Design Thinking: Principles, Process, and Innovation Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive overview of design thinking, covering its core concepts, the design process, and its impact on innovation. It begins by explaining the importance of design thinking, highlighting its adoption by companies like Apple and its focus on customer-centric solutions. The report then delves into the five main phases of design thinking: Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test, and Empathize. It emphasizes how each stage contributes to a structured approach for problem-solving and innovation. The report also discusses how design thinking fosters innovation by encouraging research, logical thinking, and a customer-driven approach, providing a framework for understanding and implementing innovation strategies. The report draws on various sources to provide a well-rounded understanding of design thinking in business.

Concept of design thinking
A methodology , designer
develops for solving problems
that are complex and requires
innovative thinking (Beckman
& Barry ,2015). It reflects the
designer mind-set and the
ability to think independently
(Plattner, Meinel & Weinberg ,
2014)
How design thinking inspires
innovation
Design thinking demands
innovation at each phase of the
design. in order to derive
customer driven solution , it
needs extensive research and
logical thinking (Lockwood ,
2016). It offers structured frame
work for to understand and
pursue innovation (Owen ,
2016).
Why design thinking
is preferred
Due to huge
commercial success
of design driven
companies like Apple,
IBM, Nike ,
companies now likes
to think from
designer perspective
so that the products
appeal to the
customer (Thomke &
Feinberg , 2015).
• Beckman, S. L., & Barry, M. (2015).
Innovation as a learning process:
Embedding design thinking. California
management review, 50(1), 25-56.
• Brenner, W., & Uebernickel, F. (2016).
Design Thinking for Innovation.
Research and Practice.
• Johansson Sköldberg, U., Woodilla, J., &‐
Çetinkaya, M. (2016). Design thinking:
past, present and possible futures.
Creativity and innovation management,
22(2), 121-146.
• Lockwood, T. (2016). Design thinking:
Integrating innovation, customer
experience, and brand value. Skyhorse
Publishing, Inc.
• Owen, C. L. (2016). Design thinking:
Driving innovation. The Business
Process Management Institute, 1-5.
• Plattner, H., Meinel, C., & Weinberg, U.
(2014). Design thinking. Landsberg am
Lech: Mi-Fachverlag
• Thomke, S. H., & Feinberg, B. (2015).
Design thinking and innovation at
Apple. President and Fellows of Harvard
College.
The essence of design thinking
There are five main phases of design thinking :
Define:
The problems needs to be defined first
Ideate:
Then the design should be validated with a proper
idea that resonates with the defined problem
Prototype:
According to the idea formulated in the previous
step an prototype has to be prepared for test
purpose
Test :
The prototype needs to be tested to find out the
strength of the design and how well it align with
the problem defined initially.
Empathize:
The problems with the design as identified in the
test phase must be prioritized in this phase so
that modification can be done accordingly.