10 Myths of Design Thinking - Part 2 - 5 Myths
Soumya Chowdary Daruru
Published Researcher | Master’s in CS at Stony Brook | Software Engineer | LLM, RAG, Full-Stack, Backend & Security Specialist
Part 1 - Introduction - Link
MYTHS
MYTH 1 : Design thinking is a linear / single step / sequential process.
We can indeed say that the statement is false.
One must be familiar with the various steps in the linear problem-solving process such as the traditional process. Also, in our most well-known Design Thinking process, we have five stages. When we take a close look at these five stages, we may find the process similar to the classic? process.
Most of the time, we explain through these phases one after the another. We assume these steps come one after the another like B follows A; Empathy always leads to design.
But in reality. A does not always lead to B. Design Thinking is not as exact as conventional problem-solving. It is more human-centric and non-linear. Design thinking is a very flexible process. According to the context that we are dealing with, we can include as many cycles as required.
For example, iteration may happen during the prototyping stage. We may find the idea chosen does not work. So we go to the ideation stage to pick up a new idea. Some insights may be revealed during the new testing, which will require redefining the problem.
When we concentrate on the key concepts that are included in the design thinking, we can find the following:
We can see that there is no right/wrong model for design thinking. The critical point is that all the above concepts have to be appropriately applied to the given context. As proof of this, we can see many Design Thinking processes created and modified by different organizations based on the requirements of the specific industries and nature of work.
Ex: Design thinking framework of IBM.
MYTH 2 : Design thinking is helpful for product innovation.
Most people assume that we apply design thinking to a problem where the final solution is a product and this assumption is very wrong. Then we will have a question "Is Design thinking not good for product design?". Let us explain this way; Design Thinking is undoubtedly beneficial for product design. Nevertheless, it is not a limitation.
Problems are the challenges everyone deals with everyday which are very different from person to person. The types of solutions to those are also different. During the process of solving the problem, the type of solution will be identified. As we are applying Design Thinking to find the solution to a problem, the final solution need not be a physical product or vice versa.
We all know that Design Thinking is an approach towards innovation. We will never get any boundaries for innovation in any domain, which tells us that innovation is not only for the product. It always helps us in achieving a better way of thinking.
To use this in real-time; we can look at an excellent example of the "Keep the change" program by Bank of America.
MYTH 3 : Design thinking is another name for something we always do.
Design Thinking is identified as a process that helps to find out solutions. There are many other standard processes like Agile, Traditional process, Lean, Management process etc, which are also used in finding better solutions. Unfortunately, many understand Design Thinking as another methodology or process to achieve innovation.
In reality, Design Thinking has its uniqueness among the other processes. We can agree that there are many similarities among them, but each process focuses on different areas, making them differentiable.
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One uniqueness of Design Thinking is that it adapts solution-based thinking. Design Thinking focuses on identifying solutions, always tries to find something to tackle a problem effectively. Some processes adapt problem-based thinking, which focuses on fixating on obstacles and limitations.
One significant difference between classic Traditional Thinking and Design Thinking is that the former follows a linear approach, and the latter is an iterative process. Feedback from the customers is constantly collected during the prototyping and testing phases of Design Thinking, whereas in the Traditional process, not much importance is given.
Design Thinking is about how we approach and explore a problem. Being human-centric, understanding and observing customers and their behaviors is a focused area; it helps us deal with ambiguous problems. Furthermore, we are trying to identify a very new solution.?
Agile helps us in effectively dealing with changing conditions with software. Mostly we will have a problem already identified and also the type of solution we have to build. Its incremental nature helps in rapid development, product enhancement and also ensures the quality is maintained.
Lean focuses on improving the product or service by eliminating waste that does not add value to the final product. It is not applied to the product; it works with any business or production process.
We can now see that all the processes are not the same, and each has its main area of focus. These processes work better together. They compliment each other. Combining the above processes increases the quality of the ideas and success rate.
MYTH 4 : Design thinking is only for designers. Designing a solution/idea is purely a designer's job.
It is no surprise that people picturized Design Thinking in this way. They mostly do it by looking at the word “Design”.
When we talk about Design, most of us think it is about "How it looks." Like "Making a product look beautiful." We feel that it is the responsibility of the designers who have creative brains. Of course, designers are naturally indeed creative. The word Design is a bit tricky due to the catch of its correct meaning. Let us try to understand it.
The word Design thinking was coined by TIM BROWN. The Design Thinking process was taken from his desire to have a simplified process that will integrate ambiguous creative processes and mindsets into a step-by-step process.
One way Tim Brown explains Design Thinking is,? “Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer's toolkit to integrate the needs of the people, the possibilities of technology & the requirement of business success”.
Term Toolkit used here explains Design Thinking way better. Being "Creative" helps us to come up with solutions. However, it is not the only skill to have innovative solutions. There are multiple tools and techniques such as empathy maps, brainstorming, sketching, divergent thinking, prototyping, ideation walk, and a storyboard that anyone can use to be creative in solving problems, he need not necessarily be a designer. All these are included in the design thinking process.
Earlier, we did not have one predictable process that one can follow to be creative. Now we have Design Thinking. Saying Design Thinking is only for designers will be like saying education is only for intelligents.
MYTH 5 : Design thinking is the solution to every problem.
Design thinking is not a miracle process that solves all the problems. Design thinking is not another name for processes like agile, lean, or DevOps. These processes are distinguishable, and they complement each other.
For a given problem, an organization or company uses multiple methods like design thinking, lean and agile to identify the solution. Design Thinking can be used for identifying, defining, and understanding problems. Once we have a well-defined problem, a product or service can be developed following the agile process. Then Lean approach can be used to improve the product or service by eliminating waste and improving the customer value.
Whenever we are in the process of solving a problem, we use various tools and frameworks. Similarly, Design Thinking also holds its place in the process of solving a problem. It is not an elixir.
If we have a problem that focuses on reducing the waste in an existing process, Lean is the more suitable approach to be applied than Design Thinking.
There are many factors to success that are considered in a project. When we try to use Design Thinking in every project, the other factors of success may be lost, like deadlines, when we have a project that has a strict and fast deadline and is very dense and tough. It also involves specific constraints on the technologies to be used. In this case, Design Thinking shall not do the magic, we shall require more time for it, and it may cross the deadline.
We cannot say that Design Thinking solves everything anytime. It relies upon various factors like the type of the problem, deadlines, constraints. Using only HTML, CSS, JS, we cannot expect an eCommerce website like Amazon to be produced.