"The myth of innovation is that brilliant ideas leap fully formed from the minds of geniuses. The reality is that most innovations come from a process of rigorous examination through which great ideas are identified and developed before being realized as new offerings and capabilities- Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO
Design thinking is a process that results in creative—but practical—solutions of problems or issues that are in need of an improved future result. The process is based around the building up of ideas. The reason for design thinking, say instead of analytical thinking, is to eliminate the fear of failure and thus encourage maximum participation and “outside the box” thinking.
I first learned of design thinking in reference to IDEO, a design and innovation consulting firm that is making an impact by implementing design. I was immediately impressed with the idea of design thinking and chose to share the concept with my family over dinner that night. It was then that my older brother, Trevor, surprised me by telling me that they use design thinking at his job. Trevor works for Kaiser Permanente, and I thought it very strange that a medical facility would implement a concept intended for people who work in the design field. Surely he was mistaken (isn’t that how we all feel about our siblings?). Later that night I visited IDEO’s website, http://www.ideo.com/, to do some research on the subject (mostly, I admit, to prove my brother wrong). Come to find out, Kaiser is, in fact, using design thinking. They have begun using the approach to increase the quality of patient care by re-examining the ways that their nurses manage shift change.
It was then that I realized design thinking is a method intended for all businesses, all corporations, and even all people (yes, you too). Looking more closely, I realized that I had actually already been implementing design thinking in my own life. In another design class, a course on day lighting, I have been assigned to create a scale model of an interior.
How I Applied Design Thinking:
1. Field Research- I first went in search of an interior to use based on a list of criteria it must meet.
2. Understand the Problem- I then made note of everything I would have to model, and what I could exclude from the model and why.
3. Ideas- I brainstormed what materials I could use to model the miniatures that I intended to make and I made countless trips to craft stores to walk up and down the aisles, hoping for inspiration.
4. Prototype- I began the model making process. Assembling tiny nightstands and sewing tiny bedspreads.
5. Feedback- I shared my products with my classmates, asking if they could recognize what I had made. Asking if it looked like the real thing. I even took photographs with my camera and received visual feedback that I could assess on a more personal level.
6. Repeat- If the miniature didn’t pass the feedback stage, I tossed it and went back to try a new technique.
The opportunity for improvement after a failure encouraged me to be a creative as possible. As a result, the model is done and looking nearly identical to the real-life interior. For the moral of the story: Design thinking isn’t just for the use of designers at IDEO, or designers at all general. Design thinking can transform the problem-solving process for anyone seeking a solution. And this is how design thinking inspires innovation
Credit: Photograph taken by Cody Torgersrud, my model-making partner in DES 137
