Speaking a lot about Design Thinking. A methodology for creative problem solving and design processes. Six steps to create innovative products or to solve critical problems. There are a lot of variations and different approaches. But lets have a quick look back where does it come from. When and what was it developed for and who are the key players.
History
Going back in the 1960s a very early variation will be created, related to some researches in 1962 there was one of the first conferences to define a standard set of methods and processes for creative and design work. A very first work book was developed.
Further developments were made until another milestone has been reached. In 1986 the Six Sigma concept has been published and took part in the companies business plans. Right after the release a Harvard Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design published his work about Design methods calling it Design Thinking the first time.
The next milestone happened 1991 with the found of IDEO using a further developed version of Design Thinking from the Stanford University. During the next years more and more companies put effort and interest in Design Thinking. This higher level of reputation helped Design Thinking to be a more famous method.
In 2005 the D.School started teaching Design Thinking at school so graduates can learn the method in school to be ready for business.
In the year 2007 the Hasso Plattner Institute fir IT Engineering in Germany has been founded. Teaching Design Thinking as one major topic in the learning plan. In parallel the IIT Institute of Design launches the Design Camp focusing on Design Thinking as well.
How it is
These are sum of the major steps in the success way of Design Thinking. Later on Design Thinking increased the success and entered a lot of different companies. Creating a huge community and fellowship. A lot of books are written and a huge amount article have been published. Also several variations are available like different processes. The classic version consists of 6 steps but there are variations with 7 steps or only 5 or 4 steps. But the main messages are always the same. “User centered design” including a user centered research and testing. Building prototypes and fulfill test cycles.
About Design Thinking
If you are interested in further details on Design Thinking you can check the Design Thinking articles published on Learnsuits.com
Source: Wikipedia, SAP Innovation Blog,
