Module 5: Test

The last phase in the design thinking process is testing. We call it the last phase, however somethings are never finished. Churches continue to meet each week, people’s needs change over time. The process of innovation is often cyclical, we can always update and improve. 

The purpose of testing is to learn and refine our solution so that it truly solves the problem. It’s all about reflection and learning as you test-drive your solution. Your design team needs to take a back seat at this stage and simply observe how their users interact with the product or service independently. This is where you encourage users to provide detailed feedback about their experience, what they liked and didn’t like. Implement some useful measurement tools to maximise you learnings.

Try to make the testing environment as authentic as possible to a real-world scenario and don’t be afraid of negative feedback. That’s the entire point of testing.

The design thinking process is all about discovery, and this may happen at any phase of the journey. Learning from mistakes and experiences is the key to innovation.