Design Thinking Workshop to accelerate innovation for World’s Leading Airlines

At Coforge, we accelerate innovation for our clients by leveraging the transformative power of Design Thinking workshops. These collaborative, hands-on sessions are tailored to foster creativity, empathy, and problem-solving, enabling teams to tackle complex challenges and uncover fresh opportunities.

Our workshops are rooted in the principles of user-centered design, guiding participants through a structured process of empathizing with end-users, defining problems, ideating solutions, prototyping concepts, and testing them for real-world viability. By bringing cross-functional teams together, we create a safe environment where diverse perspectives spark groundbreaking ideas and innovation flourishes.

Clients leave our Design Thinking workshops with a clear roadmap for innovation, a shared vision among stakeholders, and the tools to continuously improve their offerings. Whether it’s developing new products, enhancing customer experiences, or solving systemic organizational challenges, our approach ensures that creativity becomes a cornerstone of their business success. Together, we turn ideas into impactful solutions that redefine what’s possible.

Below is a success story showcasing how we accelerated innovation for one of the world’s leading airlines. The client approached us with a vision to elevate the customer experience of their widely-used mobile application, designed for booking travel, accommodations, and holidays. To ensure the project's success, we proposed and conducted Design Thinking workshops in close collaboration with key stakeholders.

Image above shows the customized design thinking process for this engagement

The design thinking workshop for this engagement spanned 6-7 weeks. Below is a week-by-week breakdown of the activities carried out by our design team to ensure its success.

Week 0

Our designers began the process by thoroughly analyzing the documents, inputs, and materials provided by the business. It enabled them to understand the business aspirations and bind their thinking process around it.

Next, product walkthrough sessions were meticulously planned and conducted in collaboration with the technology team. These sessions provided valuable insights into the current state of the product, its functionality, and its technical aspects. Observations from these sessions were carefully noted and set aside for further analysis, with a focus on identifying key features and unique offerings that could drive the product's success.

Image above shows the activities performed during week 0 (preparation week)

Week 1

We invited key C-level executives to participate in collaborative workshops. These executives, representing diverse functions such as product, business, and technology, were the primary sponsors and stakeholders for the project.

Our designers facilitated interactive sessions to explore:

• Business goals, objectives, and overarching vision
• Trade-offs, including timelines, priorities, and non-negotiable factors
• Insights on end users, including their behaviors, pain points, and prior user research
• Competitor strategies and market trends for further analysis

The outcome of these workshops was a unified vision and alignment among all stakeholders, sponsors, and members of the design and technical teams. This collaborative effort equipped the design team with the critical insights needed to advance to the next phase of competitive analysis.

Image above shows the collaborative workshops with C-level executives from business

Based on the inputs provided by stakeholders and sponsors, our design team embarked on in-depth research to inform the project strategy. This involved conducting a thorough competitive analysis to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of existing market players. By closely studying competitors’ products, strategies, and customer engagement approaches, the designers were able to identify emerging trends and potential market opportunities. Additionally, they pinpointed critical gaps in the current landscape that could be addressed to create a differentiated and impactful solution. This comprehensive research laid a strong foundation for aligning the design approach with market demands and stakeholder expectations.

Image above shows the competitive analysis done by designers

Week 2

Drawing from the insights gathered during the collaborative workshops and research conducted in the first week, the designers began creating foundational artifacts such as Archetypes and User Journey Maps. Archetypes provided a detailed understanding of end users by capturing their behaviors, usage scenarios, pain points, challenges, and aspirations. User Journey Maps allowed the team to organize all stages, touchpoints, and research findings into a clear and structured format.

These artifacts served as a shared reference, aligning stakeholders, technical teams, and designers on a unified vision. They facilitated brainstorming sessions, enabling the generation of innovative ideas, recommendations, and potential features.

The process, along with the proposed artifacts and features, was then presented to stakeholders and sponsors during a collaborative workshop. This workshop incorporated discussions around trade-offs, priorities, and critical decision-making. As a result, new features were prioritized, and a finalized roadmap was established to guide the next steps.

Image above shows the design artefact (Archetype and User Journey maps) lead to ideas

Week 3 to 6

Based on the finalized set of features and the established roadmap, the design team began by creating low-fidelity prototypes. These initial prototypes were instrumental in visualizing user flows and evaluating the information architecture, allowing the team to identify and address potential usability challenges early in the process.

Once the low-fidelity prototypes were refined, the team transitioned to developing high-fidelity prototypes. These prototypes were crafted in adherence to the organization’s brand guidelines, ensuring consistency with the brand’s identity and values. Special attention was given to maintaining a design language that upheld brand trust, accessibility, and usability, thereby creating an intuitive and inclusive user experience.

Image above shows the prototypes created and parked for different stages and scenarios

Throughout the prototyping phase, the team conducted regular collaborative sessions with stakeholders and sponsors. These sessions served as checkpoints to validate both low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes at various stages of progress. Feedback from these discussions was meticulously analyzed and incorporated to enhance the prototypes further.

This iterative process ensured that the final high-fidelity prototypes were not only visually appealing but also meaningful, user-centric, and aligned with business objectives. The resulting prototypes effectively bridged the gap between user needs and business goals, laying a strong foundation for the subsequent phases of development.

Image above shows the high-fidelity clickable prototypes produced as final deliverables

Conclusion

In conclusion, the design journey for this engagement was a meticulously planned and executed process that focused on collaboration, research, and innovation. It began with an in-depth analysis of business inputs, documents, and stakeholder aspirations, providing our design team with a clear understanding of the organization’s vision. Collaborative workshops with key C-level executives facilitated a shared understanding of business goals, trade-offs, user needs, and market trends, ensuring alignment across stakeholders, sponsors, and teams.

Building on this foundation, the team conducted extensive competitive analysis to uncover market trends, identify gaps, and shape a differentiated strategy. Using insights from early workshops and research, designers created essential artifacts like Archetypes and User Journey Maps. These tools structured user behavior insights and touchpoints, fostering brainstorming and innovation while aligning the team on key priorities.

Prototyping followed, starting with low-fidelity designs to test user flows and information architecture, evolving into high-fidelity prototypes aligned with brand guidelines. Collaborative sessions ensured ongoing validation and refinement, incorporating feedback to deliver rich, inclusive, and user-centric designs.

This comprehensive process resulted in a unified vision, a well-defined roadmap, and prototypes that addressed user needs while supporting business objectives, setting the stage for successful implementation and measurable outcomes.