Design Thinking and Design Doing: Describing a Process of People-Centred Innovation

Abstract

This chapter outlines the benefits of Design Thinking as a creative framework for innovation that can be applied to projects and organisations across government, business and the public sector. It includes a short history of the Design Thinking approach to set context and define the concept. However, much of the ensuing discussion and evaluation of ideas and methods is based on recent publications, papers and journal articles to give a current view of academic and practitioner activities. At the heart of the approach is a people-centred focus, and the chapter discusses the role of Inclusive Design and design ethnography in underpinning Design Thinking. It outlines five principles: Involve People, Translate Design Thinking into Design Doing, Create Value and Capture Value, Follow the Arc of Design Thinking and Navigate Complexity. It aims to give an overarching view of Design Thinking, demonstrating the value that it can bring to diverse areas of research and application. Challenges and observations for progressing the approach are also noted.

Design for Dynamic Challenges: Key Attributes of Designers for Leading Interdisciplinary Research and Projects

“…El motivo por el cual se ha fomentado el uso del design thinking para enfrentar los wicked problems es que ofrece un enfoque único de resolución de problemas: está centrado en las personas, es impulsado por las posibilidades, está enfocado en las opciones y es iterativo. Asimismo, ha surgido como una nueva forma de democratizar la innovación, dejando de lado la dicotomía entre los diseñadores como especialistas y los interesados como agentes externos, y acercándose al diseño participativo que establece alianzas estratégicas (Gheerawo, 2018).…”

“…Design Thinking has been encouraged as a method for dealing with wicked problems as it is a unique problem-solving approach: it is human-centered, possibility driven, option focused, and iterative. It has developed as a new democratized form of innovation, moving away from designers as experts and external stakeholders, to participatory design with strategic partnerships (Gheerawo, 2018).…”