A few tips for practical use of the Double Diamond in your day-to-day business

The Double Diamond offers a visual equivalent to divergent and convergent thinking. Here are a few tips for practical use in your day-to-day business.

Identify the right problem, solve the right problem.

Discover

• Gather all the information to understand the problem.
• Mind biases.
• Keep descriptions comprehensible. Everyone involved should be able to get the picture of situation.
• Task → Summarize the collected information in a neutral, comprehensive and understandable way.
• Team’s mindset: Curiosity + openness

Define

• Process data.
• Use further methods such as canvases, journeys, personas, service blueprints to link the collected data with different dimensions.
• Here you find that information is missing. Get in touch with the research team, engage with other disciplines.
• Create criteria and workloads for different stages of expansion (prototype, mvp, poc, scale-up).
• Task → Make concrete and practical assumptions to solve the problem. Use suitable visual evaluation tools for the problem/solution definition, e.g. service blueprint.
• Team’s mindset: Focus + clarity

Note
People tend to start in the “Define” or “Develop” phases. The problem is briefly described, but the expectation is often that the solution can be derived directly from it. Cling behind it. Go for regular team retrospectives to highlight sloppiness.

Develop

• Develop solutions for problem creators.
• Note ideas or approaches that have emerged from your work.
• Prioritize based on feedback and data.
• Actively seek interdisciplinary feedback.
• Decide on the best approach based on the reflected data and available information.
• Task → Document, use collaborative tools, collect feedback, Get Things Done.
• Team’s mindset: Perseverance + playfulness

Deliver

• Deliver a concrete result that reflects the earlier stages in the best possible way.
• Make an upbeat and honest presentation.
• Team acceptance and cultivation of a healthy error culture are important in this part of the process.
• As a team, we have the responsibility to respect the outcome 1000% while opening the space for improvement and preparing for the next phase.
• Task → Be proud of the result. Consider the time invested and spent as valuable and the information gained as necessary. Listen carefully, tell joyfully.
• Team’s mindset: Advocate for being able to talk openly about the outcome.