Design Thinking for Business Innovation — Lesson 1: Design Thinking Mindset, Innovation Challenges, Stakeholder Mapping, Empathy Research, and Observation

Learning Objectives

• Explain the SAP structures, data, settings, roles, and dependencies governing design-thinking mindset and challenge framing.
• Perform and validate stakeholder mapping and empathy research using reviewable system evidence.
• Evaluate the condition where a promising idea advances because senior stakeholders prefer it even though user evidence and prototype tests reveal unresolved needs and select proportionate corrective action.

Detailed Topics

• Design Thinking Mindset applied to the course scenario, expected SAP behavior, dependencies, and evidence.
• Innovation Challenges applied to the course scenario, expected SAP behavior, dependencies, and evidence.
• Stakeholder Mapping applied to the course scenario, expected SAP behavior, dependencies, and evidence.
• Empathy Research applied to the course scenario, expected SAP behavior, dependencies, and evidence.
• and Observation applied to the course scenario, expected SAP behavior, dependencies, and evidence.

Instructor Demonstration

The instructor traces a cross-functional team redesigning a frustrating business process around real user needs and measurable outcomes. The walkthrough connects navigation, configuration or process logic, system messages, and evidence captured in the design-thinking research, prototype, and innovation decision portfolio. It also tests the exception where a promising idea advances because senior stakeholders prefer it even though user evidence and prototype tests reveal unresolved needs.

Hands-On Exercise

Complete a controlled SAP exercise covering Design Thinking Mindset, Innovation Challenges, Stakeholder Mapping, Empathy Research, and Observation and preserve the verified result in the design-thinking research, prototype, and innovation decision portfolio.

1. Confirm scope, prerequisites, master data, roles, dependencies, and acceptance criteria.
2. Execute the workflow while recording settings, transactions, outputs, and system messages.
3. Test normal behavior, one boundary condition, and the stated exception.
4. Document corrections, evidence, ownership, retest criteria, and handover actions.

Scenario Analysis

• Identify which object, rule, setting, or process step most strongly influences design-thinking mindset and challenge framing.
• Compare two defensible responses and explain business, technical, control, and support trade-offs.
• Determine how the design-thinking research, prototype, and innovation decision portfolio should be approved, retained, retested, and updated.

Troubleshooting Guidance

Start where expected SAP behavior first differs from the observed result. Check master data, configuration sequence, authorization, integration, status, and transaction evidence separately. Treat “a promising idea advances because senior stakeholders prefer it even though user evidence and prototype tests reveal unresolved needs” as a hypothesis until system settings, logs, documents, and outcomes confirm the cause.

Validation Checklist

• Required SAP structures, master data, roles, settings, and dependencies are present.
• The design-thinking research, prototype, and innovation decision portfolio connects each conclusion to objective, reviewable evidence.
• Normal processing, the boundary condition, integration behavior, and exception were tested.
• Corrections, ownership, retest criteria, documentation, and operational handover are complete.

Lesson Outcome

Learners can apply Design Thinking Mindset, Innovation Challenges, Stakeholder Mapping, Empathy Research, and Observation, explain the resulting SAP behavior, and defend the outcome through the design-thinking research, prototype, and innovation decision portfolio.