By Santosh Lamichhane and Arun Khadka
Starting point: What is design thinking?
Before the course, we thought design thinking was about making things look nice. We also thought it meant sticky notes and brainstorming. On 1–2 October, Elif Öztekin (2026) showed us it is much more. It is a way of thinking and working, and it can be used far beyond traditional design.
Learning by doing
On day one, we learned how design thinking has changed over time. At first, it was about how designers think. Later, companies used it to create new products and services. Today it also deals with sustainability and working with AI.
Then we practised. We did deep interviews in pairs and told stories about hard moments in our studies. Listening to others without interruption was harder than we thought. Empathy means understanding how another person experiences a situation.
On day two, we turned our notes into “How might we…?” questions. We used brainwriting to collect many ideas quickly. Then we built rough prototypes. The first idea is rarely the best one, and mistakes are part of the process.
A lesson from our work
We have both worked in service jobs, one of us in banking and the other in hospitality. In both, new processes were often planned first. They looked clear on paper. But the plan was not made by understanding how customers and staff go through the process every day.
In banking, customers may find some steps confusing, and employees can make their own shortcuts. In hospitality, a guest’s experience depends on small moments, like check-in or waiting for help. These moments were hard to see from the office.
After this course, we see what was missing. The services were designed for people, not with them. A short deep interview with a few customers or guests would have shown their real problems. A rough first version, tested with a small group, would have saved time.
What the readings added
Brown (2009) says design thinking starts with people. A good idea must be desirable to users, feasible to build and viable for the business. This is what our banking and hospitality plans missed. He also describes three spaces of innovation: inspiration, ideation and implementation. In his view, everyone, not only designers, can think this way.
Buchanan (1992) explains “wicked problems”. These are unclear and have no single right answer. Customer service is like this. The real need is often vague, and it only appears when you explore it.
Kolko (2015) argues that design thinking works when teams understand users, accept uncertainty and test early. A plan is not enough. We need to learn while we build. This is why we built rough prototypes on day two instead of perfect ones.
Our takeaways
Understand people before designing the process. Treat the first plan as a first guess. Test it small and improve it. We have not mastered design thinking, but we feel more confident to try it.
“What would change in your workplace if you listened to customers before planning?”
References
Brown, T. 2009. Change by design: how design thinking transforms organizations and inspires innovation. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
Buchanan, R. 1992. Wicked problems in design thinking. Design Issues, 8 (2), 5–21. https://doi.org/10.2307/1511637
Kolko, J. 2015. Design thinking comes of age. Harvard Business Review, 93 (9), September, 66–71. https://hbr.org/2015/09/design-thinking-comes-of-age
Öztekin, E. 2026. Design thinking masterclass at Laurea UAS [lecture]. Held on 1–2 October. Laurea University of Applied Sciences.
Visuals
Image sources: the first and last images were created with ChatGPT, and the other images are our own photographs from the Design Thinking workshop.
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