Summary: "From Screens to Experiences – Transforming Design Thinking at Kohl’s"

Design gives teams the framework required to make informed and strategic product decisions centered around the customer. It is about responding and adapting quickly by focusing on the customer experience throughout the software implementation process, and by connecting business drivers with customer behavior and insights.

One such retailer undergoing this transformation is Kohl's, discussed by co-authors Tanmay Mhatre, Julie Baum, Mahil Maurice, Garret DePass, and Kelsey Kamm in this article on Kohl’s Design. Using Design Thinking and Lean Product Experimentation, they are shifting the focus from designing what’s on the screen to bringing value to the customer.

Highlights of Design Thinking at Kohl’s:

• At Kohl’s, design thinking is multidisciplinary stretching across different departments such as Product Design, Product Management, and Engineering.

• For design to be successful, they are shifting from mocking screens to running experiments and then further defining experiences. All the while, designs must be measured against CPIs and BPIs to ensure user-centricity and product viability respectively.

• The most valuable outcomes are focused first while driving minimum business increment – “Build, Measure, Learn” and repeat.

• Kohl’s builds incrementally via short iterations so that they can be tested frequently, thereby reducing the risk of building the wrong thing. Feedback loops allow them to detect defects and make continuous improvements. They use lean practices, keep a narrow focus to increase speed, reduce risk and never lose sight of usability. They count successes and learn from failures, which allows for quick adaptation to meet customer needs.

• As the team moves through the product design cycle, ideas are continuously generated and real value delivers to users.

• The biggest benefit of Design Thinking is innovation. It allows the teams to try out new ideas, validate them, then double down or fail fast and pivot in another direction.

Read more about design thinking at Kohl’s.