This phase is about emphasizing gratitude and appreciation. It starts with setting an intention for the whole process and then expressing appreciation and gratitude for what is good at the moment and working well.

Innovation processes usually seek to improve a situation, service or product - often because the current situation is not satisfactory for some reason. This prerequisite tends to lead to an attitude of deficiency amongst the people involved, and deficiency nourishes fear of loss , and hinders the process.

In contrast, we found that starting from a point of gratitude and appreciation of what is, is the key to opening the hearts of the people involved and give them the sense that whatever isn’t working here and wherever this process leads us , we have treasures to build upon. And within that journey,who I am and what I have created/done so far is being seen and valued. In our experience the success of an innovation process crucially depends on the ability to involve the stakeholders. And the easiest way to do so is to be attentive and to take the time to speak to their hearts with appreciation at the very beginning.

This phase is about getting to know the field in which we innovate. It is about getting to know as much as possible about those we’re designing for, their everyday lives, their challenges, their pains, their surroundings. Having the attitude of a beginner’s mind is important for this phase - holding back any judgements and preconceived ideas we may have. Understanding the context needs some tact and finesse, a good mix of curiosity, empathy, trust and tenacity. Watch out for situations where people might tell you what they assume you want to hear.

Thinking that we know what the world is like and what the problems are is a perception that can sneak into the innovation process and become an obstacle. The intention of this phase is to leave those assumptions aside and instead gather real information with open eyes, open hearts and open ears and an open mind., Recognise that those we’re designing for are the experts when it comes to their own lives, and the best solutions will be a close fit with their reality.

After carefully gaining familiarity and an unprejudiced understanding of the context, it is important to investigate assumptions, patterns and hypotheses about the needs, difficulties, longings, challenges and opportunities of the users. These are the starting point of our cycle for designing solutions - remember it is very likely that insights during the process might change your perspective. Remember this is only a starting point to give initial direction, there’s no need to have scientific proof. As soon as something in your understanding shifts, you can make amendments. In this phase we think it’s helpful to word challenges beginning with the phrase “How might we….”

It is important not to mix one’s perceptions with the overall interpretation in order to keep one's own agenda out as much as possible. In order to act, interpretation and focused priorities are needed. In order to minimize bias it is very helpful to do the interpretation with a diverse group that gathers different experiences and allows different viewpoints.

This phase is about generating lots of ideas as possible solutions for the “How might we…” question. It is about quantity, not quality. In this phase it is vitally important to leave out judgements. It is a process of coming up with ideas together, inspiring each other and building one idea upon another. Try to gather ideas in the spirit of“Yes, and”- and try to avoid “Yes, but”. Switch on all creative channels - your conscious and unconscious ones and give each other the permission to create bullshit, wild and exaggerated ideas, give space for blurting out loud as well as quiet listening to softer “indoor” voices. We recommend combining different ideation techniques to benefit from their different qualities to influence the outcome.

Initially finding rough ideas or first draft solutions to the challenges posed.

Find out which ideas have potential to develop into solutions worthy of being taken further. Evaluate them according to criteria specific to your context. Prioritize your ideas.As well as searching for the three best ideas, look out for quick wins / low hanging fruit. Is there anything that can be realized without much effort that produces effects regardless of the big-picture developments?

Narrowing down ideas in order to have between one and a few ideas for the prototyping phase. This ensures that the energy is coalescing into focused action instead of frittering on several parallel ideas.

According to the Futurium museum in Berlin, “prototyping is like thinking with your hands”. Prototyping allows you to create a model, process or system to quickly find out if your hypothesis works. In this phase you ask the question “how can I find out with minimal effort if our idea brings the intended benefits / results in our chosen solution?”. The motto of this phase is improvisation. It is important to exclude wishes for perfection. The simpler and rougher the prototype is, the easier it is to let go if you realize that pathway is a dead end. Prototyping does not mean creating a good product/service yet, but finding out as quickly as possible what features a good product/service needs in a real interaction. Actions that help: Determine what you want to find out with your prototype. Determine your test subjects. Keep it simple and focus on basic functionality. Allow serious play, but do just try things out instead of over-contemplating.

*Creating sensory experiences and opportunities for interactions to help gather valuable information about the effectiveness of an idea and the user’s reactions / habits.
*Quickly adapting the idea to the user’s needs.
*Getting instant feedback about what works and what does not.

Trying out the prototype in real life situations.

Understanding what works and what doesn’t. There is a close relationship between prototyping and testing and you might oscillate between the two phases for a while; passing through several iterations until you proceed to the next phase.

After one cycle we end with the same phase that we started with: appreciation and gratitude. Look back on the process and celebrate what you have achieved: insights, ideas, experiences, highlights, and learnings for the next cycle. From here you can begin a new cycle and keep repeating cycles until you find the idea is mature enough to be implemented in a straightforward way, or on a larger scale.

See phase 1.