Design thinking originates from product design and development. It involves gathering insights in a structured manner and using these insights to identify clear problems. These problems then become the focus for developing a product.

In my experience, organizations often forget the key actors they serve: their customers. Whether in Sales, Marketing, or other support functions, customer centricity is frequently lost. Instead, there is a strong focus on new product features, upcoming events, customer acquisitions, and implemented use cases.

Most of us operate under constant stress in our daily lives, relying on basic behavioral patterns. According to Thomas Hobbes, humans are inherently self-centered in their natural state. This emphasizes the importance of focusing on the needs of others when communicating and selling to them.

What is the double diamond design thinking process?

The Double Diamond is a design thinking framework aimed at finding new, creative, user-oriented solutions to problems. It is divided into two parts.

The first part focuses on gathering insights about the customer or user. This involves collecting extensive information about the customer’s daily life, work, tasks, and processes. During this phase, various problems are identified. Once a comprehensive catalog of problems has been created, their implications are evaluated to select the core challenges the customer persona is experiencing. These core challenges then move to the second phase of the Double Diamond: the implementation phase.

The goal in the first half of the second diamond is to build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that addresses some of the core challenges identified in the discovery phase. This MVP is provided to the target personas as early as possible to determine if they find value in it. Among the various MVPs, the one that is seen as most valuable by the user group is developed further in the second half of the diamond.

Following this process effectively leads to a product that is usable for customers, likely to be adopted, and serves as the foundation for a broader product.

Please find the original design thinking process below:

How can the double diamond process be applied to sales & go to market

In essence, every sales campaign should follow the Double Diamond model. During the research and discovery phase, before entering a clearly defined sales process with the customer, ideas are generated and approaches are defined to show how the target customer could find value in your product or service. These ideas and approaches are then executed to book meetings and conduct “interviews” with customers—commonly referred to as discovery meetings in sales—to identify the challenges the customer is facing.

If a significant challenge is identified that can be addressed with your solution, this is the point where a structured sales process can begin. For more information on the generic structure of a sales process, please refer to the link provided here: Generic Enterprise / High End B2C Sales Process

Insights collected from discovery conversations are fed back into the research phase of the process. For example, if idea A shows a lot of potential, it should be tested with more customers, while idea B, which seemed less relevant, can be deprecated. This continuous feedback loop allows for the generation of new ideas and the refinement of old ones, leading to more relevant messaging and outreach to your customer base.

Additionally, insights from ongoing sales cycles can provide valuable information about specific industries, processes, and customer focus areas. Realized projects can also serve as generic references for other customers facing similar situations, thereby building more credibility and relevance in your messaging.

Conclusion on design thinking in sales

Design thinking and the Double Diamond are neither sales processes nor methods for qualifying opportunities. They do not provide the right questions to ask at the right time, but they offer an excellent framework for understanding how the early stages of a sales campaign connect to ongoing sales processes and completed projects.

This approach creates a constant flow of ideas for deriving new, innovative solutions to customer problems. It encourages thinking about new products and how existing solutions can be leveraged. The structure brings creativity to life, keeping the customer and their problems at the forefront. By continuously considering potential challenges, conducting interviews to prove or disprove hypotheses, and focusing on the most critical and relevant issues, you can deliver maximum value.

Whenever you feel stuck in your thinking or constrained by organizational structures, return to this framework. Reflect on what your customers currently care about and struggle with. Identify whom you can talk to about these challenges, and create a catalog to prioritize where you spend your time. Stay focused on what really matters – solving customer problems.