Commonly used in commercial product development as well as by governments, global civic organizations and NGOs, design thinking is prominent in the product management discipline.
“The main tenet of design thinking is empathy for the people you’re trying to design for.”David KelleyFounder of IDEO
What is Design Thinking?
Design thinking is a development process that put understanding customers at the center of activity. Typically it involved a multidisciplinary team perhaps with outside guidance. Starting with background research to ground the team in the customers’ context, it puts heavy focus on listening to customers, and perhaps observing how they go about managing the challenges. The goal is a deep understanding, thinking about the problem and empathy with the customers.
The process then moves to thinking about solutions. Different way to address the challenges. This involves design iteration, maybe designing mock-ups or prototypes, and finally converging around a solution.
What Does Design Thinking Look Like In Practice?
- Articles To Help You Better Understand Customers
- The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman from Jane’s bookshelf
- On Design Thinking in Harvard Business Review
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