Is it a mindset? Or a process? Or just useless business speak? Let’s investigate the meaning of design thinking. What is the definition of design thinking? Well, it’s not quite as simple as looking up the Wikipedia definition of design thinking, which begins with the rather unhelpful line: ‘Design thinking refers to design-specific cognitive activities that designers apply during the process of designing.’ Design thinking means different things to different people. As Nathan Sinsabaugh, writing for Wired, comments, ‘design is more like anthropology than physics’. Design thinking is nuanced, and differs in process and governance depending on the company in question. Nevertheless, Wikipedia delivers a degree of clarity with the second line of its definition; ‘design thinking is a methodology not exclusive for designers, that helps people understand and develop creative ways to solve a specific issue, generally business oriented.’ So, it’s essentially creative or design-led ways of solving issues. Let’s try to pin it down a bit better… Aren’t there more specific definitions? Design Week’s recent series of features on design thinking (titled Age of Design) includes a roundtable discussion with various industry figures attempting to define design-led businesses. In that discussion, David Kester remarks, “When I was at the Design Council we had to provide … Continue reading What is design thinking?