Design Thinking

What is design thinking?

Design thinking is an approach to exploring problems and developing possible solutions through research, idea generation, prototyping, and testing. It emphasizes people’s needs and circumstances and uses iteration to revise assumptions.

IDEO’s introduction to design thinking describes these methods as a way to apply human-centered design.

Design thinking in practice

A team might interview users, build a simple prototype, and revise it after observing use. The point is to expose assumptions to what people actually do. Interviews and prototypes are useful only if what the team learns shapes the resulting service or product. Test that result against the problem you set out to solve.