What is design thinking and why is it different?
February 6, 2011 - By John Body
Design thinking provides an alternative approach for working through challenges faced by organisations. The design thinking approach is generally faster and results in more innovative ideas than thinking approaches drawn from management disciplines. Design thinking can be applied to any challenge including the design of strategies, the design of products and services and the design of organisational capability.
Here are eight features of design thinking and their benefit, compared with more conventional thinking.
Conventional thinking within organisations |
Design thinking within organisations |
The benefit |
|
| 1
Rapid, iterative, prototyping |
Conventional thinking is based on a premise that problem solving should be well supported and therefore it should be deeply analytical, rigorous and methodical. The result is a slow process that often does not yield a result because real world problems cannot always be fully analysed. | Design thinking is rapid and iterative. Prototyping is a key feature as ideas are formed and tested. Testing will often show failure of an idea but through failure there is an opportunity to learn and build. Research and analysis is an important feature but prototyping focuses the research. Ideas are made tangible so they can be examined and refined quickly. | The benefits are a faster design process with ideas that are better thought through and better tested from multiple perspectives. Failing in a prototype and learning from this is much cheaper than finding failure later in development or, worse still, in production. |
| 2
Desirable, possible, viable |
Conventional thinking invariably designs from the inside of an organisation outwards. Organisations are complex and it can be difficult enough to solve problems within the organisation rather than adding complexity by thinking about the user. Even when the user is considered, rarely is a general user approached. Either the user is imagined or the user is asked to come into a focus group. | Design thinking considers multi perspectives. It puts into the mix considerations of what is desirable, what is possible and what is viable. Desirability for the user is determined through direct observation and engagement with typical users in their context. Generally users cannot articulate what they need so research techniques aimed at uncovering user needs are necessary. Prototypes aimed at satisfying the user need are tested against what is possible technologically. Viability considerations cover whether the prototype is going to be viable for the organisation. Viability could include cost, efficiency and whether the prototyped solution will deliver organisational outcomes. | Designs are much more robust because they work for the user and they work for the organisation. Not only do they work, they are desirable which means users want to use the designed product or service. |
| 3
Inductive and abductive thinking |
Conventional thinking relies on deductive thinking. Deductive thinking, as the name implies, deduces ideas from the available data. Whilst theoretically this is a good approach, practically we rarely have sufficient data to model the user experience, the organisation’s requirement and all the possible solutions available technologically. | Design thinking draws on inductive and abductive thinking. Inductive thinking extrapolates from the available data filling in the blanks. Abductive thinking avoids the data altogether, imagining what could be. Abductive thinking is where breakthroughs and innovation come from because this type of thinking is not constrained by current reality. It is impossible to prescribe an exact process for abductive thinking, but there is a methodology that creates the right conditions for this—it’s about framing current experiences and then imagining what a future experience could be. | Inductive and abductive thinking are more likely to generate alternatives that are innovative. |
| 4
Visual |
Conventional thinking tends to equate quality with quantity. Therefore the output of conventional approaches is lengthy and often text heavy. They rely on the linear and sequential nature of text. | Design thinking seeks to share mental models in the most efficient way possible. This means stripping out superfluous material and using prototypes or diagrams to visualise the problem and solution. It embraces the complexity of the whole system. It engages visual design to generate possible solutions and communicate them early and quickly. | Design ideas can be more rapidly developed, iterated and shared. |
| 5
Considers the whole system – social, economic and environmental |
Conventional thinking breaks a problem down into its component parts and addresses each part before reassembling. This model works for mechanical type problems but not for complex adaptive systems. | Design thinking is integrative, and considers how the whole system will work. In large community-based systems design thinking seeks to optimise for society, the economy and the environment. | Long-term sustainable solutions are developed meeting needs from multiple perspectives. |
| 6
Clear intent |
Conventional thinking defines the problem early and then directs all analysis and problem solving in this direction. | Design thinking establishes upfront the intent of what is being sought. This can take time to understand. To do this well requires understanding the current situation. It requires thinking about the desired outcome for all affected stakeholders. It is a common realisation during the design process that the problem being solved is the wrong problem. | The right problems get solved rather than the initial problem definition. |
| 7
Collaborative |
Conventional thinking in organisations is heavily influenced by power relationships. It is difficult to voice alternative views and to be in the minority. Ideas are not floated until they have been well thought through to eliminate any possibility of failure. | Design thinking is collaborative, recognising that no individual has all the right answers. Design thinking is focussed on achieving the best result for all stakeholders rather than on avoiding failure or scoring points. These perspectives are brought to bear early, through an open inquiry and iteration process. | The focus is on getting the best possible design, not on making the designers look good. |
| 8
Simplicity the other side of complexity |
Conventional thinking is often satisfied with any solution. When relying heavily on analysis and designing from the organisation’s perspective, this can be the most that is hoped for. Generally the results are complex solutions that are hard for users and staff. | Design thinking is not satisfied with complex solutions. It seeks to strip away complexity and superfluous concepts until a solution is reached that is simple yet addresses the complexity – the simplicity the other side of complexity – the essence of the problem in real people terms. | Designs are much easier to use because more effort has been taken to strip away complexity. |