Design Thinking is a Popular Term Adopted Rapidly Today that is Often Misunderstood. Let’s Take a Closer Look.
Image by Anna McNaughty
How do you break down and explain the process of creativity?
‘Design thinking’ is a popular term today. It was first introduced into the mainstream by the San Francisco consultancy IDEO in the early 1990s to explain its methodology for solving problems when working with clients. The phrase itself comes from Carnegie Mellon professor and Nobel Prize Laureate Herbert Simon, who wanted to explain the process of human creativity systematically. Since that time, the phrase has been adapted, modified, and expanded to fit a variety of approaches and roles. Unfortunately, many misconceptions regarding this term and the actual work of designers have arisen. Here we address some of the primary ones.
Design thinking is a term first coined by Herbert Simon, a professor at Carnegie Mellon, in 1969 to attempt to explain the process of human creativity systematically.
Interestingly enough, Herbert Simon was not a designer and did not create any visual works. He, however, was a pioneer in artificial intelligence.
“What can a human being do that a computer cannot?” Simon examined questions like this. The term ‘design thinking’ naturally arose out of this process as Simon and other computer scientists aimed to harness the
power of individual human creativity, but still wanted the familiarity of a repeatable, proven process.
Myth #1 The design process can be done by people who cannot design.
This assumption offers an interesting dilemma. Today there are increasing numbers of private companies offering to teach ‘Design Thinking’ at the corporate level and for universities without actually including any design or creative input. They seem to be avoiding and circumventing the actual creative process. While having the gift of communication (oral and written) is admirable, teaching ‘design thinking’ as a self-sufficient design practice without hands-on work using prerequisite design skills is inadequate. That eliminates the majority of actual design, which is hands-on and requires excellent individual skill. In essence, such training teaches the theory without the practice. It is similar to offering you how to paint by just talking about the process of painting and never actually painting. Perhaps their customers would be better and more honestly served by offering to teach them the theory of design thinking since that is what they are offering.
Herbert Simon did not downplay the value of creativity or design skills. He just sought a way to bring the creative conceptual thinking behind design into work processes. Simon aimed to open up the design ‘thinking’ process to people who were not designers and who stayed away from non-linear, non-scientific methods. He tried to bridge the gap in understanding. Using a ‘design thinking’ approach enabled businesses and organizations to look at problems differently and thus propose different solutions.
Fact: ‘Design thinking’ process works if you have skilled designers guiding the process. You cannot just talk your way through design - you have to do it. Actual design work requires tremendous skill, precision, craftsmanship, and a keen awareness of composition, beauty, and balance.
The value in having a design thinking approach lies in bringing an awareness and understanding of the creative process, soliciting feedback, and making design more accessible to businesses.
Image by Elf art director, quote by Goethe
Myth #2 Design thinking replaces actual design.
By far, this assumption about design thinking is the most dangerous and misleading. Design thinking as an approach helps in providing insight into the process. Design involves both a conceptual aspect and a physical action in creating and fine-tuning artwork. When the conceptual part involves software or digital design work, the work can benefit from feedback from other designers and other company members involved with customer engagement. This initial collaborative step helps bring all parties involved in the decision-making process on the same page. Thus all necessary feedback and relevant data are gathered to make the best, informed decisions. For example, with a product that you are selling to consumers, this process can help you discover unmet needs and learn where people are dissatisfied with using the current version of your product. Design thinking thus enables cooperation and collaboration in the first step of discovery and research into the problem you are solving. This brainstorming process is helpful, but only as an initial step.
There is considerably more effort involved to take the ‘brainstormed’ idea from conception to completion. The remaining steps involve excellent design skills, precision, and craftsmanship with many iterative, detailed cycles till final delivery. The act of creation itself is an original process unique to the individuals involved who draw upon their creative abilities and experiences.
Fact: While a ‘design thinking’ approach opens up the initial discovery process and can bring all parties (clients, partners, company staff, and stakeholders) to a common understanding of what is needed to design a solution, design thinking never replaces the original process of creation itself. People who lack essential design skills cannot complete the design process beyond the discovery phase. Thinking or talking about design does not replace design skill, precision, and craftsmanship. Design is an original process that requires fundamental design skills.
Design is an original process that requires actual design and craftsmanship skills.
What then is the value of design thinking?
'Design thinking' is a great way to help explain the value of design and solicit feedback from people at a company during the discovery process. It is a way of explaining the process involved to bring people together on the same page. It offers a way to provide a consistent approach for creating new products or services for businesses.
Explaining the value of design can often feel intangible and be hard to put into words. This dilemma prompted us to research the topic and explain design results in actual monetary terms and the value of design regarding the bottom line for businesses. This article has been shared over 3,700 times. The most important lesson that we take away from that research is how integrating design into business practice leads to creating better, intuitive products, services, and experiences for customers.
Design is about providing an excellent, intuitive, and empathetic customer experience. So how does your customer experience your product or service?
Design thinking helps bridge the gap in understanding that often accompanies the creative design process. It offers a way to provide a consistent approach for creating new products or services for businesses.