For more than 20 years Professor Edwin R. Keedy of the Pennsylvania Law School started his first class by writing the following on blackboard: ‘4 & 2’. He would then ask, “What’s the solution?” One student would call out, “Six.” Another would say “Two.” Then several would shout out “Eight!” But the teacher would shake his head and point out their collective error. “All of you failed to ask the key question: What is the problem? Gentlemen, unless you know what the problem is, you cannot possibly find the answer.”

This teacher knew that when people jump straight to a solution, they rarely fully understand the problem they are trying to solve.

At DB Results, we look at every problem with curiosity - seeking to understand people, empower them, and elevate them. The DB Results’ Innovation Group (DBIG) is a team of passionate individuals who champion Design Thinking (DT), Human Centred Design (HCD) and Innovation across our organisation. We upskill our people and enhance our services to deliver the best human centred solutions, every time.

Understand.

What distinguishes DT and HCD from other problem-solving approaches is its obsessive focus on the human perspective. It’s an emphasis on bringing ideas to life based on the perspective of the one who experiences the problem, their needs, and whether the solution that has been designed for them is truly meeting their needs effectively or not. We understand people by embedding DT and HCD techniques in our methodology, to ensure a more human-centric solution is delivered. We aim to have conversations to unpack what the actual problems are and uncover unspoken needs.

One of the ways that DB Results has demonstrated this is through our work with the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA). NDIA was experiencing public criticism due to a problematic and poor digital experience. DB Results uplifted NDIA’s customer experience strategy and mobile application to better service its Participants, enabling them to conveniently maintain their NDIS budget and claims. The strategy and mobile application were built with a deep understanding of the Participant and their accessibility needs in mind. The result is an application that caters to the 5% that are so often ignored in product design. Below are some of the positive feedbacks from the users themselves.

Through DT and HCD, we have delivered tailored solutions to many of our other customers, such as ANZ, the Australian Prostrate Centre, ESTIA Health, Club Marine, Nutrien, and Maurice Blackburn, to name a few.

Empower.

We empower people by running think tanks, ideation sessions and knowledge cafes or workshops to help foster a HCD culture and upskill people both internally within DB Results and externally. Internally, we run gamified workshops which engage and offer the participants with skills to apply to real projects, increasing level of behavioral change, and making complex concepts tangible.

Externally, we have spoken about accessibility and inclusive design at A11y Camp, which is the largest accessibility conference in Australia. We have also partnered with various Melbourne meetup groups to run workshops with their participants, including UX Psychology and The Melbourne User Experience Group.

Elevate.

We elevate people by enhancing DB Results’ company service offering. Using DT is proven to drive innovation, improve revenue, customer loyalty, market share, and even a company’s work culture. Hence, we are focused on ensuring that DT/HCD is part of our organisation’s DNA – from sales, through to advisory and delivery.

We are continuously learning. Through our own passion for innovation and DT, we research subjects, like Accessibility and Gamification, to expose industry trends and insights that will contribute to how we shape our own organisation, as well as evolve and influence services to our customers.

More and more of the world is becoming digital, and we welcome digital with wide open arms. Like the warm sun rising on a cold day, digital brings about a sense of warmth showing us that the future is bright. But to get there, we need to make sure that we’re doing the right things for our customers. And we, the DBIG group, are here to support you to that bright future.

If you would like to know more and/or explore what we can do together, please get in touch with Dusita Lamlertsuk at dusita.lamlertsuk@dbresults.com.au or Contact Us here.