Design Thinking

Why have I become so tired about the use of this term?
Its over used.
And its misunderstood.
It doesn’t say anything.
It implies that if you use it the answer will be correct.
And if the answer is wrong then you did not use it properly.
And.... Somehow if you did not use it the answer is wrong.
It means what ever the user wants it to mean.
When you use it.... you think your smart...

Design Thinking is at its most basic a REPEATABLE process for problem resolution. I emphasize repeatable because if its not repeatable, then it exists as other forms of design exist, in the mind of the designer.

The process contains certain steps that generally start with problem definition and continues thru a free flow of solution definitions rapid prototyping and evolution. Whomever you read about design thinking will have some series of steps which are not in themselves important other than defining the process and causing it to be REPEATABLE.

An academic who will remain nameless states that design thinking is opposed to analytical thinking. How ridiculous!!! Analytical thinking is part of design thinking which cannot exist without it.

A danger is to think that there is an end of the process. Obviously at some point you have to move on. But in the end success is developing the skills to be agile and adjust as new information is gained rather than be correct in initial assessment.

I want to eliminate the term “Design Thinking” so that no one is confused with what we are doing. Why don’t we use “systemic thinking”, or “problem resolution”, or better yet just plain DESIGN!