DeSgIn ThInKiNg

Design Thinking is activities that designers use and apply during the process of designing. There are also many different types of processes to use. 

This week I watched 2 TED Talks by Tim Brown and David Kelly.  Brown and Kelly both talked about the power of design thinking and how it can help change the way we see problems.  Design thinking is the specific actions that designers take during the creative process of coming up with new ideas. 

Tim Brown

Tim Brown talked about how design has gotten bigger and smaller throughout the ages. While the world was changing, we need new ideas to adapt to new dilemmas. The top designers were using design thinking to solve big problems. Brown referenced the Industrial Revolution, and how design became bigger and better than before. The designers took a problem and used a variation of a 7 step process to revolutionize the way products are made.

7 steps Process of Design Thinking:

-Define

-Research

-Ideate

-Prototype

-Choose

-Implant

- Learn

David Kelly

David Kelly talked about creative confidence as much as design thinking.  He said to trust the process and never be afraid to fail in the creative community. He pleaded not to divide the world into creative people and non-creative people. He also said that every person has the natural ability to be creative.  In my own personal experience, I have been told my artistic ability is lacking.  I fully know that my creative ability consists of drawing straight lines and stick figures. I never liked to color within the lines as a child. I would like to add on to the inked in drawings in the coloring books.  Does that make me creative or sloppy? Do I think with divergent or convergent ideas? 

Divergent thinking is the ability to offer different ideas that still fit into one theme. 
Convergent thinking is the ability to find the “correct” answer to the problem. 

Designers in the Industrial Revolution used divergent ideas instead of convergent ones.  They created choices instead of making them.  

Unlike analytical thinking, which is breaking down thoughts and ideas, design thinking builds up thoughts and ideas and makes them stronger.  It might not be one single idea but one outrageous idea leads to a whole new way of looking at a situation.  That creative outburst leads to more ideas that can be built upon higher and higher.  The point is not to think about the quality of the ideas but the quantity of ideas.  Another form is “question-storming” where one question is built upon over and over to get one main question.  This style of thinking is “out of the box” and a person can come up with a million ideas with one key or centralized point.

There are many positive attributes of design thinking that you can use in the professional world. 

• Collaboration- working together across different lenses of a situation
• Curiosity- the drive to be interested in concepts or ideas you might not understand
• Nonjudgmental- creating new ideas without judging toward another persons idea
• Open Minded- embracing a task with positivity

To become a better design thinker here are some tips on how to do it:

1. Use prototypes- physically create your ideas
2. Get the process out of real designers- create competitions with the community and create new ideas with them.  
3. Active participation within the community.