Leading the design practice at BP3, I have the luxury of being surrounded by an incredibly talented group of analysts, designers, and process consultants who deeply understand the value of Design Thinking in successful automation and process transformation efforts.
But this mindset isn’t universal.
A colleague recently shared a Medium article titled “What Design Thinking Is and How It Is Used in Software Development.” It offers a solid introduction to design thinking. It reminds me that many professionals- even those deeply involved in Intelligent Automation or digital transformation- still overlook the critical role of design in achieving lasting success.
Why Design Thinking Matters
Tim Brown, renowned designer and a key voice behind design thinking, defines it as:
“A human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer's toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.”
This definition highlights what makes design thinking so powerful: people are at the heart of the process. It’s not about jumping straight to a solution’s about understanding the problem from the user’s perspective, then testing, refining, and validating ideas to ensure they truly meet user needs.
At BP3, this mindset has been critical in helping hundreds of clients streamline and automate core business processes. Design thinking doesn’t just improve how solutions are built- it improves what gets built and how effectively it’s adopted.
Real-World Impact: Design Thinking in Action
We've applied this approach across various industries—from healthcare to finance—and consistently found that prioritising users leads to greater clarity, faster adoption, and better return on investment (ROI). Here are a few examples:
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In a telecom project, design thinking workshops helped unify siloed departments and align them around a new customer onboarding process. By empathizing with users and surfacing real pain points, we created a journey map that revealed root causes—transforming a 30-day onboarding process into a 5-day experience.
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In healthcare, a client struggling with low adoption of an internal scheduling tool saw engagement soar after applying a design-led redesign that simplified workflows and reduced friction.
These wins aren’t one-offs—they’re the result of a repeatable, scalable approach that anchors transformation in empathy and iteration.
Strategic Alignment Through Design Thinking
Design thinking isn't just for downstream solution design. It’s also a powerful tool for upstream strategic clarity.
We’ve seen organizations struggle to move forward because they lack a shared understanding of what’s broken, what success looks like, and how to get there. In these situations, design thinking provides a structured path forward:
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Empathize – Understand the needs, frustrations, and goals of users and stakeholders.
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Define – Clarify the actual problem to be solved, not just the symptoms.
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Ideate – Brainstorm creatively without constraints.
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Prototype – Bring ideas to life quickly to test their potential.
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Test & Iterate – Validate with users and refine based on feedback.
With these steps, teams can turn ambiguity into action and identify SMART objectives that align everyone around measurable, meaningful outcomes.
The Bottom Line: Better Processes Start with Better Design
Whether you’re early in your transformation journey or refining mature automation programs, design thinking enables you to make smarter decisions more quickly. It helps uncover the correct problems to solve and build solutions that people use.
If you're ready to get more value from your process improvement efforts, our design team is here to help.
Let’s work together to create solutions that are not only innovative and efficient but also intuitive, desirable, and aligned with your strategic goals.