Design Thinking: A Powerful, Yet Imperfect Tool for Innovation

Design Thinking refers to a human-centered, iterative approach for solving complex problems, often leading to innovation. The process involves empathy, creativity, and experimentation, helping teams come up with solutions that may not emerge from traditional methods. Over a weekend learning experience, we delved into the nuances of Design Thinking, gaining insights into both its potential and its limitations.

Design Thinking in Practice

On the first day, Professor Daniela Marzavan introduced us to the six steps of Design Thinking, which can be summarized as: Understand, Observe, Point of View, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. This framework is designed to provide a systematic way of tackling challenges.

The six steps of Design Thinking intoduced by Professor Daniela Marzavan.

Next, we were tasked with creating an innovative wallet. The “Understand” phase focused on deep diving into the problem, analyzing stakeholders, and conducting primary research. The goal was to challenge the initial assumptions and gain a comprehensive understanding of the problem.

Later we observed users’ behaviors, reframed the problem to focus on hidden needs, and brainstormed creative solutions. The final stages, prototyping and testing, involved making a tangible version of our idea to receive feedback and refine it.

A big part of design thinking is design doing. It’s getting your hands dirty and experimenting instead of being an armchair strategist

Design thinking is action-oriented (Mootee 2013, 64), so on the second day, we immediately put what we had learned into practice. “A big part of design thinking is design doing. It’s getting your hands dirty and experimenting instead of being an armchair strategist”, writes Mootee (2013, 64).

Brainstorming solutions to the refraimed problem. Photo: Henna Kaarlela.

The challenge was to develop a sustainable urban garden for teenagers. The most instructive task was the interviews to understand the lives, thinking, and needs of the target group. We conducted short interviews in a nearby outdoor area and gained a lot of valuable information about the needs of the target group in a very short time.

In the afternoon, we reformulated the problem statement and used the insight data to build a visualized persona. With the new information, the focus of the challenge changed, and we discovered in practice how design thinking is a dynamic, constructive process (Mootee, 2013, 68). “It is a continuous learning experience arising out of a need to obtain and apply insights to shifting goals”, Mootee (2013, 68) argues.

Persona “Kyle” and post-its. Photo: Henna Kaarlela.

Shifting Business Perspectives

Organizations are increasingly turning to design thinking to solve complex issues involving technology, customer experience, and service design. It demonstrates how design thinking has evolved from a niche methodology to a core business function in large companies. However, this shift requires companies to embrace a new way of thinking—one that prioritizes user experience, iterative prototyping, and even failure (Kolko, 2015).

The success of companies like IBM and GE, which have embraced design thinking, shows how this approach helps simplify complex systems and create intuitive solutions. However, adopting design thinking is more than just changing processes; it involves a cultural shift. Employees must feel empowered to experiment, take risks, and focus on user needs, which can be a significant departure from traditional corporate structures (Kolko, 2015).

Photo by UX Indonesia on Unsplash

Wicked Problems in Design Thinking

Designer Richard Buchanan (1992) has suggested that design thinking is a new liberal art. By this, he means that design thinking is a key skill that creates development and innovations in all areas of life. After the publication of the article, design thinking has been expanded and used for many purposes such as communication, interaction, experience, and service design (Marzavan slides, 9).

He also writes about wicked problems (1992, 15), referring to Horst Rittel (1960). “Wicked problems are social system problems which are ill-formulated, confusing, agents with conflicting values, and where the ramifications of the whole system are thoroughly confusing.”

Buchanan doesn’t address the climate crisis, but it is interesting that he wrote about wicked problems and design already in 1990s. Today, the planetary limits of the Earth have already been exceeded in many places (Stockholm Resilience Center), so Buchanan’s words are more important than ever. We need to focus on designing a sustainable life and society.

Not a Cure-All for Problems

Design Thinking offers a structured yet flexible framework for solving ambiguous and complex problems, particularly those that involve user experience, rapid iteration, and creativity. It thrives in dynamic environments, helping organizations navigate the uncertainties of modern business (Mootee, 2013).

Although design thinking is a powerful tool for innovation, it’s not a panacea for every challenge. For well-defined, stable systems, other methodologies may be more effective. Over-reliance on Design Thinking can lead to frustration if applied inappropriately. Organizations must recognize its limitations and integrate it with other strategic tools to remain innovative. Companies that wish to succeed with Design Thinking must shift their culture, adopting a user-centered approach that embraces failure and continuous learning (Mootee, 2013).

Text Henna Kaarlela & Mari Karjalainen

References

  • Buchanan, R. (1992). “Wicked Problems in Design Thinking.” Design Issues, 8(2), 5-21.
  • Kolko, J. (2015). “Design Thinking Comes of Age.” Harvard Business Review.
  • Mootee, I. (2013). Design Thinking for Strategic Innovation: What They Can’t Teach You at Business or Design School. Wiley.
  • Stockholm Resilience Center. https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/planetary-boundaries.html
  • Marzavan slides. Daniela Marzavan´s lecture at Laurea University of Applied Sciences 6.-7.8.2024

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3 responses to “Design Thinking: A Powerful, Yet Imperfect Tool for Innovation”

  1. tuukkasavinainen Avatar
    tuukkasavinainen

    Hello Henna & Mari

    This blog post is a great recap of your design thinking workshop! You have effectively captured the key takeaways, like the importance of design doing. As you aptly put it, it’s getting your hands dirty and experimenting instead of being an armchair strategist. This gives the right idea that design thinking is about active participation and trying things out, not just theorizing. The photos and personal anecdotes make it engaging and relatable. You have also highlighted the potential of design thinking to address complex issues like sustainability, reminding us that We need to focus on designing a sustainable life and society. This underscores the relevance of design thinking to creating a better future. This post serves as a valuable reminder of the power of this approach, especially its dynamic nature It is a continuous learning experience arising out of a need to obtain and apply insights to shifting goals. This shows how design thinking is adaptable and iterative, allowing for adjustments as added information emerges.

    What is next for you in your design thinking journey?

    Reply
  2. HeiniHuhtinen Avatar
    HeiniHuhtinen

    Hi Henna& Mari,

    Thanks for your blog post! What particularly stood out for was the quote from Richard Buchanan, suggesting that design thinking is a new liberal art. Obviously, this quote dates back to early nineties and as you point out, the concept of design thinking has since developed into many new forms and shapes. Yet, it is fascinating to think about the connotations of that line – that design thinking supposedly has those “soft” qualities that can be useful in almost any area of life.

    On a practical level, I would argue that liberal arts and design thinking are quite far apart: liberal arts very much moves in the theoretical world or ideas and analysis, whereas design thinking relies on certain processes, quick thinking, testing and doing. As a liberal arts graduate, I came into the course sceptical about the business-focused approach but have in fact been surprised how useful I find my previous studies in service design thinking – I think the connections are around observing language closely, creating new connections between ideas and questioning surface level meanings of things.

    But whereas design thinking has very much been embraced by the business community, skills and critical thinking developed by studying liberal arts not so much (at least in Finland). It makes me curious to know more about the backgrounds of design thinkers out there – what have they done or studied previously? Is there a certain discipline or professional field (outside explicit service design studies) that appears to develop design thinking qualities particularly well?

    Reply
  3. stinne Avatar
    stinne

    Hi Henna and Mari,

    Thank you for your really interesting blog. I’m impressed with how many different and insightful reflections you have incorporated into your text.
    You touch on a number of very interesting and important points and I want to draw out two of them.

    The first relates to your reflections on when design thinking makes sense and when it might not be the right option. Every problem has its own, unique context and circumstances and there is no “one size fits all”; even with something as popular as design thinking.
    An interesting question we were reflecting on, while writing our blog, is whether the challenge with design thinking is partly due to the fact that it seems to be equated with the processes of innovation, creativity, and interdisciplinarity these days. As if these processes always imply design thinking and therefore it often gets thrown into the mix without consideration for whether it’s really the right tool or whether innovation and creative insights can also come through other methods.
    You have really framed these problems and questions very well.

    Another point I really appreciate, is the need for culture change and not just adding tools and methods on top of the existing cultures and organisational belief systems. As you say, the employees need to feel empowered and truly believe in their ability to innovate, bring new ideas to the table, and that they can think differently than previously, as Daniela Marzavan also emphasise during the course. It is not enough to have a quick workshop or try it out and then believe that things can stay the same. Truly innovating and creating new ways of working, requires risk-taking and new perspectives and that does require a culture-shift and the willingness to rethink hierarchies, freedom, and control.

    I really enjoyed your blog and it gave me new perspectives and things to think about, so thank you for that!

    Reply

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