RELATED TERMS: Focalisation; Design Thinking
In design thinking, as a specific 5-step method (Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test) associated with IDEO, POV, or point of view, is a written statement that expresses the problem(s) that the design team is trying to address. This may also be called a problem statement: an expression of the problem or problems that clients or customers have identified during the ‘Empathise’ phase. Writing the POV statement is a central component of the ‘Define’ stage of design thinking.
This differs from point of view as defined in narratology, where the phrase is taken to stand for a spatial position from which a scene is observed, irrespective of whether or not this position is occupied by someone. The terms point of view and perspective have been supplemented and perhaps supplanted by the notion of focalisation, which suggests the scene is inscribed in someone’s consciousness.