Reflective Writing on Design Thinking

This reflective writing assignment delves into the student's experience with a design thinking course. It examines how the course has shaped their understanding of people in the long run, highlighting the applicability of activities and lessons learned both academically and in everyday life. The reflection encompasses insights gained from various class sessions and activities conducted throughout the course.

Self-Reflection

Running Head: Report
Introduction: This reflective writing has been compiled to outline and understand the
knowledge that I have gained by studying the subject Design Thinking as a part of my
curriculum, and the knowledge that I have gained through this study over a period of 12
weeks. My expectations from this course initially were to learn to think in an innovative way
and gain a perspective to solve real life problems with the help of a new thinking approach.
However, this course helped me in not just thinking about the problems in an innovative way
but also implementing this different approach of problem solving with both empathy and
immersion. This course was not just theories and their explanation, but also made us push
through our comfort zones and do the things that made us continuously test our limits. From
the introductory lecture of the course to the last class that was taken for Design Thinking,
there were a number of activities that we were asked to carry out that helped us in our
personal development and better understanding of the subject (PRSA, 2014). This course not
only expanded my knowledge in the field of design and ideas development, but also helped
me in growing as a person by learning essential life skills for success in the professional
world, like communication skills, teamwork, collaboration etc. This reflective report is a
critical self analysis of the learning that I got in this course through the course curriculum.
The various entrepreneurial activities that we were asked to carry out within this course help
me in gaining insights about my own understanding and knowledge and the various concepts
of Design Thinking and its application in the entrepreneurial field. This report concludes with
the action plan for the development of any skills that I plan to acquire and the activities that I
need to carry out in order to do that planned to be done over a period of next 6 months.
Self-analysis and reflection: Over the course of the study of the subject of Design Thinking
my idea about designing, and the approach that we need to take for this has evolved. These
twelve weeks of the curricular studies, and all the activities that we carried out during the
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course helped me in not just understanding the subject better, but also guided me towards
becoming more of a doer and implementer, than simply planning theoretically and in our
minds. The first week of the course itself was an eye opener, and a clear introduction into
what we were going to study for this entire subject. Instead of simply explaining the theories
and giving out the information related to the course, we were asked to create a blog and
update it regularly beginning from the first week itself (Brown & Wyatt, 2007). We also
learnt about the various communication devices and were asked to design a poster as per our
understanding of these devices in order to foster our innovative streak and help us in gaining
a different approach to the thinking and designing possibilities. The exchange of Ideas by
studying the posters made by each of the groups in the class did not just made us appreciate
the talent of the other student groups and their way of thinking, but also made us think about
the areas where improvement is required and of the communication that we carry out through
various designing activities and tasks like this. For me, designing is about creating something
with its own uniqueness, its own style, and its own identity. Often these designs will present a
solution to a specific design problem. Although design problems can be similar, no two
design problems are exactly the same, and so, it follows that no two design solutions are
exactly the same. Within the design process we see that the methods and strategies we use
differ according to the design problem (Chasanidou, Gasparini, & Lee, 2015). Designers
develop their own individual design style using methods and techniques that they are most
proficient and comfortable with. This guides their decision making during the design process,
but ultimately, the process they use is determined by whatever methods successfully achieve
a design solution. It is exactly this indeterminate structure of designing which makes
modelling the design process such a difficult task. The ability to bend and adapt to different
design problems, by creating new and innovative design solutions, is what makes a successful
designer. This is where knowledge of the design process, in particular our own design
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process, gives us a “self-awareness” and an ability to approach design problems with a fresh,
yet informed, perspective.
The design thinking process: Designing as a process is done for either aesthetic reasons, or
to provide a solution to a problem by adopting an artistic point of view. The basic steps that
are followed in the process of designing can we narrowed down to - thinking, reasoning,
deduction and logic. The basic questions that this design thinking process will help us in
answering are what the product being designed is, and what are its functionalities? The
possibilities that the product design and applications have presently, and their future
implications with innovation, and all the possibilities of the application of these products. The
third question that we aim to tackle with the designing process is what makes a product stand
apart, and what wows the customer in order to attract them towards the product. Every
product that is designed for innovation should be extraordinary and different from any other
product serving the same efficacy. The fourth question of product designing aims to tackle
what works in the designing of the product, and what the principles used for the same have
different in the factors from the theoretical conception (Team, 2010). The designing process
was better understood and experienced with the help of this course. Designing helps in
creating a richer experience for the users and helps in finding the solution of problems that
are not routine. Designing involves producing novel solutions for the problems that do not
have a clear and predefined method of their solution, and therefore require more than simply
the knowledge and strategies. The process of design thinking helps us in reflecting upon the
designing process, and aims at explaining all the components involved with the designing of
a product. There are various intricacies involved in Design Thinking, and applying the
theories learnt in this course can help us become more aware of the designing process helping
us in becoming better designers and finding appropriate solutions by innovative designing
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practices. The design thinking process welcomes the multidimensional aspect of the process
of designing and gives the designers the liberty to juggle with these stages, at the same time
compiling the workflow and making thinking process even better (Liedtka, 2015). The design
thinking process helps in bringing out more ideas and choices to the table. The five steps to
design thinking process are empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test. The design thinking
course and this curriculum has empowered me and a line my thinking in the way to create
the right products for the right people. This can be done by engaging and empathizing with
the clients, and asking the right questions. Design thinking is a complex but rational approach
to a new product designing process, and I believe this should be followed for product
designing in all the organizations. This is considered a time consuming process, but the
results delivered by following it help in providing a holistic and interactive approach to
product designing.
Learning from the course: During the course of this study, I was able to undertake a
reflection on my designing skills, my understanding of the various theories of design
thinking, the logic involved in the reasoning, including the abductive and inductive
reasoning, and the learning design for the same. What was included in the course curriculum,
was the explanation of the single loop and multiple loop learning, and the various
assumptions that we make in the process of designing, can affect the results of these
processes (EIT, 2012). The basic assumptions that are made and understood during the design
thinking process can be understood with these questions. 1) How can you doing things
correctly to get the desired output? 2) Are we doing the right thing? While the first question
involves a single loop of thinking, the second question involved the multiple loops of
emotions and assumptions with the absence of logic. The design thinking tools can be applied
to our real life, and the organizations where we work in. This will help in making our life
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simpler as the concept and theory of design thinking improves the overall aesthetics and art
experience of the personal and professional lives of people. The benefits of rapid prototyping
are immense and they help in fabrication of scale models of prototypes and their assembly
(Maughan, 2001). With the help of this we can materialize our innovative design ideas, and
test their applicability in real life. The design research workshop educated us about the data
collection process and the various methods of doing that. We came to know of the data
collection process through interviews; both structured and unstructured, and the group
discussions help us in enhancing our data collection and observation skills (Watton, Collings,
& Moon, 2001). Some of the activities like journey mapping and mind mapping give me
some great insights about my life and how I can plan to get better results of my efforts in
future. The ideation process of design thinking was very engaging and although felt a little
challenging initially, was an enjoyable experience in the end. The optimum use of prototypes
to test what is working, and the innovative design ideas, help in the prevention of wasteful
expenditure for the organizations in the end (University of Wolverhampton, 2014).
Applications of the learning in life: This course and its learning have various personal and
professional implications which will help in fine tuning my life and all the activities
associated with it. As a professional, design thinking can save me from doing rework by
helping me with the elimination of the wrong assumptions in early stages of planning, and
guide me by approaching the problems with an innovative and an open minded manner
(University of Brimingham, 2014). The Design Thinking process can also help in redesigning
the organizational policies by doing away with the redundant and non-functional policies, are
the ones that can be detrimental to the growth of the individuals and the organization. Apart
from the professional implications, there are a number of applications of the learning that I
gained during this course, on my personal life as well. Design Thinking will help me in
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continuously addressing the problems, that may be present due to wrong scheduling of the
activities or approaching them in an unplanned manner (Trent University, 2013). Every class
of this course was a new learning experience, and I was always excited about the activities
that were conducted and the lessons that we got from them. Most of the activities that were
conducted for this course and their lessons are applicable not just for the academic purposes,
but also enhance our life skills and give them a better direction. Design thinking will help me
in identifying the problems that may arise due to these issues and test the various solutions
for it, to help me in adopting the one that is best suited for my lifestyle. It will also help in
validating the various possible solutions for the problems in my day today life and make
changes accordingly to increase my efficiency and effectiveness to carry out day to day
activities. Most of the skills learnt in this course are extremely helpful in the design process
(Otago Polytechnic, 2012).
Conclusion: This course helped me in gaining a better understanding of designing and design
thinking before taking up this course, I was approaching designing as a process of merely
planning, and not its implementation. However, design thinking is much more than that. Most
of the problems that the designers try to solve are ill structured and not well defined.
Therefore, this comes as a challenge and needs an out of the box approach to problem
solving. On conducting a self-analysis for the design thinking process, I realized that one area
where I need to work upon is on empathizing. Empathizing is the first step of design thinking
which seeks to put the needs of the people first. This helps in understanding why people
behave the way they do, and what holds meaning for them. This can be done by analyzing
their behaviour and the choices that they make. Empathizing also helps in better definition of
the problem that we need to solve with the help of design thinking. Some of the steps that I'll
be taking to work on my empathizing skills are; learning to listen more, and paraphrasing
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what the other person is saying. This will help me in understanding and making sure that
what they are trying to communicate has been understood correctly. I will try to step into
their shoes and show my understanding of their problem from their perspective and also try to
understand their priorities in a better way. I will follow the action plan given below, over a
period of next six months for my development and skill enhancement. It consists of the skills
that I am planning to work on, and gain in the next six months and the steps that I will take in
order to do that.
Development goal Action steps Time duration
Learn to empathize  Become a better
listener
 Paraphrase
2 months
Improve public speaking
skills
 Practice more
 Record and watch the
public speeches given
by myself
 Watch the speeches
of famous
personalities to
emulate their body
language
3 months
Gain more cultural
awareness
 Travel more
 Learn about the
cultures of different
regions
6 months
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 Read more books on
these themes.
I also need to work on my public speaking skills in order to be more effective in my speech
delivery. Another factor which I think I need to work on in order to be a good design thinker,
is cultural awareness. For that, I plan to travel more to different locations within and outside
the country, and gain more knowledge about the various cultures. This will also help in
improving my understanding of people in the long run. Every class of this course was a new
learning experience, and I was always excited about the activities that were conducted and
the lessons that we got from them. Most of the activities that were conducted for this course
and their lessons are applicable not just for the academic purposes, but also enhance our life
skills and give them a better direction.
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References
Brown, T., & Wyatt, J. (2007). Design Thinking for Social Innovation. Leland Stanford Jr.
University. Retrieved from
https://engineeringforchange.org/uploads/activity/78/78/98/1301587381287/2010WI_
Features_DesignThinking.pdf
Chasanidou, D., Gasparini, A., & Lee, F. (2015). Design Thinking Methods and Tools for
Innovation. Springer International Publishing.
EIT. (2012). Reflective Writing. Retrieved from
http://www2.eit.ac.nz/library/OnlineGuides/Reflective%20Writing.pdf
Liedtka, J. (2015). The Essential Guide to Design Thinking. Retrieved from
http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/287355/ebook-DesignThinking-V5.pdf
Maughan, C. (2001). Reflective writing: a basic introduction. Retrieved from
http://www.port.ac.uk/media/contacts-and-departments/student-support-services/ask/
downloads/Reflective-writing---a-basic-introduction.pdf
Otago Polytechnic. (2012). Reflective Writing. Retrieved from
https://www.op.ac.nz/assets/LearningAdvice/Reflective-writing.pdf
PRSA. (2014). Design thinking for communications professionals. Retrieved from
https://apps.prsa.org/Network/_includes/Storytell.pdf
Team, G. (2010). An Introduction to Design Thinking. Retrieved from
http://www.guadalinfo.es/documents/10183/6066930/An+Introduction+to+Design+T
hinking.pdf/862a6a7b-7332-4314-b4db-
ab5586feb6be;jsessionid=B0FD26509F5F9D825CAB990824C1359F?version=1.0
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Trent University. (2013). How do I . . . Write a Reflection? Retrieved from
https://www.trentu.ca/academicskills/documents/Reflectivewriting.pdf
University of Brimingham. (2014). A short guide to reflective writing. Retrieved from
https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/as/libraryservices/library/skills/asc/documents/
public/Short-Guide-Reflective-Writing.pdf
University of Wolverhampton. (2014). Learning and information services: guide to reflective
writing. Retrieved from https://www.wlv.ac.uk/lib/media/departments/lis/skills/study-
guides/LS006-Guide-to-Reflective-Writing.pdf
Watton, P., Collings, J., & Moon, J. (2001). Reflective Writing: Guidance Notes for Students.
Retrieved from http://www.exeter.ac.uk/fch/work-experience/reflective-writing-
guidance.pdf
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