Design thinking

Design thinking is a thought process that depends on examining all sides of an issue from both a practical and a creative perspective before deciding what course of action is most likely to achieve the desired goal. Design thinking, which is a major tool within the business world, is a form of solution-focused thinking. The major aspects of design thinking are understanding the practical and emotional needs of a client, using prototypes or physical models to explore possible ways of achieving goals, and being willing to try different paths even though they may result in failure. Unlike the scientific method of thinking, which is based on a thorough analysis of a problem and involves both observation and experimentation, design thinking begins with a specific goal in mind and then investigates all possible paths that travel toward that goal. With design thinking, it is often necessary to redefine terms, repeat steps, and reexamine initial ideas before achieving the ultimate goal.

Background

Design thinking arose out of the need to modernize existing businesses and government agencies as advances in technology continued to change the traditional ways that these entities carried out their activities. Choices were often restricted by financial parameters, and any solution was useless if it did not accomplish the client’s desired goals. Thus, technical feasibility, economic viability, and user desirability became the chief tenets of design thinking. The groundwork for design thinking was established during and immediately after World War II as scientists, social scientists, and other researchers struggled to meet the needs of the government and military by developing new strategies such as operational research methods, which depended on thorough analysis of an issue, and management decision-making techniques that used spreadsheets to examine different aspects of an issue.

The concept behind design thinking was introduced by Herbert A. Simon, an American political scientist and economist, in The Sciences of the Artificial (1969). Simon identified three critical steps to engaging in decision making: first, thoroughly investigate the issue to discover all relevant information; second, analyze the information and identify all possible courses of action; and finally, make a choice about which path should be taken. Simon was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1978 for his work. The concept of design thinking received a boost in 1973 with the publication of Robert H. McKim’s Experiences in Visual Thinking, in which he outlines seeing, imaging, and idea sketching as steps to identifying and examining possible solutions to problems.

In the 1980s, L. Bruce Archer, a British engineer, began expanding on ways to engage in "designerly" thinking, noting that it was vastly different from methods used by scientists and scholars. Archer is credited with coining the term "design thinking." Over the course of the decade, other engineers, including those in Germany and Japan, adopted design thinking. Influential studies in the field were also produced by architect Bryan Lawson in How Designers Think (1980) and by Peter Rowe, a professor of design and architecture at Harvard University, in Design Thinking (1987). The popularity of design thinking led to an upsurge in the number of design journals being published. By the following decade, most university business schools were offering classes in design thinking, and the concept spread into other fields.

In the 2000s, the business press further popularized design thinking, offering articles that suggested that it was an important element in creative thinking. Design thinking also became increasingly popular with engineering schools.

Overview

Experts in design thinking usually agree that there are four rules that govern the process. First, one must maintain the emphasis on the needs of humans rather than simply engaging in technical experimentation. If choices are made without recognizing those needs, then the process of design thinking fails. Second, ambiguity is used to guide the search for possible solutions, preventing the designer from becoming limited by narrow ways of thinking. Third, design thinking must always involve redesign, which calls for retaining traditional tenets of design while employing new tools and innovative ways of thinking. The final rule of design thinking emphasizes the need to use tangible methods of improving communication as the design thinking process is carried out.

Many designers have discovered that design thinking is ideal for dealing with problems that have not been well defined. In cases where existing technology is incapable of finding a solution to a problem, design thinking may be used to clarify the issue and identify what needs to be done to deal with the issue at hand. One of the chief purposes of design thinking is to use visual thinking to clarify problems that may not be fully defined.

Design thinking may employ such strategies as synthesis, divergent thinking, analysis, and convergent thinking to arrive at a solution. Divergent thinking is the process of brainstorming all possible solutions to a problem or all options in a given situation, while convergent thinking applies rules and logic to a limited set of options to determine which is best. With synthesis and divergent thinking, the designer may offer several ideas while considering a single aspect of the situation. After doing this, analysis and convergent thinking can be used to reach a decision about what should be done.

While the phrases "design methods" and "design processes" are often used interchangeably, there are distinct differences in their meanings. The former refers to the techniques and strategies used within the field. Those techniques include interviewing interested parties, gathering data on product use, creating physical models, and analyzing the issue at hand. Design process, on the other hand, is more involved with determining how a project should be carried out and involves such actions as allotting tasks and identifying what equipment might be needed.

Design thinking is always concerned with examining all possible solutions to a problem. Solutions are possible only when they are based on the needs of stakeholders involved in the project. By examining all aspects of the situation, it is possible to arrive at creative solutions that address client needs while allowing a designer the freedom to explore and create.

Bibliography

Archer, L. Bruce. "Whatever Became of Design Methodology?" Design Studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 1979, pp. 17–20.

Ben Manmoud-Jouini, Sihem, et al. "Contributions of Design Thinking to Project Management in an Innovation Context." Project Management Journal, vol. 47, no. 2, 2016, pp. 144–56.

Dijksterhuis, Eva, and Gilbert Silvius. "The Design Thinking Approach to Projects." Project Management Development—Practices and Perspectives, vol. 5, no. 6, 2016, pp. 67–81.

Kolko, Jon. "Design Thinking Comes of Age." Harvard Business Review, Sept. 2015, hbr.org/2015/09/design-thinking-comes-of-age. Accessed 9 Sept. 2024.

Leifer, Larry J., et al. Design Thinking: Understand—Improve—Apply. Springer, 2011.

Retna, Kala. "Thinking about ‘Design Thinking’: A Study of Teacher Experiences." Asia Pacific Journal of Education, vol. 36, 2016, pp. 5–19.

Rowe, Peter G. Design Thinking. MIT P, 1987.

Shearer, Allan W. "Abduction to Argument: A Framework of Design Thinking." Landscape Journal, vol. 34, no. 2, 2015, pp. 127–38.

"What Is Design Thinking & Why Is It Beneficial?" IDEO U, www.ideou.com/blogs/inspiration/what-is-design-thinking? Accessed 9 Sept. 2024.