Thinking about what no one has thought of yet and solving problems that no one has ever been able to solve through creative thinking. These may sound like words from an ideal world, a world where everything is made possible simply through creativity, that is, through the cognitive ability of the mind to invent, to create possible worlds and unique realities capable of surprising by overcoming the barriers that we human beings are naturally inclined to raise. All of this today takes shape and has a precise name: Design Thinking.
What is Design Thinking and why it is essential for companies to innovate
Let’s start from the origin: what is Design Thinking?
It is an approach to innovation that is based on the ability to solve complex problems using a creative vision and management. Originally, Design Thinking was primarily an approach to innovation adopted by design agencies and studios. Today, however, its spread is permeating very different sectors, even those considered more distant. The question might arise spontaneously: how can such an innovative approach help companies compete and differentiate themselves? Design Thinking, within business realities, can help solve internal organizational problems, support the design and launch of a startup, and make the processes of product and/or service creation and distribution more efficient. In particular, the approach based on the ability to integrate analytical skills with creative attitudes can help companies develop artificial intelligence, big data, drones, and other technologies that are increasingly becoming part of our daily lives. But let’s go in order. In less than 10 years, some major consulting companies have acquired agencies and design studios. The reason is simple: to diversify their services offered and improve their market positioning. This is the scenario in which Design Thinking begins to receive attention from major software producers in a world undergoing a digital revolution, and this is the moment when the order of things requires a rethinking, a change of perspective compared to the past, a new way of understanding and living the business reality. The consequence is inevitable: the interest in Design Thinking becomes widespread, and stopping it would be like pouring gasoline on the fire! Everything makes sense within a virtuous circle (never vicious), where digital technologies and Design Thinking support each other and extend a hand to one another to keep moving forward: on one hand, design helps digital in the search for its most appropriate and never ‘wasteful’ use, and on the other, ever-changing digital technology constantly alters the traditional methodology of Design Thinking, regenerating it.
Design Thinking promotes creativity and innovation
But what is the added value offered by Design Thinking? And what impact can this approach have on organizations? These are the questions that those approaching this ‘discipline’ ask themselves today. Questioning one’s own conventions to overturn a deeply rooted system, solid but never so attached that it cannot be modified, considering the idea that changing today means growing and improving in a world where those who settle for the static nature of things not only fail to achieve results but tend to live on dreams and hopes, forgetting that concreteness in business life is the salt that makes everything more ‘flavorful’ but, above all, possible. Exploring ahead becomes a must for those who do not want to take action, seeking alternative, stimulating solutions, full of ideas that challenge ingenuity. Design Thinking encourages all of this. Its not being solely based on logic and analysis makes it an innovative approach, a perfect balance between emotions, intuition, and science, while never neglecting the measurability with which results and user research are analyzed. Moreover, as we often like to reiterate, being customer-centric is one of the factors that determines a company’s success. Putting customers at the center of your business helps create a vision and strategy aimed at meeting needs and expectations. Based on this, Design Thinking is born, grows, and takes on new and fascinating forms, so much so that it is now desired and loved by many businesses. But the reason for its success lies in its conceptual simplicity: finding new solutions to problems, whatever the theme, sector, or topic, as well as devising and structuring new strategies to achieve goals, is a purely human-centered process, which allows applying the methodology used by creatives to any type of sector or issue that can concern daily life.
Design Thinking puts people at the center
Organizational well-being and culture are just two of the many aspects that give life to the concept of putting people at the center in a world where individuals must increasingly strive for their own ‘permanent center of gravity’ (as F. Battiato teaches). It is along this line that Design Thinking develops, an approach focused on people, users, and consumers, rather than on a specific product/service. The goal is to understand the needs of users, their desires, and their wills, and based on this information, find the best solution that can most effectively address the identified problem or the strategy to be implemented.”
In this sense, Design Thinking has revolutionized the way problems are approached, giving more importance even to those who must find the solution. The mechanics of this discipline require that people be encouraged to find alternative, new, and innovative solutions, tailored to the reality of the facts rather than being dictated by instinct. According to Design Thinking, the phases of data collection and brainstorming are crucial, particularly the first one being preparatory to the second: the more information about users and customers is gathered, the more it becomes possible to design a solution tailored to the identified needs. What this discipline aims to establish as its foundation is expressed in its own words: think creatively and do so without hesitation and without conceptual limits. Given a problem, given an objective, one must approach the situation from different perspectives to find dynamic solutions. Traversing new paths, evaluating different opportunities, proposing unheard-of solutions, and doing so with the awareness of improving the status quo is the right way to approach a world that is changing and moving at the speed of light, sometimes unaware of what lies ahead, but conscious of the importance of moving forward because it is not only the ‘self’ that drives it but the driving force inherent in its nature, enabling it to go beyond limits, touching the impossible.
Design thinking as an enabler of more meaningful digital experiences
As we mentioned earlier, digital technologies and Design Thinking mutually support each other. Their relationship is based on the beauty of collaboration between the two, which makes everything more productive and ‘imaginable’. Today, Design Thinking can greatly help companies understand how to better develop technologies. In particular, the connection with digital technologies can be twofold: 1. propose more meaningful technological solutions for the end user; 2. leverage digital technologies to improve the Design Thinking process itself. In the first case, Design Thinking plays its traditional role, that of an innovation methodology that supports the development of solutions. In this specific case, digital technologies are the subject on which Design Thinking operates in order to enhance the digital experience and make it more meaningful for users. In the second case, however, digital technologies serve as enablers for Design Thinking processes. In this scenario, artificial intelligence or big data are no longer the subject of study but rather the enabler, the support for cutting-edge creativity or empathy. As a result, Design Thinking is defined as a data-driven process, where certain elements, creativity, and innovation create products that are useful to the user.
Conclusions
Well, everything discussed here centers on one thing, and one thing only, but certainly the most important: creativity as the creation of value for the customer and the market. Nothing born solely from reason can compare to creative flair and its ability to touch the human soul, making it susceptible to new ideas, emotions, and solutions that can and must make a difference in the market, doing things well and always striving to improve the way digital transformation views the world today. The journey of discovering Design Thinking is just at the beginning of its path. As this is a very current and decisive topic in the business world, keep following us: our insights will continue with news enriched by stimulating perspectives.
