Design Thinking: It’s Design in the Way We Think!

It's Page 2 of #DearDesigner 👏 

Let’s talk about the ever-popular concept of #DesignThinking!

Dear Designer, 

Design thinking is not just a design principle but a mindset—and a pretty universal one at that. As Arne Van Oosterom puts it, “Design thinking is a mindset,” a way of seeing and solving problems which has been embraced by several industries, from engineering to aeronautics, and medicine.

Design thinking is both an art and a science and studies show that shockingly, design thinking-the act, has been around for about a century 😵 even though we just came about the name, over a couple of decades ago.

It reminds me of a story I read a while ago that captures the essence of design thinking. It was about a truck wedged under a bridge, causing a traffic nightmare. First responders, engineers, firefighters, you name it—everyone showed up, each with a complex solution to get that truck out, such as chipping away the truck in parts, or breaking a part of the bridge, among others. Hours went by, and they weren’t getting anywhere.

And there came this young boy, passing. He stared, observed the whole situation - looked at the bridge, the road, the truck and shouted, “Why not just deflate the truck’s tires and tow it out?” 😱 Simple right? But why was it that no one thought about it until then? The answer was right there all along, and it didn’t really require thinking out of the box. That brings me to the definition of Design Thinking I came across just a couple of days ago and I really loved it.

As Clint Runge put it, “Design thinking is not about thinking outside the box, but on its edge, its corner, its flap, and under its barcode.” 😄 . The most obvious solutions are the ones hardest to come by because of the self-imposed constraints we work within, or the urge to “think big,” or “outside the box” 🙄 as we are often encouraged to, which more often than not, lead us way off-track 🤦‍♀️ .

So, Dear Designer, I challenge you: as you go through your day, look for the design stories around you. Say to yourself “that’s an example of great design” or “that's a really bad design” and have fun 🤸‍♀️ exploring the “why”.

Found this helpful? Do you have a personal story to share about your “less is more” moment? Drop it in the comments—I’d love to hear it!

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