Five Stages of Design Thinking

The IDEO Design Thinking Framework for Product Development

Peter Dang shares the five-stage IDEO design thinking framework that has guided his product development approach across companies like Facebook, Instagram, Uber, and OpenAI. This framework emphasizes understanding human needs before building solutions.

The Five Stages of Design Thinking

1. Empathize - Feel the pain of your customers

   • Go beyond theoretical understanding to truly experience user problems
   • "It's not just about theoretically understanding what the problems are, it's really empathizing"
   • Requires immersive research: dogfooding your product, field research, direct observation
   • Example: Dang leased a car to drive for Uber for two weeks before joining the company

2. Define - Articulate the problem precisely

   • Forces you to be intentional about defining the problems you want to solve
   • Language matters - how you frame the problem shapes the solution
   • Creates clarity and alignment on what you're actually trying to solve
   • Example: At Uber, defining the problem as "peace of mind" for early morning rides led to Uber Reserve

3. Ideate - Brainstorm potential solutions

   • Generate multiple approaches to solving the defined problem
   • Explore the solution space broadly before narrowing

4. Prototype - Create tangible versions of solutions

   • Build lightweight versions to test assumptions
   • Make ideas concrete enough to gather feedback

5. Test - Validate with real users

   • Gather feedback on prototypes
   • Iterate based on what you learn

Why the First Two Stages Matter Most

Peter emphasizes that while all five stages are important, the first two—empathize and define—are particularly critical:

• "The first two stages I think are really insightful"
• They ensure you're solving the right problem in the right way
• They connect directly to dogfooding and user research
• "The great products are when you really feel the pain and you really empathize with what people are experiencing"

Application Example: Uber Reserve

Peter illustrates how this framework led to Uber Reserve, now a $5 billion business:

• Empathize: Understanding the anxiety of early morning airport rides
• Define: Framed the problem as "peace of mind" rather than just transportation
• Solution: Created a product that addressed the core human need (certainty) rather than just technical features
• Success factor: "It came from the idea of focusing on what actually matters - peace of mind"

The framework demonstrates that successful products align with fundamental human needs and behaviors, creating what Peter calls "impedance match" between product and human desires.