packaging design were ready to persuade the potential customers’ needs. Testing
ensures that students learned what would be possible and that might not work for target
customers. That required them to go back to their prototype and modify it based on experts’
feedbacks [5].

6
MATEC Web of Conferences 201, 04003 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201820104003
ICI 2017

4 Results
This study, incorporated the design thinking process in epidermal growth factors (EGF)
application products as the design problem, aims to encourage student designers to embark
on this new problem-solving approach to introducing solutions for EGF application. The
research was conducted during ten weeks of the Industrial Design course in the first
semester of the 2016-2017 academic years with first-year master students at the Department
of Industrial Design in Ming Chi University of Technology as the participants. There were
12 students who were divided into four groups and instructed by one industrial design
expert and one biochemistry expert. The results of this applying design thinking process
were displayed as the flow of previous process and methods above.

4.1 Phase 1: Understand

Students conducted a research for fundamental knowledge about EGF as well as presented
their pre-research with the biochemistry expert (Figure 4). The experts would discuss more
on their research to help students understand deeper the reality of this technology and
industry, such as: EGF history, production method, applicable wounds, economic cost and
value, and impacts in life, etc.

4.2 Phase 2: Observe

Students conducted a market survey to learn if there is any application with EGF
technology available on the commercial market, especially in beauty care and wound care
products. With human-centred spirit, they also interviewed potential customers to
understand their behaviours in using skincare products. This observation encourages
students to develop a sense of empathy [5].

4.3 Phase 3: Point of view

After students learned from Phase 1. Understand and Phase 2. Observe they developed a
point of view that focused on potential customers’ needs and insights [5]. In this case with
EGF applications, the design problem was narrowed down through their research: (1) there
were no skincare or wound care product with EGF application technology in the
commercial market, (2) how does EGF work when applying onto the wounds as a healing
factor?

Fig. 4. One slide from students’ pre-research about EGF before discussion with experts.

7
MATEC Web of Conferences 201, 04003 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201820104003
ICI 2017

4.4 Phase 4: Ideate

4.4.1 Brainstorming & Classification

With new knowledge after the market survey and defined design problem from previous
steps, students wrote down all relevant keywords on post-it papers and categorized into
groups. They came out totally 33 keywords and grouped into 4 themes: Economy, Absorb,
Injury, and Beauty (Table 1).
Table 1. Categorized 33 keywords into 4 themes of ideas

Economy (5) Absorb (3) Injury (12) Beauty (13)

Economy Absorb Burn Repair
Expiration Metabolism Repair Moist
date Osmosis For skin Beauty
Different No scar Woman
species Mouth sore Elasticity
Keep Cut finger Anti aging
something Cell growth Essence
High price Injury first Reduce the wrinkle
Relative growth rate Dark lips brightening
Remove of nail Support instrument
accident Bandage for facial spots
Bandage for general Eye dark circles
skin wound brightening
Blistering burn (toe, Skin on head hair care
finger) from walking after being dyed

4.4.2 Lotus Blossom Brainstorming Method

Students set EGF – the design topic – in the central box of Lotus Blossom Map, then fill 4
main keywords from the previous categorized groups (Economy, Absorb, Injury, and
Beauty). They need 4 more to complete the very first layer of the 9-window-map, so they
added 4 more keywords: Medical, Life/Time, Support Tools, and Pet from their previous
brainstorming phase. These 8 keywords would be the central keywords of the second level
9-window-map to be continued for divergence. After fulfilling the whole map of 3 level of
9-window-map, they came out 8 idea combinations (Figure 5a & 5b).

4.4.3 Collaborative Sketch (C-Sketch)

From 8 idea combinations got from the previous phase (4.4.2), students performed a three-
round collaborative sketching with 6 idea combinations. After finishing 2 rounds, they
came out 42 sketches (7 sketches for each idea combinations) in which they chose 6 final
conceptual sketches for the next phase of Design Thinking Process. Figure 6a & 6b would
show the process of Collaborative Sketch through 3 rounds of one example of an idea
combination: EGF = Economy + DIY + Insurance + All in One + Gift.

8
MATEC Web of Conferences 201, 04003 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201820104003
ICI 2017

Fig. 5a. Fulfilling the whole Lotus Blossom Map

Fig. 5b. 8 idea combinations from Lotus Blossom Brainstorming Methods

9
MATEC Web of Conferences 201, 04003 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201820104003
ICI 2017

Fig. 6a. The first round and the second round of C-Sketch

Fig. 6b. The final round of C-Sketch

4.4.4 5W1H & AEIOU

From the final conceptual idea from the three-round collaborative sketching (4.4.3), with
the case EGF Band, students used 5W1H and AEIOU to get the detailed and imaginative
approach to potential customers who might use the product in some situations. In this case,

10
MATEC Web of Conferences 201, 04003 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201820104003
ICI 2017

these methods could help students understand more about the possibility and convenience
of using EGF Band with a purpose of an intensively fast healing solution (Figure 7).

4.4.5 Scenario & Storytelling

With detailed and contributive information from the previous phase (4.4.4), students carved
more clearly with the personas that would be potential customers of their product design by
developing storyboards visually (Figure 7). In this case with EGF Band, they described the
scenario in which a teenager named Lufy (who) got into a fight at school (where) after class
(when) then used EGF Band (what) to heal the wound on his face (why).

Fig. 7. Using 5W1H & AEIOU with Scenario & Storytelling

4.5 Phase 5: Prototype

Students conducted this phase three times to refine the conceptual product whether it could
fulfil the customers’ needs or requirements as a medical daily product which is easy to use
and bring along. Figure 8 would show more about the EGF Band with virtual prototype and
1:1 one also.

4.6 Phase 6: Test

Students took testing with expert’s feedbacks by presentations through three times to ensure
the possibility of conceptual product EGF Band that was persuaded as a both user-and-
environment-friendly product (Figure 9).

11
MATEC Web of Conferences 201, 04003 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201820104003
ICI 2017

Fig. 8. Virtual prototype (2D sketching) and 1:1 prototype (3D model)

Fig. 9. Testing the conceptual product by presentation with expert

5 Discussion & Conclusion

This design thinking process was conducted with six-phase framework that was
proposed by group researchers of Carroll: Understand, Observe, Point of View, Ideate,
Prototype, and Test [5]. In spite of time constraint, students were instructed to follow
completely the process with some idea combinations to come out conceptual solutions,
some of which were commented by experts as good ideas to develop in reality for the
design problem. With EGF Band, EGF Nurse was also a potentially conceptual design,
which the group of students chose to develop until the last phase (Figure 10). However,
these conceptual designs still need to be considered with more factors (trial manufacturing,
material costing, user testing, and business marketing, etc.) for higher potential products.
In conclusion, this study demonstrated how we applied three spaces in design-thinking
process: inspiration, ideation, and implementation) [6] with six design thinking phases
proposed by group researchers of Carroll [5] (understand, observe, point of view, ideate,
prototype, and test) to generate a systematic framework within the environment of an
industrial design class project. We believed with this new framework, design students could
learn more about the human-centred approach, collaborative design, and divergent and
convergent thinking to achieve new experiences in solving a design problem. This study
with different creativity activities and tools instructed as hands-on practices in separate
phases could help design students build up their creative confidence and encourage them to
become design thinkers in future.

12
MATEC Web of Conferences 201, 04003 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201820104003
ICI 2017

Fig. 10. Another conceptual design in the same Design Thinking Process
Acknowledgments: The authors are grateful for support of the Ministry of Science and Technology,
R.O.C. under grants MOST105-2221-E-131-024- and MOST106-2221-E-131-017-. The authors also
gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments and suggestions of the reviewers, which have improved
the presentation. Furthermore, the authors are grateful for Professor Liang-Jung Chien and all
students, especially Wen-Yun Zhang and Wei-Xiang Wu, participated in the design thinking
workshop in Industrial Design Course of Fall September, 2016, Industrial Design Department, Ming
Chi University of Technology, Taiwan.

References
1. T. Brown, Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and
Inspires Innovation (2009)
2. C. M. Vogel, DMR, 20, 15-27 (2010)
3. T. Kelly, D. Kelly, Creative Confidence (2013)
4. D. Dunne, R. Martin, AMLE, 5, 512-523 (2006)
5. M. Carroll, S. Goldman, L. Britos, J. Koh, A. Royalty, M. Hornstein, IJADE, 29, 37-53
(2010)
6. T. Brown, J. Wyatt, SSIR, 8, 30-35 (2010)
7. M. Camacho, TJDEI, 2, 88-101 (2016)
8. D. A. Norman, The design of everyday things, 217-257 (2013)
9. T. Brown, HBR, 86, 84-92 (2008)
10. J.S. Linsey, E. F. Clauss, T. Kurtoglu, J. T. Murphy, K. L. Wood, A. B. Markman,
JMD, 133 (2011)
11. S. Kulkarni, J. D. Summers, N. Vargas-Hernandez, J. J. Shah, JCB, 35, 168-198 (2001)
12. M. F. Chen, C. M. Yang, W. Y. Lai, Proceedings of the SIGGRAPH ASIA Symposium
on Education (2016)

13