Design Thinking for Your Business, or… Oh No! Did I Break It?
For the last two months, I’ve been exploring the design thinking model “Double Diamond” with my four coaching groups — Her Circle. The Double Diamond guides our thinking and prevents us from jumping in to fix things before we have a clear, reliable brief for what we really need.
To illustrate the benefits of using the Double Diamond, I want to share how I applied it to redesign a central part of my business — my communication channels.
Before our group coaching session on Friday, we were chatting over tea while waiting for everyone to arrive. I mentioned our WhatsApp group and heard, not for the first time, that it’s too busy.
I’ve heard this three times over the last month. I can see the evidence too — engagement has reduced.
When I created the WhatsApp group, I hoped it would become the beating heart of Her Circle:
a space that gives business women across West Cork a sense of community.
And give me a sense of connection to my clients. A place to share updates, new offers, and run polls so I can shape future work around real needs.
I believe responding well to feedback can be a pivotal moment in how we run our businesses. And from working with my clients — and as you’ll hear in this story — I know that negative feedback can feel vulnerable. It can activate our nervous system and send us into fight, flight, or freeze. That’s rarely when we make our best decisions.
And that’s exactly when the Double Diamond becomes useful.
When I heard the women weren’t engaging with the WhatsApp group, my mind started racing:
Too busy? How can it be too busy? I’m the only one posting. (fight)
Oh. It’s me. I’m making it too busy. I made a mistake. I ruined it. (flight)
I need to stop all communication immediately. (freeze)
Luckily, I also have another voice inside me:
Nothing is ruined, my love. It just needs tweaking. We’ve got this.
That morning, our Circle was centred around the Double Diamond process. While the women were reflecting on their year and gently designing the next one, I applied the same structure to my communication channels.
The Double Diamond has four parts:
Explore — Pause and surface what is really present, not what you planned or hoped for. Widen your lens. The output is a messy, honest map of where you are.
Reframe — Use the data you gathered (not your panic) to spot patterns and insights. The output is a clear brief, written in your language, about what actually needs to be created.
Create — Design small experiments based on that brief. Decide what to preserve, what to tweak, and what to stop.
Catalyse — Name the principles you want to carry forward. Move ahead with confidence earned through reflection, not urgency.
Using the Double Diamond, I first listed all the communication activities I’ve been busy with over the last six months. I asked myself: When did I feel alive? When did my energy drop?
I refrained from judging. I focused on noticing and gathering data.
What became clear was this: while some activities energise me — like writing blogs or sharing reflections after our coaching circles — I also communicate from fear.
In Reframe, I was able to name the real tension:
My need for connection.
My clients’ need for short, clear communication.
Both matter.
I recognised that when I over-communicate from fear, I don’t build trust. I create noise.
With that learning, I wrote myself a brief:
I want to design a communication practice:
that I enjoy and can sustain over time,
that makes me feel connected to my audience,
that helps me grow as a writer and coach,
and that brings real value to business owners who are watching and learning alongside me.
I want to move from more communication to clear communication.
And I’m willing to take the time to get it right.
Once the brief was clear, Creating felt easy. I designed a new communication experiment — a schedule for writing, gathering feedback, and sharing. A rhythm that meets both my clients’ needs and my own.
It allows me to act from confidence, not from panic.
The principle that emerged is simple:
I’m not willing to make decisions out of stress.
Whether in small daily moments or in bigger business decisions, those are the moments when I commit to pausing — and to using a process that helps me move forward with clarity.
I hope this story helps you spot places in your own business where the Double Diamond might serve you.
If you’d like to try it yourself, I’ve created a simple Double Diamond reflection worksheet you can download and use for your own life or business.
You can download it here.
Are you a businesswoman looking for a community?
Join Her Circle (quiet) WhatsApp group here.