Design thinking is an increasingly popular trend in business, since it helps in meeting challenges, solving realistic and complex problems and finding desirable solutions. As a strategy for innovation, design thinking ‘combines creative and critical thinking that allows information and ideas to be organized, decisions to be made, situations to be improved, and knowledge to be gained’ (Ursrey, L. 2014).
IDEO, an award-winning global design company, specialises in helping organisations build creative culture and the internal systems required to sustain innovation and launch new ventures. IDEO designs the products, services, spaces, and interactive experiences that bring them to life.
There is a Polish portal about design thinking, which includes relevant information, events, comments, projects, inspirations, implementations and many more.
Design thinking consists of five phases, being empathize; define; ideate; prototype; and test. First of all, you need to have empathy for people you are designing for. Next, it is crucial to define a problem. In order to find the most effective and efficient solution, brainstorming is recommended. Prototyping and testing are done at the end.
Tim Brown, the CEO and president of IDEO, reflects in his recently published article on two films, LEGO and Tim’s Vermeer, which he believes offer some powerful lessons about creativity. The LEGO Movie highlights the importance of improvisation and play. ‘Playing by the rules and following instructions achieves predictable results’ (Brown 2014) but it involves little or no creativity. What the film suggests is that we should focus on building our own stuff instead of simply following instructions. Also, the film shows how group conformity can kill creativity.
Tim’s Vermeer, a brilliant documentary about an inventor and entrepreneur Tim Jenison’s quest to paint a perfect Vermeer picture, challenges our assumptions about the relationship between art and technology. The film demonstrates ‘how art can be the result of technology and that artistic innovation can rely on technological innovation’ (Brown 2014). Therefore, what leads to achievement of our true human potential is bringing the worlds of art and science together.