Innovate Through Story
A new playbook for innovation, forged from decades of experience and proven methodologies.
‘Design Thinking’ For All
The Q.U.E.S.T. method is a new take on Design Thinking that enables everyone—not just designers—to cultivate deep empathy and harness the power of storytelling. It was built to democratize innovation, giving teams of any size the same strategic frameworks and storytelling tools used by the world's most innovative organizations. It transforms complex problems into compelling narratives of human transformation, making users the heroes of their own success stories.
The Q.U.E.S.T. method is an iterative, five-stage process that can help align your team with a singular vision, accelerate adoption with clearly articulated value, and deliver lasting impact with your innovations.
Quick Start Guide
This concise two-page map outlines Q.U.E.S.T.'s five essential stages, giving you a foundational understanding of our human-centered approach.
Downloads
Start Your Q.U.E.S.T.
QUEST Quick Playbook
This hands-on companion guides you through tangible first steps within each Q.U.E.S.T. phase, helping you apply the framework to a real problem.
A Five-Stage Journey
Through every stage of Q.U.E.S.T., you’re not just solving a problem; you’re actively participating in your user’s journey. You're giving them the tools and the path to overcome their challenges, truly making them the hero of their own success story through your thoughtful, human-centered innovation. This story becomes your most powerful tool for internal alignment, executive buy-in, market adoption, and guides future iterations.
Stage 1
Questions
We begin to uncover the initial story: what's the core challenge, the unmet need, or the existing 'friction points' in your user's current narrative? Asking essential questions helps define the problem and the starting point for their quest.
Stage 3
Users
This is where we imagine new storylines and potential plot twists. We generate a wide range of creative ideas, exploring diverse possibilities that could fundamentally alter your user's existing narrative, leading them towards a more desirable future.
Stage 5
Test
Finally, we validate the story's impact. We gather feedback from real users, observing how your solution performs in their real-world narrative. This ensures our innovation is effective, truly resonates, and helps your user achieve their desired 'new normal.
Stage 2
Explorations
We deepen the story by truly understanding your users. We immerse ourselves in their experiences, motivations, pain points, data and insights, building empathy to grasp their world and the existing narrative they're living. This ensures our work addresses their real needs.
Stage 4
Solutions
Here, we craft the next chapter by defining the most promising solutions. We articulate how your innovation will act as the key enabler, providing the resolution to your user's challenges and seamlessly integrating into their ideal future story, chosen for feasibility, value, and impact.
Dynamic Framework
Impact Story
Your target horizon serves as a constant compass, guiding every decision and ensuring your solution always addresses the fundamental "why." The Q.U.E.S.T. Method is not a checklist—This iterative flow allows you to loop between stages as needed, ensuring your final solution is a resilient, human-centered story.
Origins of Q.U.E.S.T.
Q.U.E.S.T. was born from years of frustration with the status quo and a single, provocative idea–how could traditional Design thinking be tweaked to be more accessible and drive greater user impact.
“There’s something kind of magical about a story structure… it can be ingested and then recalled by the person receiving it.”
Nancy Duarte
New to Design Thinking?
Ever feel like your company is constantly talking about innovation, but nothing ever really changes? That gap between ambition and results is where many would-be-great ideas get stuck.
The Q.U.E.S.T. Method is designed to be a team sport, breaking down silos and ensuring everyone is an active participant in building your solution. By involving diverse, cross-functional teams in a single, story-driven process, you're not just generating more ideas—you're creating a shared vision. This collaborative approach fosters a deep sense of ownership and alignment, ensuring that the "after" narrative of your user's journey is a story the entire team believes in and is committed to telling.
