What is Design Thinking - Essay Example

Design Thinking - influences and critiques Introduction Design Thinking is a process of achieving innovation in solving problemsespecially for business organizations, through the application of the design framework that entails the same process that a designer follows in developing any form of design. In this respect, the application of human-centered approach becomes the most important aspect of developing solutions to problems, where creativity, empathy and rationality are the basis of coming up with an innovative solution to any problem situation (Brown, 2008:85). Empathy becomes an important element of Design Thinking, owing to the fact that it enables individuals to apply their mind and feeling to a problem context that they are seeking to resolve, as though the problem was their own. This is followed by the incorporation of rationality in analyzing the existing problem situation, accompanied by creativity in gaining insights to the existing problems and developing solutions to the problems. Finally, logical reasoning is applied as the basis of fitting the devised solutions into the problem context (Martin, 2009:27). Therefore, the major objective of Design Thinking is matching the existing human abilities with business strategies that are feasible technologically, so that a business does not develop any strategies or set objectives that both its human capital and its technological capacity cannot be able to achieve. Simply put therefore, the concept of Design Thinking entails the application of practicality and realism while formulating the objectives and strategies of a business, such that the available resources that a business has are capable of achieving the set goals (Lawson, 1980:47). Therefore, this discussion seeks to analyze the concept of Design Thinking as a strategic leadership tool for business leadership, with a view to establishing its influences and critiques, and thus assess the possible future of Design Thinking. Discussion The influence of Design Thinking Combination of Analysis and Synthesis as the core of problem solving The major influence of Design Thinking as a tool for business leadership has been its ability to enable business leaders combine both analysis and synthesis as the basis of solving business problems, through developing the most rational solution, out of considering the capacity of the business human resource capital and its technological capacity (Brown, 2009:36). The concept of Design Thinking has brought about the possibility of combining the desires of the human capital working within an organization with the feasibility of the technology that is available to the business and the viability of the business processes, so as to reach at a strategically formulated business objective, with practical means of achieving the objective (Kaptelinin & Nardi, 2006:77). The major influence of Design Thinking as a tool for business leadership has been the creation of the knowledge that any strategy, objective or solution to a problem that is facing a business cannot be effective, if the strategy, objective or solution does not have a combination of human considerations, technical/technological considerations and business viability consideration (Merholz, 2009:n.p.). The essence of the involvement of these three major components is that; the realization of a business strategy that is viable and capable of improving the business performance and delivering profitability cannot be possible, where the human function within the business is not actively involved. However, the involvement of the human capital within the business is not only through the consultation and input of suggestions, but through the actual understanding of the desires of the human capital function with the organization (Cross, 2011:54). Therefore, understanding the problem the organization is facing and understanding the desire of the human capital in relation to the problem, forms the basic step of the Design Thinking process, referred to as understand. Figure 1: Design Thinking process While the traditional methods of problem solving have entailed the process of analyzing a problem so as to arrive at the right diagnosis of the problem and thus devise the most appropriate solution, Design Thinking has introduced the new concept of synthesis and analysis combination, so that the final solution to a problem that is arrived at is well thought-out (Dorst, 2011:47). The combination of analysis and synthesis means first loosening-up the situation through dissecting every bit of the problem context of the business, and then putting together different insights that have been developed to come up with an effective solution to the problem. Therefore, analysis entails the human-centered process of breaking down a situation into its major components as opposed to perceiving a problem situation as a whole, through the application of the appropriate intellectual capacity (Lawson, 1980:21). Therefore, the major influence that the Design Thinking concept as a business leadership tool has had is the demonstration of the fact that both analysis and synthesis can work together in a complimentary manner, towards the establishment of deep insights into the problem situation facing an organization. This is because, under the Design Thinking concept, every aspect of synthesis is built upon the results that are obtained out of the preceding analysis that is done regarding a business problem context (Brown, 2008:87). Therefore, the Design Thinking concept requires a systematic application of both the scientific principles of analysis and synthesis, to help arrive at a final solution to a problem that can be easily verified. Mayo Clinic Case Study: Design Thinking in Health Care In 2000, Mayo clinic was faced with a major problem of improving the doctor-patient interactions (Smith, 2010:n.p.). This is because, even after great advances had been made in the area of diagnosis and treatment of diseases, the major impediment to the effectiveness of the treatment and the satisfaction of the patients was the lack of productive doctor-patient interactions. Therefore, to address this challenge, Mayo Clinic enlisted the services of designers from the IDEO designer consultancy firm, so they could work together with the physicians of the clinic to come up with better ways of improving the interaction between the patients and physicians in the clinic, as one of the major ways of ensuring patient satisfaction with services offered by the clinic (Smith, 2010:n.p.). The major problem that faced this problem solving strategy was overcoming the difficulty of communication between the physicians and the designers, considering the fact that the incorporation of the designers’ style within the medical expectations was a challenge. In addition, incorporating physicians who had busy schedules into the program was a major challenge, since they were constrained for time between treating the patients and attending the solution development program for enhancing the interaction between the physicals and the patients (Smith, 2010:n.p.). Thus, the solution development had to take relatively long, spanning the period between 2000 and 2010. However, by 2010, the combined efforts of the designers and the physician initiatives had managed to develop the right technology for diagnosing and treating diseases, while devising the right formula for improving the physician-patient interaction. The business objective for this problem solving initiative was set as improving the patient satisfaction with the treatment services offered by Mayo Clinic. Thus, by 2010, Mayo clinic ranked as one of the medical facilities with a high rating of patient satisfaction, for having been able to incorporate the Design Thinking as the method of resolving the initial problem of patient dissatisfaction, due to lack of effective physician-patient interaction (Smith, 2010:n.p.). Introduction of the divergent and convergent thinking compatibility Design Thinking as a business leadership tool has greatly influenced problem solving process for business organizations, through the introduction of the concept of divergent and convergent thinking compatibility. While divergent thinking refers to the process of seeking different and variant unique ideas that can result in the resolution of an existing problem, convergent thinking process centers on the application of only one idea as the means of solving the existing problem (Cross, 2011:51). Most traditional methods of solving business problems centered on either the assessment of numerous ideas to arrive at the most suitable strategy for addressing a business problem, or the application of a single focus to address an existing business process. However, the Design Thinking concept introduced the compatibility of both the single-focus and the diverse ideas focus, so that the two approaches are combined under the Design Thinking concept to arrive at the most plausible solution. Such a solution may be a hybrid of the single-focused solution and some variant ideas incorporated to form one framework of addressing the organizational problem (Dorst, 2011:42). Thus, the Design Thinking concept requires the application of both the divergent and the convergent thought process in establishing the best solution to the problems facing the business, through applying the divergent thinking at the ‘ideate’ stage of the Design Thinking process, and then using convergent thinking at the ‘prototype’ and ‘test’ stage of the Design Thinking process, to realize the most feasible, practical and viable solution for solving the existing business problem (Martin, 2009:24). Figure 2: Design Thinking process Case study: Voice of San Diego Design Thinking The Voice of San Diego applied Design Thinking to change the traditional reporting of the city council elections, which traditionally centered and focused on what the leaders seeking to be elected presented as their agenda for the people. While the traditional reporting just focused on gathering news of the election agendas by the contestants and airing them, the Voice of San Diego sought to report the 2012 San Diego city council elections, through applying empathy as a basic principle of the Design Thinking concept (Li, 2013:n.p.). This way, the Voice of San Diego embarked on digging deep into the residents’ concerns, through sending its reporters for a whole week to each district of the San Diego, to apply empathetic information gathering, by keenly listening to the needs of the people and reporting on the same, as opposed to reporting what the agendas of the contestants were (Li, 2013:n.p.). In this respect, the 2012 San Diego city council elections reporting shifted from politicians-focused reporting to empathetic resident-focused reporting (Li, 2013:n.p.). Consequently, the politicians were able to align their agendas to the needs of the people, thus changing the traditional mode of the politicians doing what they wanted for the people, as opposed to doing what the people needed (Li, 2013:n.p.). In this respect, the divergent thinking of different residents was combined with the convergent thinking of the individual politicians, to create a rational solution to the problem facing San Diego city. Critique Analysis and Synthesis forms the fundamental concept under which the Design Thinking is established and applied (Brown, 2008:88). However, their application under Design Thinking is confused and ambiguous, making the Design Thinking concept a difficult approach for business to apply in problem solving. The concept of Design Thinking has been criticized for confusing the scientific concept of Analysis and Synthesis. This is because, in science, synthesis refers to the process of inferring effects from the causes that have already been identified (Dorst, 2011:49).Thus, the definition of Analysis and Synthesis applied in the Design Thinking concept is misleading, since it projects synthesis as a solution-focused assessment, and Analysis as the problem-focuses assessment (Merholz, 2009:n.p.). On the other hand, science defines analysis as the route through which the causes of observed effects are established (Merholz, 2009:n.p.). This being the case, the application of Analysis and Synthesis as the major principles guiding the achievement of Design Thinking problem resolution causes confusion, resulting in the ambiguous and arbitrary application of these concepts by different organizations and in different situations, thus affecting the effectiveness of the Design Thinking approach to business problem solving (Kaptelinin & Nardi, 2006:72). The other criticism regarding Design Thinking is that it is a concept that has emphasized on the importance of being human-centred and empathetic in order to develop the relevant solution to problems facing the business organizations (Lawson, 1980:41). While human-centeredness and empathy are important aspects of helping understand the human situation, business thinking is very vital for achieving viable strategies. However, human desire, which is a major focus of Design Thinking conflicts in many instances with business thinking. Thus, the sole specialization of Design Thinking on human-centred desires and empathy, while ignoring the importance of business thinking cannot generate an effective and viable business strategy or solution to a problem. This is because; the solution or strategy will be biased towards humanness (Merholz, 2009:n.p.). Thus, Design Thinking should also incorporate business thinking as a prime concept, if it is to be fully effective. In this respect, the future of the concept of Design thinking seems questionable, since it is no longer capable of achieving the business innovation process by its own, and it requires being backed-up by the concept of business thinking. Appendix Case Study 1: Mayo Clinic Design Thinking http://changeobserver.designobserver.com/feature/mayo-clinic-design-thinking-in-health-care--case-study-synopsis--teaching-objectives/23128/ Case Study 2: Voice of San Diego Design Thinking http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/newsgathering-storytelling/219649/journalism-case-studies-that-apply-design-thinking/ References Brown, T. (2008). Design thinking. Harvard Business Review, 85–92. Brown, T. (2009). Change by design: How design thinking transforms organizations and inspires innovation. New York, NY: Harper Business. Cross, N (2011). Design Thinking: Understanding How Designers Think and Work. Oxford UK and New York: Berg. Dorst, K. (2011). The core of ’design thinking’ and its application. Design Studies, 32 (6), 521–532. Kaptelinin, V., & Nardi, B. (2006). Acting with technology: Activity theory and interaction design. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Lawson, B. (1980). How Designers Think: The Design Process Demystified. London: Architectural. Li, A. (August 8, 2013). Journalism case studies that apply design thinking. Poynter. Accessed from < http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/newsgathering-storytelling/219649/journalism-case-studies-that-apply-design-thinking/> Martin, R. L. (2009). The design of business: Why design thinking is the next competitive advantange. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School. Merholz, P. (October 9, 2009).Why Design Thinking Wont Save You. Harvard Business Review. Accessed < http://blogs.hbr.org/2009/10/why-design-thinking-wont-save/> Smith A. N. (May 12, 2010). Case Studies: Mayo Clinic: Design Thinking in Health Care – Case Study Synopsis & Teaching Objectives. 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