A Leader’s Guide to Design Thinking
A handbook designed to inspire and inform leaders on advocating for Design Thinking.
Design Thinking Intern @ American Airlines | Individual Professional Project
Bring momentum to the Design Thinking movement within American Airlines by collecting and sharing success stories.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Design Thinking is the future. It brings people into the center of everything, whether that’s the users we’re designing for or the folks we’re working with. This practice needed a little nurturing at AA.
THE PROLOGUE
To grow this budding movement at American Airlines, I engaged with members of the Design Thinking community there from UX leadership to certified instructors, facilitators, and practitioners. The goal of this was to identify aspects that were effective, areas that needed improvement, and opportunities for growth within the current American Airlines Design Thinking implementation strategy, as well as compile Design Thinking success stories to solicit executive buy-in and enablement.
I designed and deployed a Qualtrics survey of 50 people and conducted 11 in-depth interviews of people’s experiences with Design Thinking at American Airlines.
THE RESEARCH
THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
11 interviews & Qualtrics survey of 50 people.
THE ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY
Stakeholder Mapping, Persona Profiling, Problem Tree Analysis, and Bulls-Eye Diagramming
My research demonstrated that executive support was essential to the growth of Design Thinking, and I was able to see the nuances of what was working and what wasn’t with the current enterprise-wide growth strategy.
Based on this, I decided to focus my project on enabling and empowering VP-level leadership to implement Design Thinking practices in their organizations. In order to create a solution addressing this goal, I set up a roadmap for myself using Design Thinking methodologies to help me leverage insights and develop a solution that promotes the value of Design Thinking to my target audience.
THE INSIGHTS
3 VP-level leaders infused more Design Thinking practices in their organizations inspired by the handbook I created.
THE OUTCOME
A Leader’s Guide to Design Thinking is a handbook designed to inspire and instruct executives on how and why they should increase the practice of Design Thinking and the application of the human-centered design mindset to their organizations.
The contents consisted of success stories from various projects, the core concepts of Design Thinking, and actionable steps to start advocating for innovative practices. This handbook was designed to convince leadership to invest in Design Thinking and empower them with the necessary tools and information to do so.
THE SOLUTION
By equipping leaders with “A Leader’s Guide to Design Thinking”, I was able to create a ripple effect of understanding and enthusiasm for Design Thinking within multiple organizations. 3 empowered leaders began to inspire their teams, to encourage a collaborative environment centered around human-centered design practices.
Through compiling core concepts, success stories, and action items, I was able to bridge the gap between theory and practice, enabling 3 leaders to champion innovative approaches, foster a culture of collaboration, and drive transformative changes throughout their organizations.
THE EFFECT
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Promoted implementation of Design Thinking practices by sharing success stories with leadership.
Design Thinking Advocacy
Facilitated conversations with stakeholders and identified effective aspects and growth opportunities in Design Thinking practice at AA.
User Research
Graphic Design
Organized and designed physical reading material and infographics adhering to American Airlines branding.
TOOLS
InDesign, Illustrator, Mural, Design Thinking Activities
TIMELINE
8 weeks