Design thinking is a business concept that has existed for many years. In fact, Thomas Edison is credited with some of the earliest ‘design thinking’ with regard to consumer goods. While many of us consider Edison to be the greatest inventor who created the light bulb, he actually surrounded himself with a team of brilliant minds and encouraged them to look beyond the ‘idea’ and to determine the ‘need’ that it could fill with consumers, the general public.

We think of the phonograph today as being the catalyst that boosted popular music through the 20th century. However, Edison envisioned it as a business tool for dictation, not music. This highlights the importance of design thinking from the outset of a project; one could devise a better system early on that could tap into the desires of the consumer public.

Design thinking can best be characterized as a

“methodology that imbues the full spectrum of innovation activities with a human-centered design ethos (Brown).”

The modern concept of design thinking has evolved through the years and while most of the 20th century saw few products and companies rely on this manner of thinking, it is taking a more center stage within many industries. From bicycle manufacturing to healthcare, design thinking can transform a company and allow it to create more user-friendly products, or boost the level of support or care that the end user receives.

The common design misconception.

Many people incorrectly assume that ideas just ‘pop’ into existence. A person is strolling along then ‘pop,’ there’s the concept that is going to become a new product. That’s not how it works in reality. Design thinking needs to be viewed as a series of open spaces, blank pages of a book, and then the story evolves through the process of creation, experimentation, editing, redrafting, and moving toward a solution that not only makes sense, but one that is attractive to consumers.

The design process.

The design process must move through three well-defined stages in order to be successful. They are inspiration, ideation, and then implementation.

Inspiration is the seed of an idea, a concept. A need is recognized that could be filled. Once this is determined, then ideation begins. This is the brainstorming process wherein ideas are formed, analyzed, discarded, or evolve. From there, they move to implementation where the vision is executed.

A well designed idea will tap into the needs and the desires of the consumers. Remember, even though design thinking is essential, this doesn’t negate the actual look and feel of an object; in fact, people are attracted to the appearance of a product. They connect on an emotional level. It’s why so publishers invest high sums of money on books covers.

In order for design thinking to work properly within a business climate, it must begin at the leadership level and become part of the culture within that business. There are steps that should be taken to bring design thinking into a part of the process for any company:

• Start at the beginning.
• Develop a human-centered approach (focus on what consumers want and need, not the idea first).
• Experiment often.
• Be willing to draw in outside assistance and viewpoints.
• Combine large and small projects.
• Don’t constrain the pace of innovation (don’t expect success within a specific budget).
• Seek out and attract talent, wherever it comes from.
• Plan around the movement of employees from one job or assignment to another. Let teams get the entire cycle of creation in from beginning to end before moving onto something else.

When you incorporate design thinking into your business culture, you will help your company grow into the future and fill a need that is currently not being met.

Brown, Tim. Design Thinking. Harvard Business Review. June, 2008.