Exploring Advanced Strategies for Design Thinking: Going Beyond the Basics

With Design Thinking now part of the mainstream, a new challenge has emerged: how do we differentiate ourselves when everyone is asking the same questions?

Whether you're interviewing users or understanding customers, the typical questions are predictable:

👉 What's your experience with [X]?

👉 What's challenging about [X]?

👉 What do you wish [X] could do better?

Take banks, for example. The answers will sound similar and generic if every bank asks users about their savings experiences. And when the input is the same, how can banks break free and innovate?

💡 Here's where the next level of Design Thinking comes in: exploring analogous inspiration and alternative worlds. 💡

I'll share a quick story with you. I worked with a bank that wanted to make saving money more exciting—less like a chore and more like something users would look forward to. Instead of sticking to traditional finance questions, we decided to learn from a completely unrelated field: gambling.

We asked:

👉 How did you develop the habit of going to the casino?

👉 What makes them engaged and coming back?

👉 What's your best experience and worst experience playing in a casino?

Using those insights, the bank designed a game app similar to an arcade game like Street Fighter. If your character “died,” you could pay $1 to continue playing—but here's the twist: that $1 went straight into your savings account!

Prototyped and visual by ChatGPT, and it's not the actual representation of the final concept

This shift in perspective—from banking to gaming—sparked an idea that would have never come from traditional finance research alone.

🚀 The takeaway?

By exploring unrelated industries and asking unconventional questions, organizations can uncover new opportunities and fresh ideas that set them apart from the competition.

🤔 Question: How can you incorporate ideas from different industries to stay ahead of competition?

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[About the Author]

Jentz has a deep background in innovation and design across Europe and Malaysia. Committed to enhancing design practices, Jentz aims to help position Malaysia as a hub for creative and impactful solutions. Join him in exploring the potential of design thinking to tackle immediate challenges and inspire transformative change and innovation.

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