What makes DesignOvation different?

Our approach to designing products and services entails core tenants of design thinking and the theories of disruptive innovation. Learn more about our approach and tell us about your needs!

Design Thinking

DesignOvation’s design thinking approach builds a virtuous cycle of innovation for both products and services with five distinct steps:

  • Empathize: understanding people to truly understand their wants, needs and what they may not need

  • Define: figuring out the problem down to specifics in order to pinpoint a solution

  • Ideate: generating ideas, whether out-of-the-box, pie-in-the-sky or simple solutions, everything is on the table

  • Prototype: creating and experimenting quickly while allowing users to see, touch and test a solution

  • Test: refining a product through testing with user to apply feedback iteratively

Disruptive innovation describes a process by which a product or service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves ‘up market,’ eventually displacing established competitors. In contrast, sustaining innovation improves existing products or services, typically adding performance but at a higher cost—and, typically, greater complexity.

Applying these theories to the public sector leads to lower cost solutions that serve a greater variety of customers. The theories of disruptive innovation were defined by renown Harvard Business School Professor, the late Clayton Christensen, a mentor to our CEO, Rangena Hotaki

Disruptive Innovation

Our human-centered design frameworks embed emerging technology, industry best practices and applicable regulatory requirements to meet mission needs. Some examples follow below.

During any software development life cycle, a User Design phase allows our designers to work hand-in-hand with end users to ensure their needs are being met at every step in the design process. For example, in Rapid Agile Delivery, Design Thinking enables designers to build requirements, developers to create prototypes and end users to test prototypes to ensure the end product meets their expectations. The bugs and kinks are worked out in an iterative process. The designer guides the process, collaborating with the developers and end users; they come together to communicate on what worked well and what didn’t, tweaking as they go until they reach the optimal design.

Customer Experience (CX) refers to the overall interaction and perception that an end user has when they interact with a product, service, or organization across various touch points and channels. It encompasses all the emotions, feelings, and perceptions that customers experience throughout their entire journey, from initial awareness to post-transaction and beyond. CX transforms how public sector entities interact with citizens, with the goal of improving satisfaction, engagement, and overall interactions with agencies and services. While the Federal sector operates differently from the private sector, the underlying concepts of CX can be adapted to create more efficient, effective, and citizen-centric government services.

The Learner Experience (LX) framework focuses on optimizing the learning journey and outcomes for individuals engaging in educational or training programs. It creates holistic and learner-centric products, taking into account the needs, preferences, and goals of learners. LX creates engaging, effective, and supportive learning experiences that go beyond just delivering content. It considers various aspects of the learner's journey, including before, during, and after the learning process.