One fine day, while watching The Simpsons, one of my favourite animated satires, I noticed something that caught my attention. In this episode, the ninth of season 11, as is customary in Simpsons episodes where there are several plots, ambiguities, and conflicting directions that magically come together at the end, we see how, in one of the scenes, a large toy corporation buys Springfield Primary School and uses the children to develop a toy. What is impressive is everything that happens.
The children of Miss Krabappel and Miss Hoover met their new teachers, who were strikingly dynamic, young and looked like anything but teachers. The children’s suspicions were correct: they were being spied on by this mega-corporation to design the new toy of the season, Fonzo, first-hand.
Fonzo was a medium-sized doll with a soft texture, who said reassuring phrases and was made in bright colours, designed especially for girls who like to play with dolls. However, he also had the ability to launch rockets, which greatly appealed to the boys. In fact, in the episode, Lisa Simpson points out that Fonzo is the name she suggested for the doll. It was made exactly according to the comments that each of the children highlighted. It even has a pencil sharpener built into its ear to please Rafita!
There are some darker aspects to the episode, namely that Fonzo was designed by this corporation to eliminate other toys such as the famous Stacy Malibu or the Krusty the Clown doll, so that it would dominate the market. However, beyond all the darkness, in this article I want to talk to you about the methodology that is hidden or intrinsic in all this: Design Thinking.
I am also passionate about Design Thinking, which is a people-centred methodology that focuses on solving a problem or designing a solution with the greatest possible creativity, using a method that turns us into bespoke designers.
Design Thinking has five key phases:
- Empathise: seek to deeply and completely understand the user, their requirements, needs and even their frustrations. Just like the “teachers” did with the children of Springfield, extracting every last drop of information to build Fonzo. Key tool: the empathy map or Buyer Persona.
- Define: means comparing all the information gathered in the empathise phase with the problem to be solved, measuring how what is available can work to build a solution. What happened in The Simpsons was that they needed a toy that would dominate the market and also fascinate children and adults alike. Key tool: Cause-Effect Diagram.
- Ideate: involves the action of building ideas to solve the defined problem. In The Simpsons, this is condensed into the scene where each child highlights a specific feature for the toy: that it should be soft, have a pencil sharpener, be cuddly and shoot rockets… Key tool: Brainstorming or mind maps.
- Prototyping: involves building quick versions that use the least amount of resources so they can be tested on the market. In the episode, there were beta versions of the Fonzo doll that evolved based on the children’s comments. Key tool: Storytelling.
- Validating: involves testing with customers to gather feedback and refine the idea. In The Simpsons, the Fonzo doll was launched on the market, even though the final idea was not finalised, and it was promoted as the ideal toy for that Christmas. The truth is that it was a huge success, although ultimately there was a somewhat dark undertone to Fonzo. Key tool: Test cards or impulse products.
Did you see that it is possible to talk about The Simpsons and Design Thinking? The truth is that Design Thinking is a very versatile methodology that leads us to think and act like a designer to build solutions that truly respond to customer requirements. Note that it starts with the customer and ends with the customer, so we can talk about the Design Thinking Cycle.
Another interesting aspect is that it can be applied by any professional seeking to solve a problem for their customers: psychologists, educators, engineers, economists, and web developers. They all have something in common that allows them to apply Design Thinking: they do not build fixed solutions, they use various paths to reach their goal. Therefore, this methodology is not only interesting but also complies with the principle of adaptability (something that seems relevant in a market that behaves in a volatile, uncertain, ambiguous and complex manner).
Design Thinking has a lot to offer. It can be seen as a philosophy or a way of acting to build products and services that are correctly targeted and flow smoothly in the markets.
Dare to think like a designer and perhaps we will not build Fonzos, but we will build value propositions to make our world more human by connecting people’s lives.
