 Friends, welcome to a new discussion. Today, I'll be talking about design thinking in journalism. And generally when we talk of design in journalism, we talk of either graphic design or page design or things like that. But in the course of today's discussion, we'll see that design thinking is a very important concept. It's almost a way of thinking. It's a way of putting the user experience at the center. Whatever products we design or whatever content we design, what is the user experience of that product or that content? And that is what we are going to discuss today. And it's not a new concept. It has been used in engineering, in management, in science, and in so many other fields. And it's important to find out its relevance in journalism as well. So let's begin today's discussion. So design thinking at its simplest is a problem solving approach that aims to improve people's experiences. And there are many steps in this particular approach. But the important thing to understand is that we are trying to improve people's experiences. And the approach we are taking is a problem solving approach. And we will explain all these things in details in the forthcoming slides. So this is the well-known design thinking paradigm developed by the Stanford Design School. There are quite a few variations of that. But this is what is generally the most common one. And it consists of starting, you know, the design thinking starts with empathizing. Then you ideate, you define, you create a prototype, you test, and then you repeat. So it's an iterative process. In the next few slides, I will explain the meaning of all these things. But as we can see, this is this is an approach which is divided into certain sections. And the sections begin with empathy. So let's start discussing empathy first. So before we begin with, there are certain important dictums that we must keep in mind. So the first part is that a problem well stated is a problem half solved. Very often we are not even clear about what the problem is or what the user wants or where a certain change might be necessary. And that is why when we adopt a design thinking approach, this problem is very clearly stated because we'll see it's an iterative process where we go deep into what the user's experiences are or what their requirements are. So that is why this statement of the problem is very, very important. And then what are the problem you're solving? And who is it that you're solving for? And why are you trying to create that kind of a solution? And where do you start from? So the most important thing is that we put the user front and center. So the user is at the center of the design thinking approach. And we align everyone around a clear issue to solve. So there are certain clear issues. Maybe for example, it could be about lack of user interaction on a particular website or a lack of clicks on a particular website or things like that. But at this particular time, and that's a very important point, we are being solution agnostic, we are not thinking of solutions at the beginning stage. We are just thinking about the problems and we are trying to have a very clear overview of what the problems are. So as we saw in the diagram, the first part of this process is empathize. And this literally means putting oneself in other people's shoes. And it's very easier said than done. So what it is, so it's a very systematic process of understanding what it is like to be the people you are creating the solution for. So you know what their lives are like, you want to know what their problems are, what is behind those problems and what solutions they've already tried, and how do they feel about those problems and solutions. So this involves deep interviewing and observation and listening intently. And just to repeat from last slide that we are not looking for solutions at this stage. We're just trying to find out what the problems are or trying intently to be in their shoes, in the shoes of the user. And once that empathy part is over, you've taken all the information from the people you've interviewed. And that interview can be digital also as we'll see later. But people you've interviewed and studied, you've taken all the information, you try and see common threads in those experiences, you try and synthesize those perspectives. So again, you know, it's a stepwise process in which after empathizing with your users or after putting yourselves in their shoes and trying to find out what their problems are, you try and collect all that information, you synthesize all that information and you try and state the problem. As we said earlier, stating the problem clearly is half the job done. So that's a very important task of the design thinking process, the defined process. And the third part, and this is where a lot of energy has to be spent, a lot of cognitive energy has to be spent. The common word we use for that is brainstorming and we are suggesting uncensored brainstorming. All the ideas, bringing in all ideas, generating volumes of ideas, they can be big ideas, they can be small ideas, or they can be fairly obvious ideas, ridiculous ideas. But the idea is to bring in everything together. So after you've empathized, after you've defined the problem, then comes, you know, having a diverse group or bringing in your team or bringing in people who matter and then try and ideate, try and brainstorm. And as I said, it takes practice. It is not a one-off thing. So it takes a lot of practice to get into the brainstorming process. There are many directions in which we can go. So one of the things that people suggest is to visualize their ideas. So whatever ideas you're getting, you try and visualize it in some kind of a visual and present it to others and get others also to visualize and present their ideas. Because there might be some ideas which appear very really obvious, but it is important to get them out onto the paper so that you can have more interesting ideas to flow and allow even the absurd ideas or seemingly ridiculous ideas to flow. Because as Albert Einstein said once that if at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it. So bringing in all you can about that particular topic. And this is a very important diagram. This is also very easily available. So this idea curve can range from the absurd to the brilliant to the boring and it can just flow in that kind of a curve. So it's important that we realize that we might have pretty boring times when we are ideating or we can have absurd ideas and even the absurdity of the ideas increase with time that times we will end up getting truly absurd ideas. But this is what we are looking for. So this is a process that we have to go through. And after you have gone through this process over some length of time, you can have the proper ideation about that particular solution that you are looking for. So after the ideation process, it's very important to think of whatever solution you are providing or whatever content you are providing that you treat that as a prototype because that again has to be tested and retested. So we say that it's always a work in progress. So even if it's a journalistic content deal that as a prototype which can be improved later on. So it's a part of the design thinking process. And then getting feedback on that prototype. So it can and from the people you're designing it for. So it's again the user experience that matter. So using that feedback, you have to improve upon the product. So again, as I say, in journalistic writing and all your last write up was a prototype. So based on the feedback, you have to keep on improving a better version of the product. So this test process is very important or this feedback process again is very important. So from empathy to definition to ideation to test. And then we have to keep repeating this process because it's an ongoing process. It's an iterative process. So this is about design thinking in short. So again to just recall what we've done. This is again, you know, another version of the Stanford design school schema that I spoke of. So it starts with empathy or empathizing. And there you're trying to find out who you're solving for. So trying to find out their needs, their requirements, the way they live their lives, so on and so forth. And then based on that understanding, you define what their needs are. So you find out what their needs are, and that's where you have to state the problem very clearly in this definition process. And then it comes on ideating, how are you going to solve them? So this ideating process, as we just saw, is about how you're going to solve them. Then you create a prototype and you test it, and that's where you have to find out why your work matters. And they've added another process there, which is that of storytelling. So this is added to the old Stanford design school paradigm. And that's how the process is repeated. So it's an ongoing process. In journalism, generally, this is what has been going around for many, many years. And this is one of the typologies of news provided by Moloch and Leicester. And they say that news is generally of three kinds. It's routine for one. So when somebody is calling a press conference or when somebody is making an announcement or somebody is putting out a press release or things like that, that is a routine news, which is planned and which is promoted. So planned and promoted by the protagonist. So that these are routine news. And that's how news has been for very long. The other kind of news is the scandal, which is planned and promoted by someone else. So someone else is exposing your work. So they have planned it out. And they're trying to promote it through the news platforms. And the third type is that of accident about which nobody's planned and nobody's promoted. So come to think of it, this is how journalism has been for as long as we can remember. And most of the news that we know can fit on to all these three things. But it has led to certain problems with journalism as we can see now. And that's why a fresh thinking is needed. So here we'll try and provide an overview of using the design thinking approach in journalism. So when we talk of empathy, it's generally assumed that empathy comes naturally to journalists. And it is largely true because we, as journalists, we keep on meeting people and our work is centered around people. But it has to be more systematic because a lot of times what we assume would be in reader's interest or what they would be interested in might not be true. So this is something that has to be more systemized. And then the definition part is again, very important because it helps us to focus on what is actually needed. And then you can move the story idea ahead. So again, putting the user experience at the center. The ideation process is something which keeps on going on in newsrooms. But if we adopt it on a regular basis, then that can bring in a lot more fresh ideas into our work. So it could be a story that we are doing as a journalist, or it could be some new product that, and in the digital era, there are lots of news products that are tried out as well. So if it's a story, it's better to get a feedback from your reporters and editors, and even after it's printed from the readers. And if it's a project or it's a new product, then the user's comments are important. So this testing process is also something that we have to do. So let's talk in details about all these processes. So in the empathize part, and this is taken from Hierken's site, in the empathize part, we collect the community questions, and we try and understand the community information needs and desires. Because bringing the community at the center is what is required. So we collect those questions, we try and understand their needs and desires. And then we try and find out or define what are the more important ones. So it allows them to, so it could be done in a more systematic manner of getting the community to vote, but that might not always be feasible. But the idea is to collect all these and their requirements and to streamline them into certain problem statements. And then ideating or brainstorming to best to find out the best answer to the questions that we created in the definition portion. And then finally conducting reporting and creating a prototype. So this again, as we said, is an ongoing process. So it could be like we bring out a story and then we again see the feedback and those stories could be regarded as work in progress. Or if you have time then to collect more information and to get feedback at that point of time before printed. And then finally you gather the story feedback and it goes into the publication process and this stage is again repeated. So it's roughly this is a schema for journalists, but there are a lot more entry cases to that. So let's find that out. So as we said that this rebuilding trust in journalism, it requires finding new ways to connect with communities. So this connection with communities is probably what is missing in mainstream journalism these days. And that requires developing newer products, probably more interactive products or products that the users would like to use and also approaches that respond to specific community needs. So design thinking can be a great entry point to developing those inclusive news reporting and representing techniques and even community building techniques. So this connection with community is what is important there. And that is why this idea of putting the user experience at the center, what does the user have to say about my product or the content that I put out? Or what is it that you or she would like to see? And again as we say it's not just based on some little survey or one or two questions that we ask readers, it's a much more detailed, it's a much more as we say a much more empathetic approach where we try and understand the community needs and requirements. So again, centering it on humans, not assuming that just because there is new technology, just because there is interactive technology, humans are going to enjoy it. So we have to resist this temptation that just because there is new technology, just because we are putting it out for users, they are going to enjoy it. Their interests have to be there at the center. So serving audiences has to be one of our guiding philosophies. And avoiding the true problem, one of the approaches that the IBM Enterprise Design Thinking paradigm suggests is to ask the why question at least five times. So for example, the problem statement could be that we do not get too many readers comments. Why? So that first why that might lead to an answer that we do not get readers comments probably because people are not engaging. Another why? Why are they not engaging? They're not engaging because the stories are probably not to their liking. So why is it not to their liking? So starting from a point where we began with suggesting that readers comments are not coming just by asking these five why questions we can identify the true problem. And once we have identified that we can look for all kinds of solutions. And that is where deep listening is very important. And that's where probably where we miss a trick often and we assume that this is what readers would want or this is what my viewers would require. So this deep learning deep listening is extremely important to empathize and to find out the realities of users lives and what do they want to see or what do they want to experience. And even the ideation process can be a lot more democratic and transparent. And so brainstorming could just be one idea. So you can be inviting people on various platforms or you can have a democratic and transparent set of approaches for generating ideas. So you could so it is not just limited to your own team members it can be a lot more open. And one way to drive healthy collaboration is to put it in a storytelling format. So one way to get in more views from people would put it in a storytelling format like who will be the users and who are the stakeholders. What experience are we trying to improve and why are we trying to improve that experience that's very important. So that would lead to a more healthy collaboration and alignment amongst your teams. So storytelling is a very important way of not just generating ideas it's also a way of getting people together. So the process of making and using versions of the product from the earliest stages to reach understandings that could not be achieved through thinking alone and that's why prototypes are important and that's why it is important always to regard our work as a work in progress. Because unless you try it out unless it is out there in the open it can't just be theoretical. So you practically put it out in the open and then you get better understanding about the product or the content from people who are using it and it cannot be achieved from thinking alone. So again testing is a very very important process it is not always a passive feedback it's also about observing people when they're engaging with the new product so how do they react and it's not assuming that people will like it or they might not like it or whatever they'll be angry or they might be sad or things like that. It is it is based on deep observation just like we spoke of deep listening at the empathy process this testing is also a very very important process. So it's very important to check our assumptions and that's a problem with much of journalism that we assume a lot at times without proper evidence getting to know your users and that's where we keep on talking about empathy and that empathy can also be attained through observation. Staying curious so keep on asking why and in one of those slides I spoke of the five why's and that's very important. Another thing is to remember and especially in this digital environment is that the world is changing. What we thought was a good idea earlier may have changed so it's important to always keep on looking for better ideas and as I said in one of the earlier slides start looking at everything you make as a work in progress it can always be improved upon so that's that's an important philosophy to have. So when we're thinking of design thinking we can be thinking of new product ideas it could be new digital products it could be about new ways of interacting with news audiences it could be an understanding that journalism is belonging to wider journalistic system so everything we do is a part of the wider journalistic system and that's where our inputs are so very important and also facilitating civic journalism. So new stories and news organizations they exist in a variety of larger informational social and organizational ecosystems and that is an understanding that we must have and once we have this understanding then the definition of the problem and the ideation of that problem ideation to create a solution to that problem would be much easier. So we often think that we serve our audiences but we are not always I mean only after we've spent a vast amount of time effort and money and when we put out the story we realize that the story does not resonate and that is why if we start with putting the user at the center our work will be a lot more useful and it will resonate with the audiences. Thank you so much for your patience thank you for joining today.