Design Thinking in Business Communication: Turning Data into Story

Numbers provide information, but rarely do they inspire. Design Thinking transforms data into a story.

Data is everywhere today in the business world. Dashboards, report outs, and analytics are all around us. With all this data, still many have trouble figuring out what it all means. If organizations use a human-centered approach, they can transform cold facts into a narrative that inspires understanding and action.

Beyond Information: Designing for Understanding

Traditional business communication operates mainly focuses on sharing information, instead of creating an understanding. 

Design Thinking shifts an approach to this. Prioritizing how communicators can empathize with audiences, and are designing messages that seek to center their needs, their feelings, or their decision making. At its core, Design Thinking consists of five stages: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. They can be used in many contexts, including communication.

In the communication context, the stages promote shift in thinking. Instead of asking, “What do we want to say?” we ask:

• Who is my target audience? 
• What matters the most to them? 
• How can we make this data useful for them? 

This process transforms communication into a cycle of discovery, creativity, and refinement, ensuring each message resonates where it matters most. 

The Five Human-Centered Principles 

Design Thinking is a repeatable, empathy-focused framework that helps teams understand people, question assumptions, and redefine problems to find innovative solutions. 

• Empathize: Know about the audience’s needs, motivations, and challenges. 
• Define: Identify the communication issue from the user’s viewpoint. 
• Ideate: Develop creative ideas for communicating messages to connect and engage.
• Prototype: Make initial versions of stories, presentations, or visuals. 
• Test: Gather feedback and refine until the message is clear and engagingl. 

These principles keep conversation evolving, relevant, relatable, and based on real human insight. 

Designing the Data Story 

Turning data into stories starts with empathy. Understand your audience’s pain points, motivations, and curiosities. Then, structure your message with a simple narrative arc: 

• Context: What is happening and why is it important? 
• Conflict: What surprise or challenge does the data lead to? 
• Climax: What finding changes how we understand the situation? 
• Resolution: What action or decision should follow? 

Having this structure translates a report into experience and information that is engaging. For example, instead of discussing “We had a 20% increase in revenue,” you would tell the story of “For every customer that we retained this quarter, we have a family that we continued to serve, which resulted in the 20% increase.” 

Netflix and Google companies employ this same model of turning complex insight and occurrences into narratives to call to action or change behavior in users.Their data stories connect strategy, creativity, and empathy, demonstrate Design Thinking in action. 

Prototype, Test, Refine 

Design Thinking places a strong emphasis on iteration. Do not settle for the first version of your chart, slide deck, or report. Prototype your ideas, test them with real audiences, and improve them based on feedback. 

Ask yourself: Is my story clear? Is it Compelling? Does it inspire action? 

This approach transforms communication from a one-way delivery of information to an understanding of design in context.

Why Stories Stick and Data Alone Does Not 

When communication is designed with empathy, creativity, and iteration, data can turn from numbers to a story with purpose. Teams align faster, stakeholders are more engaged, and decisions align and are made with confidence and clarity.

In essence: Data is credibility while story serves as a memory. Using design thinking we can combine the two in creating a “credible memory”.

Ready to turn data into stories that inspire action? Contact us or fill the form below: