There is a lot of buzz about design thinking in the professional space – and with good reason. As many industries become more and more digitized, it’s easy to lose sight of the human beings who make companies and culture. Design thinking is, at its heart, a critical thinking process that puts people back at the forefront of all decisions.
Design thinking principles are eternal, but the term itself became famous after 1980 when Apple, soon to release its first personal computer, asked the design firm IDEO to build a mass-producible mouse to go with it.
We can apply design thinking to improve any situation because its tools – observation, strategy, imagination, and creativity – are so flexible.
Design thinking begins with discovery and observation. We ask questions like “how does this process work for this person?” and “how should this process work?” It’s easy to lose sight of what matters, which is why asking simple questions is such an important part of the design thinking skill set.
Design thinking is how we direct our creativity to make life better. It’s the underlying motivation for everything we do at Knox Design Strategy. Whenever our projects make some aspect of a firm’s work more elegant or efficient, we have accomplished our mission.
Our design thinking process begins with discovery. We host workshops and one-on-one interviews, and we research whatever we can. Taking a step back to understand our client is how we create a strategy with clear, relevant business objectives.
By the time we unleash our creativity, we have already undergone a disciplined process to comprehend our client’s needs on a deep level. This is creativity that makes a difference.
In the end, design thinking is simple to understand, difficult to master, and powerful to apply. It’s for real people living in the real world, and it’s how Knox Design Strategy creates real change for our clients.
