Chances are you have.

It is one of the hottest buzzwords of today, easily found in articles and in the news. The education and business fields are going crazy over it, books are written about it, and service designers, creative agencies, career coaches, trainers and facilitators are using it. Perhaps you’re already applying it in your work or everyday life, too?

Since its debut in 1969 when Simon Herbert introduced the model in the Science of the Artificial, Design Thinking has revolutionized business models, education systems, processes of innovation, product and service design and human mindsets.

One of the reasons for its popularity is that it is human-centered, putting users and customers at the center of creation in order to understand their problems, thus making products and services more user-friendly.

Design Thinking may seem like just a tool, but this is not the case. Design Thinking is more of a mindset or a process with several different stages, and each stage can be supported with different tools to help in the understanding-designing process.

Keeping in mind the stages of the model, we have collected some of the best Design Thinking tools to help you create real value for your customers and users.

Empathizing
The first stage of the Design Thinking process is to empathize with your users by collecting as much information about them as you can with different set of tools. This human-centered approach helps experts focus on the user instead of their own assumptions about a problem.

For collecting (raw) information:

• Google forms is used by many as go-to solution for creating free, unlimited surveys. You can choose from 6 different types of questions, and as a Google product, it works perfectly with Gmail or Spreadsheets.
• Typeform arrived to the survey-making world with a fresh and simple look and an easy-to use interface. As you type, the application automatically evaluates the question and puts it into the right format. The free version includes an unlimited number of surveys of 10 questions and 100 responses.

For organizing the information:

• Creatlr is an open platform for visual thinkers and designers. You can browse through more than 200+ templates from empathy maps and customer journey maps to stakeholder analysis. The free plan includes 5 projects with 5 collaborators, access to the community and template library with an option for adding your own tools as well.

Defining
Once you have gathered a lot of information about the users, their needs and problems in the empathizing stage, you can analyze and synthesize it in order to sift out the (real) problem to be solved. To understand problems better, it is useful to create personas and define roles so you can attach needs and problems to different set of users. Once you have this you can see what patterns emerge and summarize problems into one problem statement.

• Smaply provides a beautiful and detailed persona and stakeholder editor, journey maps and storyboards to analyze all the data on your users. Short videos are also provided on how to use each tool as effectively as possible. Smaply offers a 14-day trial, after which you can choose a plan. The basic plan gives you 3 projects with unlimited personas, stakeholder and journey maps and access to learning resources for 1 person.
• Userforge promises to help you create in-depth and realistic personas with less clicks than it takes in design software. To foster collaboration and fast decision making you can share personas by URL instead of by the slow process of invitation. The application is non-designer-friendly, meaning anyone can create usable personas without the designer mindset. And it is totally free.
• An all-in-one solution for persona identification: Pyoneer. This app has two main parts: problem definition and solution finding. The former consists of everything you would possibly need to map out your problem statement from personas to journey maps. The latter has concept, validation and kanban storyboards for seamless solution finding. The app is not yet fully available as of the publishing of this post, but you can get early access by signing up.

Ideation
This stage is about coming up with solutions based on the problem statement. At this point in the process you’re not concerned about finding the best solution but creating as many possible solutions as you can with the help of brainstorming and other ideation techniques.

• The open library of more than 400+ facilitation tools from SessionLab offers a wide variety of ideation methods. From brainwriting to 3-12-3 brainstorm, you can find the best methods to get ideas flowing in the team. It is free to use, and by signing up you can also save your favourites or add your own tools to the library.
• For collective brainstorming, idea collection and note-taking use Realtimeboard. Imagine it as a huge, endless online whiteboard for whatever task you need whether its brainstorming with colleagues or stakeholders, creating a mindmap of ideas, or user story boards. It’s all up to you. The free version offers 3 boards for three-person collaboration but can also be shared with guest viewers too. It also integrates with Slack.
• Ideaflip is a simple yet elegant tool for brainstorming sessions either with your team or alone. Anyone can add their ideas on post-it like notes to the virtual space. Ideaflip enables commenting and idea groping for easy and fast decision-making. If someone invites you to a board you don’t need to subscribe, but you can also create your own unlimited amount of boards and have 2 guests per board for 9 USD per month.

Prototyping
By this stage you will have a few solutions or features that you will want to test. Prototypes do not have to be too detailed, high-quality or actually even working yet. The idea is to create a prototype that is sufficiently able to display a specific feature or working mode.

• Boords aims to be your complete storyboard toolbox. Their storyboard creator allows you to experiment with pictures and gifs, voiceover and action text or redraw existing frames. With the Animation tool you can actually make animation from your frames with sounds. Plus you can collaborate with anyone in real time. A basic plan includes 3 storyboards, 1 user and Boords branding for 12 USD per month.
• Mockingbird has a clean and user-friendly interface making it one of the best prototyping and wireframe applications. Features include drag and drop UI, linking together several mockups to make it interactive and smart text resizing. Sharing with direct links makes collaboration super easy. The basic plan costs 12 USD for 3 projects.
• Unlike Mockingbird and Broods, POP is a mobile application for turning your sketches into animations. It is very easy -just take snaps of your sketches or pictures and the app merges them into an interactive prototype. The best thing about POP is that it allows you to share your prototype and get feedback from users instantly. It is available for iOS and Android.

Testing
When testing the complete product or service, it often happens that data gained through testing will redefine the problem statement or several features, making Design Thinking a real iterative process. While nothing beats the ultimate experience of seeing your users interacting live with a prototype, there are various different tools you can use when you have to conduct user testing remotely. And if your prototype is a website, you can also benefit from website analytics and screen capture tools.

• UserTesting.com one of the best and biggest names in user testing applications. Pick users according to what you want to test whether it’s a website or mobile app. The platform records every move your testers make, so you can truly understand how they navigate and perform the tasks you assign to them. Try it out for free, and it is 49 USD per video session after that.
• Another great tool for testing is Hotjar. This all-in-one analytics and feedback tool enables you to collect data on your funnel conversions, see where people click and how they navigate on your site. They offer instant feedback from users and feedback polls to identify problems the user may be having. The basic plan is free and collects data from 2000 page views/day.
• Pingpong is a user-research platform where you can find tens of thousand of testers from all over the world. The platform will automatically set up the best testers for you. You can easily schedule interviews which can be recorded and later analyzed. They work on a credit-based approach: 1 credit = 30 minute interview = 75 Euro.

+1 Browse through more than 500+ design tools and resources on Public Design Vault ! You will find everything needed for design work from templates to sort cards, toolkits and podcasts. Make sure to check it out!

We hope that all of these tools will be useful and will support you in creating awesome, valuable and human-centered products and services for us and the world! If you happen to deliver workshops, make sure to check out our post on the best online tools for workshops, too!

The International Best Practice Competition encourages organizations to share their best operational and managerial practices, processes, systems, and initiatives and learn from the experience of others. It provides an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of individuals and teams that have been responsible for creating and/or managing the introduction and deployment of best practices.

To submit your Best Practice please visit http://www.bestpracticecompetition.com/entry-form where you can download an entry form. The 2^nd call for entries closes on 21^st of September 2018. Last year there were 65 entries with 28 qualifying to the Competition Event.

The 6th International Best Practice Competition will be held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, 10-12 December 2018 as part of the Global Organisational Excellence Congress courtesy of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

The Congress will also include:

24^th Asia Pacific Quality Organisation International Conference

• ACE Team Awards Competition 2018
• 18^th Global Performance Excellence Award

12^th International Benchmarking Conference

• 6^th Global Benchmarking Awards

6^th International Best Practice Competition

• 2^nd Organisation-wide Innovation Award

Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award’s Best Practice Sharing Conference

The other awards/competitions that will be held as part of the Congress are explained here https://www.globalorganisationalexcellencecongress.com/enter-a-competition

The winner of the International Best Practice Competition in 2017 was Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (Mumbai Refinery), India with a best practice titled ‘Employee Health Management System’. In 2015 the winners were Al Jazeera International Catering LLC, UAE with a best practice titled ‘Our Planet – Our Responsibility’. and Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services (DCAS), UAE, with a best practice titled ‘Cultural Sensitivity Gives Birth to a Maternity Care’. For the full list of winners and their presentation videos click here.

The International Best Practice Competition encourages organizations to share their best operational and managerial practices, processes, systems, and initiatives and learn from the experience of others. It provides an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of individuals and teams that have been responsible for creating and/or managing the introduction and deployment of best practices.

To submit your Best Practice please visit http://www.bestpracticecompetition.com/entry-form where you can download an entry form. The First Call for entries closes on 1^st of August 2018. Last year there were 45 entries with 26 qualifying to the Competition Event.

The 6th International Best Practice Competition will be held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, 10-12 December 2018 as part of the Global Organisational Excellence Congress courtesy of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

The Congress will also include:

24^th Asia Pacific Quality Organisation International Conference

• ACE Team Awards Competition 2018
• 18^th Global Performance Excellence Award

12^th International Benchmarking Conference

• 6^th Global Benchmarking Awards

6^th International Best Practice Competition

• 2^nd Organisation-wide Innovation Award

Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award’s Best Practice Sharing Conference

The other awards/competitions that will be held as part of the Congress are explained here https://www.globalorganisationalexcellencecongress.com/enter-a-competition

The winner of the International Best Practice Competition in 2017 was Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (Mumbai Refinery), India with a best practice titled ‘Employee Health Management System’. In 2015 the winners were Al Jazeera International Catering LLC, UAE with a best practice titled ‘Our Planet – Our Responsibility’. and Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services (DCAS), UAE, with a best practice titled ‘Cultural Sensitivity Gives Birth to a Maternity Care’. For the full list of winners and their presentation videos click here.

Diabetes describes a group of metabolic diseases which cause high blood sugar levels. In recent years, diabetes has become one of the leading causes of deaths worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, around 1.6 million people worldwide died due to diabetes in 2015. In 2017, an estimated 8.8 percent of the adult population worldwide had diabetes.

Diabetes in the UAE is rising at one of the fastest rates in the world. Rapid economic growth, lifestyles and unhealthy diets have contributed to increasing the risk factors, also, an increasing population and a greater understanding of the condition have also contributed to the increase in patients diagnosed with diabetes. According to a 2017 survey, 15.2% of Dubai’s population are diabetic and 15.8% pre-diabetic (people at risk of becoming diabetic due to their high blood sugar levels) with the UAE as a whole having the 10th highest rates in the world.

Diabetes prevalence 2017

The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) is one of the government entities that participated in the 2nd cycle of Dubai We Learn initiative, a one year programme consisting of a range of knowledge sharing and organisational learning activities designed to fast-track organisational improvement and stimulate innovation. A key part of this initiative has been the mentoring of benchmarking projects by DGEP’s partner the Centre for Organisational Excellence Research, New Zealand. Project teams used the TRADE Best Practice Benchmarking Methodology – a rigorous 5-stage approach that involves searching for and implementing leading-edge practices.

Stages of TRADE Benchmarking Methodology

Terms of Reference Stage:
The Terms of Reference (TOR) is the first stage of the TRADE Benchmarking methodology. This is where the team developed a clear aim of what they wanted to achieve, specified the resources required, and what was expected in terms of financial and non-financial benefits.
The Dubai Health Authority’s (DHA) project aim:

To develop & start implementing a Dubai Diabetes prevention framework based on worldwide best practices within one-year (2017); to reduce the Pre-Diabetic population, (356,460.48) adults by at least 10% by 2021.

The target of reducing the pre-diabetic population by at least 10% by 2021 was ambitious considering the adverse trends in some of the risk factors such as obesity, unhealthy diet, smoking and lack of exercise.

Review Stage:
The main task of the Review stage is to study and understand the current status of the area of focus. The DHA team used several methods and techniques, such as literature review, community needs analysis questionnaire, brainstorming sessions, fishbone diagrams, and SWOT analysis. DHA recognised that it would not be able to have a significant impact on diabetes on its own and therefore needed to work closely with other stakeholders that could influence or play a role in reducing diabetes. For example, during the brainstorming sessions, DHA invited Dubai Municipality (to explore issues such as how public parks are used and the monitoring of the food offered by food outlets)) and the Dubai Sports Council (to understand how government sports clubs and initiatives can help to prevent diabetes).

A brainstorming session with the stakeholders

Some key findings from the Review stage:

1. The most important factors to prevent diabetes are weight loss through healthy eating, and at least 150 minutes per week of regular physical activity. This can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by 58% in individuals at high risk.
2. An important gap to be bridged is the lack of coordination between the different parties responsible for activities that lead to the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases.
3. A screening and early detection programme for people who are most susceptible to diabetes and determine pre-diabetic cases, will allow reducing complications of diabetes as well as the burden of the disease.

Acquire Stage:
After setting the plan for the whole project and studying the current state, it was time to start looking for solutions or best practices to bridge the gap between the current and the desired state. The team set criteria for selecting benchmarking partners which were: organisations who have developed similar strategic initiatives that serves Dubai vision 2021, who have used public health innovations in the area of prevention, who have implemented prevention programs, who have lifestyle modification initiatives, who have achieved high success rates in terms of implementation, and who have the best health outcomes related to non-communicable diseases. DHA identified 17 potential partners which were reduced to 9 partners for site visits and internet conferencing.

The benchmarking partners were from different fields, which enabled DHA to learn a wide variety of practices. This was besides an extensive desktop research conducted on: Health Promotion & Campaigns, Screening & Early Detection, Innovative Initiatives, Policy, Research, and Applications. In total, DHA were able to record more than 50 improvement ideas for potential implementation. For example, the best practice of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), the winner of the 5th International Best Practice Competition Award was considered for implementation. In BPCL, all employees undergo an annual health check and receive a Wellness Index Score (WIS). The WIS of all employees are then averaged to obtain a company WIS. Initiatives such as Yoga, meditation, counselling by dieticians and health talks are provided to address the most common health challenges faced by employees. As a result, the company’s WIS has improved each year and the number of staff at risk of diabetes has dramatically reduced.

Deploy Stage:
In the Deploy stage, the team translated the ideas and best practices found in the Acquire stage into actions. The team developed and refined the actions through holding a number of meetings and brainstorming sessions with its stakeholders.
By April 2018 the team was able to implement 30 improvement ideas, the three most important were:
1- Developing a Dubai diabetes prevention framework and gaining acceptance of this within DHA and the wider stakeholder group. Previously, there was no diabetes prevention program for Dubai; there were scattered efforts, which were not systematic or collaborative

Dubai diabetes prevention framework

For each sub-element of the Dubai diabetes prevention framework, an action plan outlines what needs to be done in co-operation with each stakeholder, it also assigns the responsibilities for each task and timeframe for implementation until 2021.

Dubai diabetes prevention action plan

2- Implementation of Diabetes Screening: The screening program was developed in primary health care for early detection of diabetes and the risk factors through adapting the National Periodic Assessment and Diabetes Risk Assessment tool (Finnish Diabetic Risk Assessment Score).

3- Developing and implementing a pilot Happiness Prescription Programme. This programme was adapted from the Social Prescribing Programme from NHS (UK). The pilot phase of the Happiness Prescribing Program involved a total of 43 participants. It consisted of a comprehensive health survey, nutrition and health education and support, and various fitness classes.

Evaluate Stage:
The main task of the Evaluate stage is to evaluate if the project aim has been achieved and to measure the financial and non-financial benefits. Although, the main aim of the DHA project was targeted for completion in 2021, there were other objectives to be achieved within the one-year time frame of Dubai We Learn. For example, developing the Dubai diabetes prevention framework and getting all the stakeholders to approve it and be part of it within one year was a huge achievement.

Other achievements included increasing awareness of diabetes. From 2017 till 2018, DHA held more than 460 awareness campaigns which covered more than 47,000 participants with a satisfaction rate of 98.1%. The campaigns were held in different locations such as public parks, government departments, and private sector companies. Also, to target a wider audience base, the DHA worked with the public media to conduct awareness campaigns using the social media, radio, TV, and newspapers. In total, DHA estimated they reached 560,000 people.

Another important achievement was the successful pilot phase of the “Happiness Prescribing programme”. The 43 participants achieved good rates of weight loss ranging from 7 to 11 kg in six months. In addition to 13% risk reduction from severe to intermediate risk and 7% risk reduction from intermediate to low risk in the women’s group. For the men’s group, there was 7% risk reduction from high to moderate risk.

DHA’s project achieves 7 stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Each project team of Dubai We Learn initiative gave a 15-minute presentation and submitted a benchmarking report which was assessed by an expert panel. The projects were evaluated based on the TRADE Benchmarking Certification Scheme. Three of the teams achieved 7 Stars, four teams 5-6 Stars, and four teams 3-4 Stars. These were exceptional results as even to achieve 3-4 Stars and reach TRADE Benchmarking Proficiency is challenging within a one-year timeframe. Dubai Health Authority project was evaluated as 7 Stars project, which means the project is considered as a role model in the approach and deployment of the TRADE Benchmarking methodology.

For more detailed reports about Dubai We Learn projects, join BPIR.com and get access to best practice case studies, report, clips, and much more.

Do you want to achieve outstanding results in your improvement projects, attend a TRADE Benchmarking workshop or email us at trade@coer.org.nz for more information about arranging an in-house workshop for your organisation. To receive the latest news sign-up to COER’s newsletter here.

One of the ambitious projects of Dubai We Learn initiative is Dubai Health Authority project “Prevention better than Cure”. The aim of the project is to develop & start implementing a Dubai Diabetes prevention framework based on worldwide best practices within one year; to reduce the Pre-Diabetic population from 356,460 adults in 2017 by at least 10% by 2021. The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) revealed the results of the trial phase for the Happiness Prescribing Program during its participation in the UAE Innovation Month 2018.

The Happiness Prescribing Program was launched by the authority with the aim of identifying and implementing prevention programs among pre-diabetics and persons with high risk factors by not only prescribing medication, but also prescribing nutritional and physical programs.

Dr Hanan Obaid, Consultant Family Physician and Head of Acute and Chronic Diseases said this program is a pioneering model of community health care for the prevention of diabetes in the Emirate of Dubai. She said that adopting a new approach that does not depend on prescriptions, but goes beyond that to be an integrated behavioral, social and psychological treatment in line with the vision of the UAE and the Dubai plan 2021 and the Dubai Health Authority strategy on Prevention & Healthy lifestyles, and participation in the Dubai Government Excellence Program “Dubai We Learn”.

The six-month trail phase, which was implemented at Al Barsha and Nad Alhamar Health Centers with the participation of Dubai Ladies Club, Bel Remaitha Club for Men and Sharjah University was conducted on 43 participants of women 25 and men 18.

Dr Obaid said the specialist doctor offered them a comprehensive health survey and conducted the necessary tests then followed by the nutrition and health education, in addition to the various sports classes and sessions, which were provided for the participants by Dubai Ladies Club, Bel Remaitha Club. Moreover, The University of Sharjah has reviewed and approved this new methodology for the prevention of diabetes.

“The results found that participants achieved good rates of weight loss ranging from 7 to 11 kg during the past six months, in addition to the risk reduction of diabetes during the next 10 year as follow: 13% risk reduction from severe to intermediate risk & 7% risk reduction from intermediate to low risk in women group. It also has 7% risk reduction from high to moderate risk in men group adding that participants expressed their happiness and satisfaction with this program as diabetes has a negative impact on individuals and society as well as the health sector due to the increase in expenditure for treatment of the disease and its complications,” she said.

The World International Diabetes Federation (IDF) found that the average expenditure on diabetics in the UAE is estimated at 9.8 billion dirhams annually, and the percentage of diabetic patients in UAE about 17.3% in 2017, which is considered a high percentage compared to other countries. In the Emirate of Dubai, the percentage of people with diabetes was about 15.2% and the percentage of people at risk was 15.8% according to the results of the 2017 Dubai Diabetes Household Survey.

“The goal of this program is to reduce the incidence of new cases of diabetes in the society of Dubai among the high risk groups who have risk factors such as: overweight and obesity, lack of physical activity, unhealthy food, and family history of diabetes, stress and smoking,” she said.

The happiness-prescribing program is now electronically connected with the DHA Hayati Application, which will include the evaluation of diabetes at risk and determine the possibility of exposure to diabetes during the next ten years. It will then link it to a new services called Lifestyle clinics, which will be an Innovative solution to prevent diabetes by having a network of a multidisciplinary team (including a doctor, dietitian, health education specialist, and sports clubs).