Design Thinking
What is Design Thinking?
Design thinking is NOT a subject or a topic or a class. It’s a way of solving problems that encourages risk taking + creativity + empathy. It works when creating digital content, planning an event, or when building things. Design thinking provides a methodology for creating innovative solutions to a vast array of difficult problems. - John Spencer
Design Thinking solves problems through a lens of empathy.
Click HERE to watch how IDEO focuses on the user experience and empathy to drive iteration. Check out some real life examples of design thinking in the classroom.
The LAUNCH Cycle is a Student Friendly DESIGN THINKING Framework!
The Launch Cycle is 7 Phases that begins by identifying a problem and ends with a creative, innovative solution to the problem. John Spencer and AJ Juliani wrote the book Launch: Using Design Thinking To Boost Creativity and Bring Out the Maker In Every Student which explains the LAUNCH Cycle and provides examples for each phase.
Watch "The Launch Cycle: Design Thinking Framework for K-12 Students" to learn more!
Everyone has a Creative Type. What’s yours?
The Creative Types test is an exploration of the many faces of the creative personality. Based in psychology research, the test assesses your basic habits and tendencies—how you think, how you act, how you see the world—to help you better understand who you are as a creative. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of your motivations, plus insight into how to maximize your natural gifts and face your challenges.
These personality types aren’t black-and-white labels. Think of them more as signposts pointing you toward your full creative potential. While there’s probably one core type that best describes you, you may change types at different points in your life and career, or even at different stages of the creative process. As a creative, you have a little bit of all eight Types inside you.
Design Thinking in Everyday Life
“...the team instead decided to include different features that better met their customers’ needs—and developed a toothbrush that can both charge through a USB port and connect with an app to easily order new brush heads...A key insight was that people were looking for ways to make brushing less stressful. The result is a product that removes barriers rather than adding additional ones.” - Oral-B
“...Uber realized that to create a product that would address the unique needs of each city, it needed to immerse and learn about the varied experiences of restaurant workers, delivery partners, and customers… The team has run experiments and built prototypes… Through research and iteration, the app has continued to evolve and transform the experience of food delivery” - Uber Eats
“...What the company was hearing from its customers is they wanted to be able to have more gum with them so they did not run out… Using design thinking, we learned that a package ‘with a lot of gum’ needed to be durable and keep the product fresh.” - Mars Wrigley
AirBnB's Insights team uses data, research, and design thinking to address current user experience challenges. - Article