Key Points

• Design thinking and DMAIC are both problem-solving strategies.
• Each of these strategies differs in how it approaches problem-solving.
• One focuses heavily on human-centric solutions, while the other is data-driven.

When you think about what it takes to improve processes and the methodologies you can improve from, there will always be fans of one method over another. This is very much the case when discussing design thinking versus DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control), two methods often at the heart of a company thinking through a new solution or updating an existing process. 

Each has its positives and negatives, so it stands to reason that there isn’t necessarily a wrong answer as to which one is better. Both are probably good enough for most solutions, but they differ in their approach. The good news is that both approaches are solutions to complex problems and will play an integral role in how well your company can move forward with problem-solving.

What Is Design Thinking? 

When you think about design thinking, it helps to think of it as a methodology that focuses primarily on creativity and being attentive to your customers’ needs. These two points form the basis for generating new ideas to meet your organization’s needs and customer base. Alternatively, design thinking is a mindset centered on problem-solving, focusing on human-centered design. 

It’s okay if this sounds a little confusing; it is, at least, until you start putting it into practice. However, to help simplify slightly, design thinking should be a methodology focused on the user and not just the problem being solved. In other words, design thinking is focused more on a solution than the problem. 

Stages of Design Thinking

Empathize

In this first stage of design thinking, you will start thinking through what and how you can empathize with users and their problems. The goal, or at least the hope, is to understand the problem substantially and truly understand what is causing roadblocks and why frustrations exist. This will help solve the same problem.

According to design thinking, empathy is crucial for problem-solving and helps promote the idea that design thinking is very human-centric. 

Define

Once you’re in the second phase, Ideate, you’ll start to think through the information you gathered in Step 1 and narrow down the details to try and pinpoint the exact problem. You’ll be doing this in a way that still feels human-centric, so the problem statement you create should feel like it comes from a product user’s perspective. 

Ideate

As you enter the third stage of design thinking, you’ll begin generating ideas that hopefully incorporate learnings from the first two steps. The idea here is to look at any problem with a user-specific perspective and develop more innovative solutions than might otherwise be considered. The hope is that you have multiple potential solutions to a problem as you narrow down a fix. 

Prototype

The fourth stage with solutions will ask you to start looking at different ways to experiment with solutions that will help solve the problems and challenges in steps 1-3. The hope is to prototype different solutions so you can see things from the customer’s perspective and know exactly if it doesn’t just solve problems on paper but in a practical manner as well. 

Test 

The fifth and final step is to complete the final product with the updates from prototype experimentation in step 4 and roll out the solutions to the customer. If you have reached this stage, you should have a complete understanding of the product and how users are working with it in a way that steps 1-4 should have given you a full vision of how to make improvements. 

What Is DMAIC? 

Unlike design thinking, DMAIC is a much more data-driven methodology that is part of Six Sigma but can also be used in a standalone capacity to help improve processes and procedures. In many cases, there is a belief that DMAIC and Lean Six Sigma go hand in hand and incorporate five unique stages of Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control, to help improve any existing process problem where the cause isn’t immediately identifiable. 

DMAIC focuses on metrics, control charts, statistical tools, and using hard data to make improvement decisions. It isn’t in place to help design anything new but only to fix what is discovered to be broken. 

Stages of DMAIC

Define

In the Define stage of DMAIC, you want to identify whatever problem needs fixing. During this phase or stage, you’ll define and summarize the problem and any objectives you hope to reach while determining internal and external customer demands and expectations. 

Measure

During the Measure stage, you will collect all possible data relevant to any aspect of a project. This means focusing on every parameter that needs to be measured, quantified, and/or analyzed to uncover how things are currently performing and how far and wide the problem you are looking to solve stretches. 

Analyze

In the Analyze stage, you’ll start to really understand what sets DMAIC apart by driving directly into hard data and analyzing every process causing inefficiencies as you look to improve them. If you don’t undertake the proper data analysis, you will likely reach a point where you try to get a solution too early, only to end up exactly where you started, with customer frustration. 

Improve

As soon as you reach the Improve stage, you hope to have identified all possible approaches that could be integrated to resolve any problems identified in Stage 1. During this phase, you will look to pilot any new process changes to experiment with how well they can be implemented while collecting new data to confirm that you are seeing the right amount of improvement. 

Control

Lastly, the final stage of DMAIC is Control, which aims to determine and ensure that any improvements implemented in Stage 4 remain sustainable and consistent with overall process improvements. The hope is that in this stage, a data-driven plan is in place for monitoring results and then presenting those results to leadership to verify that the implemented changes are working. 

When to Use Design Thinking

The best design thinking scenario involves a user-driven problem with no clear starting point and an even less clear solution. This might be something like redesigning a confusing website where you don’t know the exact answer or the answer isn’t clearly defined. However, this is a human-centric problem, as the confusion is based on user feedback. 

Similarly, you would use design thinking to launch new products or take an existing product and enter a new market elsewhere. This could also be when you have to reimagine a service entirely based on negative customer feedback. 

In addition, you should focus on design thinking when you examine a situation where a car company is designing a new electric vehicle and is considering how a driver may interact with on-screen versus touch controls. This is a heavily debated topic and a prime example of how design thinking is a fantastic way to examine how it works in the real world. 

It’s important to note that design thinking is not ideal for situations in which tight deadlines are integral to the role. Alternatively, it shouldn’t be used when data-driven decisions are a priority, as this directly ties to the argument for when DMAIC is better suited. 

When to Use DMAIC 

When you look at the best situations in which DMAIC is the right approach, it won’t surprise that it is best suited for data-heavy or data-driven problems. One of the most straightforward examples is to compare redesigning a car interior, which is very human-centric, versus something like reworking a supply chain causing product delivery delays, which will be a data-heavy problem to uncover. 

This is the best way to look at the two different scenarios, as reworking a supply chain has very little to do with human-centric behavior and everything to do with data. This is another prime example of time sensitivity playing a very focused role, whereas redesigning a car interior isn’t as critical timewise. 

Manufacturing lines versus car interiors create a clear dividing line between when these two methodologies should come into play. DMAIC is best focused when creating a situation where incremental improvements are the goal, not a complete overhaul of an entire system. 

Other Useful Tools and Concepts

It goes without saying that design thinking is continuing to grow in popularity. It has arguably become one of the most essential strategies for innovating products and improving product lines and product launches. As companies continue to look for different ways to differentiate themselves from competitors, tools like design thinking play a critical role in making this happen. 

However, as crucial as design thinking is, so too is DMAIC, which focuses heavily on Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma. As Six Sigma continues to play a growing role in measuring how well companies are performing in the marketplace as far as process implementation is concerned, there is every reason to believe that DMAIC isn’t going anywhere. 

Conclusion 

It’s okay if you are still unsure which methodology is right. The best way to look at each of these is to consider one human-centric and the other data-centric. This should allow you to return to the situation you are working to solve and then determine which process would be best for your individual organization.