Design Thinking: Big Data Startups

Kyle Fugere of the customer science firm Dunnhumby Ventures recently wrote an excellent article on why design thinking is important for big data startups.

His analysis of what big data startups need to know to be successful, and how design thinking can help, is sound and very relevant to us at Alchemus Prime, since we offer creative problem-solving,  team building, organizational culture design, and transformative leadership services to startups.

Fugere holds that big data startups need to be able to know who their users are, understand how to identify a few key insights and present that information in simple and engaging ways, and understand their competition in terms of process. These are all design thinking guidelines, namely be user-centered, craft clarity from noise, and, the proof is in the process..ok I made that last one up, but process IS crucial in design thinking!

As big data takes over our imaginations (it was one of the panel topics at the recent PAN-IIT Global Leadership Conference), it will be important to remember that we are ultimately dealing with people, and we need to communicate in ways that will motivate people, including our customers, investors, suppliers, and other colleagues. This is a behavioral endeavor.