Design thinking has been gaining a lot of attention in the industry, with myriad books, articles, documentaries, and videos being produced on the topic. It is a process that was developed by leading design firms, and is now being taught by top schools like Stanford University, with methods borrowed by some of the most storied innovators in history. Many Fortune 500 companies are building design thinking into their culture or establishing design thinking centers of excellence to train their employees.
Here are some great case studies of companies who have successfully used it and built it into their culture.
- IBM applied the process to innovate products, rebuild their hiring and on-boarding processes, and redesign their worldwide executive briefing centers.
- SAP has integrated it into their product development philosophy.
- Proctor & Gamble has used it to transform their culture into one that is user and innovation focused, building new business franchises and redesigning existing products.
- Two Stanford computer science students used the process to develop and launch–in 6 weeks–the Pulse News Reader (which LinkedIn recently acquired for $90M).
Naturally, there are skeptics who think design thinking is overrated, and there are those who overhype it, describing it as a panacea that can solve every imaginable problem. How design thinking could help you or your team depends on how you apply it, but I encourage you to consider it. It’s a great way to increase the velocity of your innovation, foster cross-group and customer collaboration, and help teams become laser-focused on their users.
Additional Information
There are many inspiring and educational books and videos available for anyone who wishes to learn more about design thinking. Here are a few to get you started.
Video
- A great 60 Minutes piece on design thinking with David Kelley, founder of IDEO
Stanford’s d.school
- Stanford’s “Virtual Crash Course in Design Thinking”: http://dschool.stanford.edu/dgift/ (Includes participant and facilitator guide for The Gift-Giving Project)
TED Talks
- Doug Dietz, “Transforming Healthcare for Children and Their Families”
- Jane Chen, “Warm Embrace That Saves Lives”
Books:
- Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Toolkit for Managers, by Jeanne Liedtka & Tim Ogilvie
- The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking Is the Next Competitive Advantage by Roger L. Martin
- Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation by Tim Brown
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