The mutation of Design Thinking

What does these changes mean for you as a designer.

As designers, we have studied the methodology as IDEO describes it, merged it, transformed it, and appropriated it in so many ways that today the words “Design Thinking” have become so diffuse that we sometimes are not sure what we are exactly talking about anymore. So, I decided to classify the different meanings and talk about where our intelligentsia is going and what it means for us designers.

Design Thinking: The Method

Who will usually use this description? This description is often used by educational institutions, design consultancies, and corporate training programs. It focuses on the step-by-step process that includes stages like empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test.

What does it mean for us designers? How does it help or hinder us? For designers, viewing design thinking as a method provides a clear, structured approach to problem-solving. It can help by offering a repeatable and teachable process that can be communicated easily to clients and team members. However, it can hinder creativity if followed too rigidly, as it may stifle innovation by forcing designers to adhere to a predefined sequence of steps rather than exploring more organic or unconventional approaches.