Empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test

Design thinking workshop from user problem to tested idea

A design thinking workshop takes a team through five stages: empathize with users, define the problem, ideate, prototype and test. Brainstormer handles the define and ideate stages inside a company challenge, and tracks which ideas went to prototype and test, so the insight from the workshop is still visible months later.

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01
Turn research findings into one sharp challenge question
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Ideate with the team, starter ideas and six AI perspectives including the Customer
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Every idea gets a first step and a success measure, ready for a prototype
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Track ideas from shortlisted to in progress and implemented with an audit trail

What a design thinking workshop is for

Design thinking is a way of solving problems that starts with the people affected and treats the first solution as a hypothesis. In a company setting, a design thinking workshop usually runs for one to three days with a cross functional group: someone from product, someone from support or sales who hears customers every day, an engineer and a decision maker. The point is not the sticky notes. The point is that the group agrees on a real user problem before proposing fixes.

The weakness of most corporate design thinking workshops is the handover. The room produces good ideas, the facilitator photographs the wall, and six weeks later nobody can say which ideas were tested. Brainstormer does not replace interviews or prototyping, but it gives the ideas a home where their progress is recorded.

The five stages of a design thinking workshop and where Brainstormer fits
Stage	Goal	What you do elsewhere	What Brainstormer does
Empathize	Understand the user	Interviews, observation, support tickets	Holds the context in the challenge description
Define	Name the real problem	Synthesis of research notes	Frames one challenge question with a deadline
Ideate	Generate many options	Sketching on paper or in whiteboard tools	Collects ideas, expands, merges duplicates, groups themes
Prototype	Make an idea testable	Mockups, scripts, paper prototypes	First step and success measure on each idea, stage set to in progress
Test	Learn from users	Sessions with real users	Notes on each stage change, final stage implemented or rejected

Define and ideate in one challenge

After the empathize stage, synthesise what you learned into a single question. Write the research context into the challenge description: who the user is, what they struggle with, what you saw. A question such as How could new account managers find the right internal answer in under two minutes? gives the ideate stage a target that everyone understands.

During ideation, members submit ideas in two sentences. The AI expansion turns each into a problem, a solution, a first step and a success measure, which is exactly the shape a prototype needs. When the room gets stuck, run an AI workshop on the question: the Customer perspective often surfaces the obvious user complaint that the team has become blind to, and the Skeptic writes down the objections a pilot will face. You can send those results into the challenge as ideas.

Merge duplicates and group into themes before converging. Then shortlist with votes and scores. If you want to go deeper on generating product ideas specifically, see product ideation.

From shortlist to prototype and test

Each shortlisted idea already has a first step and a success measure, so the prototype stage starts with a clear brief. Move the idea to in progress when a prototype is being built and add a note with the owner and the planned test. When the test is done, record what you learned in the stage change note and move the idea to implemented, back to in review for another round, or to rejected.

This record is the most valuable output of design thinking over time. Rejected ideas with a note such as users did not trust the automated answer stop the same idea from being proposed again next year without the context. The idea validation page covers how to design the test itself.

Running design thinking as a repeatable program

Companies that get value from design thinking run it repeatedly on different problems. In Brainstormer each workshop is a challenge, and the strategic goals with weights on the Business plan make sure ideas from different workshops are scored against the same priorities. The board report per challenge gives leadership a summary of what was proposed, what was shortlisted and what is being tested, which helps the next workshop get approved.

You can set this up yourself: create the workspace, pay by card and invite the team by email. See how it works for the full flow, or compare plans on pricing.

Questions

Does Brainstormer do user research or prototyping?

No. Interviews, observation and prototypes happen with the tools and methods you already use. Brainstormer covers defining the question, ideation, choosing ideas and tracking which ideas were tested and what happened.

How long should a design thinking workshop be?

A focused version on one problem fits into a day. Two to three days is common when the group also runs interviews and builds prototypes during the workshop.

Who should take part?

A small cross functional group, usually five to eight people, including someone who talks to customers regularly and someone who can approve a pilot.

Can the Customer perspective replace talking to users?

No. The AI Customer perspective is useful for challenging assumptions inside the room, but it does not replace real conversations with the people who use your product or process.