Design thinking is an innovative problem-solving approach that has been around for decades. However, it has gained popularity in the last few decades. Companies across industries have used design thinking for product design and innovation, solving complex business problems, and understanding their customers’ needs and preferences.
Here, we will discuss the meaning of design thinking and why it is becoming popular across industries.
Table of Contents
What is Design thinking?
Design thinking is an iterative process that helps designers and engineers brainstorm ideas and create prototypes for testing. It is used across different industries to gain insights and achieve competitive advantages.
The essence of design thinking is human-centric, which means it focuses on understanding the person more than the problem and offers a solution that helps solve the problem.
In the commercial industry, design thinking is used to gain deep insights into the customer’s emotions and perspectives. It is also used to understand their preferences, likes, dislikes, and requirements. It also answers questions like- who will use this product, how this solution will impact the user, and what my audience prefers.
Here are the five phases of design thinking:
- Empathise: In the first phase of design thinking, the designer focuses on understanding their target audience.
- Define: In this stage of design thinking, designers focus on defining the problem statement or identifying gaps in what is offered and what is expected.
- Ideate: In this stage of design thinking, the designer identifies the solution to the problems.
- Prototype: In this stage, designers explore the solution through modeling and prototyping.
- Test: The solution created in the last stage is tested in this stage.
Why is design thinking popular?
Design thinking has become more popular in the last decade because it helps companies understand their audience better. Businesses are using design thinking tools and techniques to understand the emotions and perspectives of their target audience and include the data (about customers’ likes and dislikes) in their products or services to increase customer satisfaction and gain a competitive advantage. Below, we have listed some reasons why design thinking is becoming popular.
- Effective design thinking helps gain deep insights into the world, allowing product teams to develop innovative products
- Design thinking increases dialogue and engagement between businesses and their users, which helps organizations to grow and achieve their targets
- Design thinking can sometimes be a handy technique to tackle workplace politics
- Design thinking helps designers create a product or service that is user-specific
Why is design thinking important?
Here are some reasons that highlight the importance of design thinking in the current world:
- Helps identify the unmet needs of the audience
- Helps in creating novel and revolutionary ideas
- Helps in bringing positive organizational change
Final words
Design thinking is a creative process that helps product management and engineering teams develop a product that matches the audience’s expectations.
Planning to develop a career in design thinking? Take design thinking training or certificate courses to upskill your knowledge and increase your chances of getting exciting career opportunities. These certificate courses equip you with advanced skills and knowledge that give you an edge over others. s
