What do you think of Design Thinking? Is it a framework? a methodology? a philosophy? maybe just some fancy words so that design professionals and agencies can add wow-ness to their work?
Here’s a controversial opinion, Design thinking is all that and maybe more. In the current business & design landscape it’s not uncommon to see big groups of design and non-design professionals embracing these different perspectives on Design Thinking.
Let’s delve a little into the past so I can explain my point. Design Thinking was promoted and gained momentum either directly by design & innovation firms such as IDEO or Frog, pioneers such as Tim Brown, David Kelley, and Jeanne Liedtka, or indirectly with the immense success of design-led firms such as Apple and Airbnb.
Back then, although frameworks were common, the design was considered a philosophy, it’s not about going through some static sequence of steps — yeah I know some are iterative and cyclical. It was about having core values that aren’t 100% laid down by design but those not laid down by it were undoubtedly influenced by it.
So the frameworks weren’t that static, the people who created them used them as guidelines, just to make sure they’re moving towards a defined end.