Design thinking is a buzzword we hear a lot in the startup space- but what is it really all about? Should you be trying it? Is it too late to get started? And how might it speed up your route to market and loyal customers who keep coming back for more?

In this episode, Hattie is joined by Nirish Shakya, a design thinking and user experience design expert. For the past 15 years, he has been helping organisations across the UK, Europe and the Asia-Pacific create impactful customer experiences by empowering teams to put their customers first, collaborative creatively without the fear of judgement and innovate faster.

He also has his own show, Design Feeling about developing greater self-awareness, creative confidence and meaning, as we design . On it, Nirish interviews top industry leaders and experts from design, technology and creative industries to share hard won insights to help listeners know themselves better and become more impactful problems solvers with more meaning with joy.

In this episode of Not My First Guess, we unpick: 

• What design thinking really is, why it matters and how we as founders can practically get better at it
• Practical skills like rapid prototyping (testing the core risks in your idea and product quickly) and how anyone can get started, even if they've never done user experience design before
• What founders should know when working with and briefing design teams
• Some of the biggest takeaways Nirish has had from experts on his own podcast, Design Feeling
• And much more

Links: 

• Listen to Nirish's podcast, Design Feeling
• Give rapid prototyping a go with Balsamiq 
• Email Nirish: Nirish@designfeeling.co
• Explore UX courses at General Assembly
• Read Inspired by Marty Cagan