Design Thinking Proposal PDF

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Organisation: Uber Technologies Rationale: Uber is an innovative ride-hailing company offering services that include peer-to-peer ridesharing, ride service hailing and food delivery. As a ride-hailing company, Uber smartphone application makes it easier, convenient and cheaper for consumers. As a regular customer of Uber, I chose this company because I contribute to their business. As a customer, I notice that Uber incorporates design thinking well throughout their business model, from branching to creativity and processing a method to match people's needs. Uber first started out in a few small cities and cost more than regular taxi services, due to the implementation of design thinking, uber has grown rapidly by covering 60 countries and has opened opportunities of self-driving cars and helicopter rides which we will see more of in the near future (Puri 2019). Design thinking is a discipline that is essential for today's companies as we are faced with daily challenges (Liedtka & Ogilvie 2011). Uber has explored different alternatives that've never existed before, making their company very successful, this is apparent with the implementation of design thinking. DT Approach: Liedtka 4 Question Model: When deciding what design thinking approach that would be most fitting for Uber, weighing up the options of the 3I model, Liedtka model and the service design thinking model. Liedtka 4 question model was most applicable for Uber due to its focus on divergent and convergent thinking which creates the notion of ideation and creating new possibilities (IDEO 2020). The 4-question model uses essential tools to communicate with its consumers, whereas 3I model uses prototyping to frame their ideas. Uber uses design thinking to consistently seek for new ways to create a better future and find the ‘next big thing’ for the conveniences of our society. Using the Liedtka 4 question model, Uber can visualise and question the four stages of the process: ‘what is?’ ‘What if?’ ‘What wows?’ And ‘what works?’ (Liedtka & Ogilvie 2011). These four basic questions give the company a guideline to reduce risk and form new ideas to introduce into the marketplace.

Before we examine Uber's future and their business plans, we need to examine their innovation at the present day of current reality, the first question of the 4-question model is ‘what is?’. This first stage encompasses how well Uber understands their consumers as it engages in empathetic understanding, it's important to know your market and what dissatisfactions your consumers may have with the present services, this ultimately gives a basis to prepare for the future (Liedtka & Ogilvie 2011). Uber uses Journey mapping as it’s an essential tool in the current reality stage, it visualises the current experience of the customer as they go through the process of using Uber services. Through journey mapping, we can use the customers perspective to either alter or abolish unnecessary processes (Balderson 2019). The next stage of the 4-question model demonstrates the new future by questioning ‘what if?’. In this stage we ask ourselves, ‘what if anything were possible’, we generate endless amounts of ideas, brainstorming is a key tool to use during this stage. However, only the ideas that are feasible and viable with the company's market strategy are able to deliver opportunities (Liedtka & Ogilvie 2011). In relevance to Uber, they aspire to innovate and produce convenience to their customers. They have recently designed the concept of Uber helicopter, which has potential to grow in more countries when consumers become more interactive with the idea. A concept like this has much to think about such as pricing, noise pollution, landing spots and government legislation issues. With the influence of design thinking, it is possible to make it work. After we have processed ideas, it's important to narrow them and make a choice. In this case we move on to the third question of ‘what wows?’. In this stage, we are looking for the wow factor to potentially attract customers. If Uber is to launch Uber helicopters, it would solve the problem of traffic in cities. This allows people to get to their destinations quicker and reduce time spent in traffic. With the rapid prototyping tool, we can find quicker results in spotting out the sectors that aren't working well by phasing it out, this way when we deliver it to the marketplace, it will ensure a smooth run (Liedtka & Ogilvie 2011). Lastly, the Liedtka 4-question model is ‘what works?’. After we prototyped and tested our ideas, the end goal is to launch the service into the marketplace. Only the ideas that have pulled through the 4-question process and are feasible will make it out to the marketplace (Liedtka & Ogilvie 2011). However, customer feedback is important during this stage because their opinion drives the company to adjust or to solve challenges. Operating the

learning launch tool can endure customers to be more fascinated with the idea of helicopter transportation (Liedtka & Ogilvie 2011).

Design Thinking Principles: Design thinking principles are essential when creating, innovating and solving problems. Uber demonstrates design thinking principles through Enterprise Creativity and Integrated Foresight, these are further related to the 4-question model discussed. Uber strives to produce innovation as its key to their business growth and it re-invents their company to solve problems as the environment changes more drastically with the growth of technology (IDEO 2020). Enterprise Creativity uncovers opportunities as design thinking is powerful in generating ideas and creativity. This is evident as Uber has shown Enterprise Creativity by innovating the concept of Uberhelicopters, it has elevated their brand image to be prestigious but affordable at the same time. Another principle that Uber signifies is Integrate Foresight, it projects the idea of goal setting by giving you an outlook of what the future may look like for the organisation and what pathway they want to follow. Uber foresight is to become more sustainable by reducing individual ownership to outcome less fossil fuel pollution and city traffic. The ‘what if’ stage explores the different possibilities to achieve Ubers foresight. Potential Business Challenges: As a personal customer of Uber, I have seen the drastic changes in their business strategies over the past few years. As the times change, more competitors have entered the marketplace such as Lyft and Ola (Puri 2019), making it very tempting to choose these options as they are cheaper in price with a similar concept as Uber. Uber is constantly cash burning billions of dollars each year to cover marketing to attract drivers and riders, this to purely to keep up with their new competitors (Puri, P 2019). If Uber uses the liedtka model and design thinking effectively within their business, Uber can create services to differentiate from the other companies. The innovation of Uber helicopter services and self-driving cars may attract customers to gain an experience from Uber rather than a service. Also creating a loyalty program for consumers may signify that Uber is devoted to their customers. Introducing this

innovation to the marketplace will change the culture of our society by using the power of modern-day technology. Design thinking can transform Uber’s business approach by focusing on their users. Design can solve problems for all stages of the business, as we are able to think broader about our changing society and key point any arising challenges (Brown 2008). References 1. Balderson, E 2019, Uber Journey Map, Erin Balderson, viewed April 5 2020, .

2. Brown, T 2008, Design Thinking, Harvard Business Review, pp.84-92

3. IDEO 2020, IDEO Design Thinking 2020, viewed April 5 2020, .

4. Liedtka, J & Ogilvie, T 2011, Designing for growth: a design thinking tool kit for managers, viewed April 4 2020, .

5. Puri, P 2019, Uber may be a 'unicorn' now, but faces serious challenges in the future, Bizjournals, viewed April 4 2020, ....