1. Blueprinting relative to Design Thinking

Think of Blueprinting as a specialized B2B version of design thinking.

Here’s a shorthand way of thinking about New Product Blueprinting and Design Thinking: New Product Blueprinting is a roadmap for the front-end of B2B Design Thinking. In other words, Blueprinting fits within the broader context of Design Thinking… with three distinctions:

• Roadmap: While Design Thinking is a broad mindset for innovation, Blueprinting provides a step-by-step process loaded with connected tools and skills learnable by “everyman.”
• Front-end: Design Thinking embodies the complete new product development process, but Blueprinting ends with a business case… before the solution-development stage begins.
• B2B: Design Thinking applies to all types of innovation, but Blueprinting is optimized to understand the needs of B2B customers.

If you are using Blueprinting, should you study Design Thinking? Yes! You’ll find this to be entirely “sympatico” and a refreshing way of thinking that can only help. Should you stop using Blueprinting? No, it contains unique and powerful tools for uncovering B2B market needs which are lacking in most Design Thinking approaches.

In the next three articles, we’ll explore…

• Overview of Design Thinking…
• Common ground between Blueprinting and Design Thinking
• Differences between Blueprinting and Design Thinking

For more, read the AIM article, Design Thinking and New Product Blueprinting. Also check out this white paper, Design Thinking for B2B.

Keywords: design thinking, New Product Blueprinting, innovation roadmap, front end of innovation, B2B