Design Thinking

Design Thinking: A Quick Overview [Dam & Siang]

On 04/09/2018, in creativity, design, Design Thinking, ideas, instructional design, programming, project-based learning, society, tools, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Design Thinking: A Quick Overview — from interaction-design.org by Rikke Dam and Teo Siang

Excerpt:

To begin, let’s have a quick overview of the fundamental principles behind Design Thinking:

Design Thinking starts with empathy, a deep human focus, in order to gain insights which may reveal new and unexplored ways of seeing, and courses of action to follow in bringing about preferred situations for business and society.
It involves reframing the perceived problem or challenge at hand, and gaining perspectives, which allow a more holistic look at the path towards these preferred situations.
It encourages collaborative, multi-disciplinary teamwork to leverage the skills, personalities and thinking styles of many in order to solve multifaceted problems.
It initially employs divergent styles of thinking to explore as many possibilities, deferring judgment and creating an open ideations space to allow for the maximum number of ideas and points of view to surface.
It later employs convergent styles of thinking to isolate potential solution streams, combining and refining insights and more mature ideas, which pave a path forward.
It engages in early exploration of selected ideas, rapidly modelling potential solutions to encourage learning while doing, and allow for gaining additional insight into the viability of solutions before too much time or money has been spent
Tests the prototypes which survive the processes further to remove any potential issues.
Iterates through the various stages, revisiting empathetic frames of mind and then redefining the challenge as new knowledge and insight is gained along the way.
It starts off chaotic and cloudy steamrolling towards points of clarity until a desirable, feasible and viable solution emerges.

From DSC:
This post includes information about popular design thinking frameworks. I think it’s a helpful posting for those who have heard about design thinking but want to know more about it.

What is Design Thinking?
Design thinking is an iterative process in which we seek to understand the user, challenge assumptions we might have, and redefine problems in an attempt to identify alternative strategies and solutions that might not be instantly apparent with our initial level of understanding. As such, design thinking is most useful in tackling problems that are ill-defined or unknown.

Design thinking is extremely useful in tackling ill-defined or unknown problems—it reframes the problem in human-centric ways, allows the creation of many ideas in brainstorming sessions, and lets us adopt a hands-on approach in prototyping and testing. Design thinking also involves on-going experimentation: sketching, prototyping, testing, and trying out concepts and ideas. It involves five phases: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. The phases allow us to gain a deep understanding of users, critically examine the assumptions about the problem and define a concrete problem statement, generate ideas for tackling the problem, and then create prototypes for the ideas in order to test their effectiveness.

Design thinking is not about graphic design but rather about solving problems through the use of design. It is a critical skill for allprofessionals, not only designers. Understanding how to approach problems and apply design thinking enables everyone to maximize our contributions in the work environment and create incredible, memorable products for users.

6 items/resources re: design thinking

On 12/23/2015, in design, Design Thinking, education, engineering, society, student-related, teaching & learning, user experience (UX), user interface design, by Daniel Christian

Introduction to Design Thinking — from experience.sap.com by Gerd Waloszek

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

A Design Methodology
Basically, Design Thinking is a design methodology. It differs from traditional design approaches in specific ways described below. For example, some authors characterize Design Thinking as more creative and user-centered than traditional design approaches.

A Problem-Solving Approach or Process
Design Thinking can be regarded as a problem solving method or, by some definitions, a process for the resolution of problems (but see below for the differences between methods and process).

As a solution-based approach to solving problems, Design Thinking is particularly useful for addressing so-called “wicked” problems. Wicked means that they are ill-defined or tricky. For ill-defined problems, both the problem and the solution are unknown at the outset of the problem-solving process (as opposed to “tame” or “well-defined” problems, where the problem is evident and the solution is possible with some technical knowledge.) Even when the general direction of the problem may be clear, considerable time and effort is spent on clarifying the requirements. Thus, in Design Thinking, a large part of the problem-solving activity is comprised of defining and shaping the problem.

The resulting problem resolution is regarded as creative, fluid, and open, and also as the search for an improved future result (this is in line with Herbert A. Simon’s (1969) definition of design as the “transformation of existing conditions into preferred ones.”)

Design Thinking Comes of Age — from the September 2015 Issue of the Harvard Business Review by Jon Kolko

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

There’s a shift under way in large organizations, one that puts design much closer to the center of the enterprise. But the shift isn’t about aesthetics. It’s about applying the principles of design to the way people work.

This new approach is in large part a response to the increasing complexity of modern technology and modern business. That complexity takes many forms. Sometimes software is at the center of a product and needs to be integrated with hardware (itself a complex task) and made intuitive and simple from the user’s point of view (another difficult challenge). Sometimes the problem being tackled is itself multi-faceted: Think about how much tougher it is to reinvent a health care delivery system than to design a shoe. And sometimes the business environment is so volatile that a company must experiment with multiple paths in order to survive.

I could list a dozen other types of complexity that businesses grapple with every day. But here’s what they all have in common: People need help making sense of them. Specifically, people need their interactions with technologies and other complex systems to be simple, intuitive, and pleasurable.

A set of principles collectively known as design thinking—empathy with users, a discipline of prototyping, and tolerance for failure chief among them—is the best tool we have for creating those kinds of interactions and developing a responsive, flexible organizational culture.

…

Focus on users’ experiences, especially their emotional ones.

A5) Maybe not what you mean, but here’s a way I’ve gauged students’ learning through DT #dtk12chat pic.twitter.com/TaENoXTNjp

— Ela (@ElaBenUr) December 17, 2015

Cleveland Clinic’s famous empathy video,on seeing thru other people’s eyes. Note fine #typography + #designthinking https://t.co/lJPB1CijRH

— Edward Tufte (@EdwardTufte) December 23, 2015

——————

Addendum on 1/6/16 (item #7)

Using Design Thinking in Higher Education — from educause.edu by Holly Morris and Greg Warman

Figure 1. Design thinking’s five principles

Addendum:

Design thinking infiltrates K-12 education — from nextgenlearning.org by Michael Niehoff

Excerpts:

As education continues to evolve, many are looking outside the traditional classroom for new pedagogies to inform their instructional practice. One of these more recent schools of thought is design thinking: coming up with practical, creative solutions to current problems, with the intent of an improved future result.

Design thinking has been made famous by IDEO, a design firm that has taken the design thinking approach to create and innovate new products, services, spaces and interactive experiences. They have worked with education products and communities on a number of projects including redesigning online learning experiences, creating learning labs and even designing entirely new school programs.

Higher Education’s Torch Bearer:
The d. School at Stanford University including their efforts with the K12 Lab

K–12 Early Adopters:
Nueva Design Thinking Institute
Design Tech High School

“Is ‘Design Thinking’ the New Liberal Arts?” & other items re: design thinking

On 04/02/2015, in design, Design Thinking, education, ideas, liberal arts, by Daniel Christian

Is ‘Design Thinking’ the New Liberal Arts? — from chronicle.com by Peter N. Miller

Excerpt:

What is design thinking? It’s an approach to problem solving based on a few easy-to-grasp principles that sound obvious: “Show Don’t Tell,” “Focus on Human Values,” “Craft Clarity,” “Embrace Experimentation,” “Mindful of Process,” “Bias Toward Action,” and “Radical Collaboration.” These seven points reduce to five modes — empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test — and three headings: hear, create, deliver. That may sound corporate and even simplistic, but design thinking has been used to tackle issues like improving access to economic resources in Mongolia, water storage and transportation in India, and elementary and secondary education and community building in low-income neighborhoods in the United States.

John L. Hennessy, president of the university, and David Kelley, head of the d.school, have been having a conversation about what the d.school and design thinking mean for Stanford. Hennessy sees them as the core of a new model of education for undergraduates. Two such classes on design thinking have already been created: “Designing Your Life,” which aims to help upperclassmen think about the decisions that will shape their lives after graduating, and “Designing Your Stanford,” which applies design thinking to helping first- and second-year students make the best choices about courses, majors, and extracurricular activities. Both are popular. Kelley argues for incorporating design thinking into existing courses across the humanities and sciences.

One size doesn’t fit all innovation — from innovationexcellence.com by Ralph Ohr

Excerpt:

Design Thinking also focuses on understanding the needs of potential customers outside the building. But its motivations and tactics are different from those of Customer Development. Design Thinking doesn’t start with a founder’s vision and a product in-hand. Instead it starts with “needs finding” and attempts to reduce new product risk by accelerating learning through rapid prototyping. This cycle of Inspiration, Ideation and Implementation is a solutions-based approach to solving customer problems. Design Thinking is perfectly suited to situations where the process isn’t engineering-driven; time and money are abundant and the cost (and time) of a failure of a major project launch can be substantial. This process makes sense in a large company when the bets on a new product require large investments in engineering, a new factory or spending 10s or 100s of millions on launching a new product line.

…

Design Thinking is based on properly understanding customer needs and iteratively prototyping to meet those needs with a satisfying solution. It primarily aims at doing the right things (i.e. serving a well-understood need properly) before investing time and resources.

What is Design Thinking? [Infographic] — from smashfreakz.com

Design Thinking in Schools
Design thinking is a powerful way for today’s students to learn, and it’s being implemented by educators all around the world. This site is a directory of schools and programs that use design thinking in the curriculum for K12 students.

This site has been put together by IDEO and the K12 Lab Network at Stanford’s d.school. Over the years we have seen so many schools and programs create amazing experiences for youth, helping them get in touch with their “inner designer” and build confidence in their creative abilities. With more and more programs emerging around the world, we wanted a place where we could see the global movement unfold, we wanted parents to find programs to send their kids to, and we wanted teachers and administrators to be able to find like-minded colleagues with they could connect.

Using Design Thinking in Higher Education [Morris & Warman]

On 01/13/2015, in business side of he, change, changing business models, design, Design Thinking, higher education, ideas, innovation, new business models, by Daniel Christian

Using Design Thinking in Higher Education — from educause.com by Holly E. Morris and Greg Warman

Design thinking focuses on users and their needs, encourages brainstorming and prototyping, and rewards out-of-the-box thinking that takes “wild ideas” and transforms them into real-world solutions.

Excerpt:

Albert Einstein famously said, “No problem can be solved by the same kind of thinking that created it.” So, assuming we agree, what exactly are our alternatives? How can we go beyond our standard approach to problems in higher education and entertain new possibilities? One promising alternative is to engage in design thinking.

Design thinking offers a creative yet structured approach for addressing large-scale challenges. In September 2014, we conducted an EDUCAUSE webinar, Design Thinking: Education Edition, and offered examples from our Breakthrough Models Incubator (BMI).

Here, we offer a summary of that webinar, discussing design thinking principles and process, describing real-world examples of design thinking in action, and offering possibilities for how you might introduce the approach into your own organization.

Empowering students through entrepreneurship and design thinking [Saxe]

On 08/26/2013, in 21st century, business, curriculum, design, Design Thinking, education, education reform, entrepreneurship, innovation, student-related, by Daniel Christian

Empowering students through entrepreneurship and design thinking — from edutopia.org by Kim Saxe

Excerpt:

Entrepreneurship in pre-collegiate schools is spreading like wildfire! In 2011, a venture capitalist parent and I decided to pilot an Intro to Entrepreneurship elective for our seventh and eighth graders at The Nueva School. We were stunned when 23 of the roughly 100 students in those grades signed up for the course. This past year, we actually had to turn away seven students who wanted to repeat the class. Clearly, we had hit a chord with today’s youth.

Also see:

Part 2 of this blog will focus on synthesizing and envisioning solutions, the miracle of iteration, and some of the personal transformations by students who participated in the program.

A 40-minute crash course in design thinking [VanHemert]

On 08/30/2012, in art, design, Design Thinking, pedagogy, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

A 40-minute crash course in design thinking — from fastcodesign.com by Kyle VanHemert
Let this short film on designer and teacher Inge Druckrey open your eyes to the design details all around you.

Design thinking for educators [IDEO and Riverdale]

On 08/10/2012, in design, Design Thinking, education, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Influence Education Through Design Thinking — Robert Jacobs

On 01/26/2010, in creativity, Design Thinking, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning spaces, motivation, smart classrooms, by Daniel Christian

Influence Education Through Design Thinking — Robert Jacobs

I have been thinking and reading a lot about Design Thinking. In his book Change By Design, author and IDEO CEO Tim Brown says that a prerequisite for creative cultures, “…is an environment—social but also spatial—in which people know they can experiment, take risks, and explore the full range of their faculties.”

He goes on to say that, “They physical and the psychological spaces of an organization work in tandem to define that effectiveness of the people within it.”

12-13 years sitting in a chair. Do you think the type of chair students spend the majority of their youth influences behavior? It is possible that the type of chair might impact the approximately 13,000 to 14,000 hours spent sitting in it?

The pinnacle of educational design seems to be the plastic chair. Does that chair say something about our educational system?

From DSC:
I post this because I do think that the learning environments that our students are in affect their motivation, creativity, performance and more. However, being a part of a smart classroom team, I realize that budgets don’t always allow us to create the “Google” (or other types of) working environments that we might seek to create. Nevertheless, if you are reading this posting and you have a chance to do something creative, fun yet classy/professional, I say “Go for it!”

Learning Ecosystems

Design Thinking: A Quick Overview [Dam & Siang]

“Is ‘Design Thinking’ the New Liberal Arts?” & other items re: design thinking

Using Design Thinking in Higher Education [Morris & Warman]

A 40-minute crash course in design thinking [VanHemert]

Design thinking for educators [IDEO and Riverdale]

Influence Education Through Design Thinking — Robert Jacobs

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