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10 Successful Design Thinking Case Study

Dive into the realm of Successful Design Thinking Case Studies to explore the power of this innovative problem-solving approach. Begin by understanding What is Design Thinking? and then embark on a journey through real-world success stories. Discover valuable lessons learned from these case studies and gain insights into how Design Thinking can transform your approach.

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Design Thinking has emerged as a powerful problem-solving approach that places empathy, creativity, and innovation at the forefront. However, if you are not aware of the power that this approach holds, a Design Thinking Case Study is often used to help people address the complex challenges of this approach with a human-centred perspective. It allows organisations to unlock new opportunities and drive meaningful change. Read this blog on Design Thinking Case Study to learn how it enhances organisation’s growth and gain valuable insights on creative problem-solving.

Table of Contents   

1) What is Design Thinking?

2) Design Thinking process   

3) Successful Design Thinking Case Studies

      a) Airbnb

      b) Apple

      c) Netflix

      d) UberEats

      e) IBM

       f) OralB’s electric toothbrush

      g) IDEO

      h) Tesla

       i) GE Healthcare

       j) Nike

3) Lessons learned from Design Thinking Case Studies

4) Conclusion    

What is Design Thinking ?

Before jumping on Design Thinking Case Study, let’s first understand what it is. Design Thinking is a methodology for problem-solving that prioritises the understanding and addressing of individuals' unique needs.

This human-centric approach is creative and iterative, aiming to find innovative solutions to complex challenges. At its core, Design Thinking fosters empathy, encourages collaboration, and embraces experimentation.

This process revolves around comprehending the world from the user's perspective, identifying problems through this lens, and then generating and refining solutions that cater to these specific needs. Design Thinking places great importance on creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, seeking to break away from conventional problem-solving methods.

It is not confined to the realm of design but can be applied to various domains, from business and technology to healthcare and education. By putting the user or customer at the centre of the problem-solving journey, Design Thinking helps create products, services, and experiences that are more effective, user-friendly, and aligned with the genuine needs of the people they serve.  

Design Thinking process

Design Thinking is a problem-solving and innovation framework that helps individuals and teams create user-centred solutions. This process consists of five key phases that are as follows:  

To initiate the Design Thinking process, the first step is to practice empathy. In order to create products and services that are appealing, it is essential to comprehend the users and their requirements. What are their anticipations regarding the product you are designing? What issues and difficulties are they encountering within this particular context?

During the empathise phase, you spend time observing and engaging with real users. This might involve conducting interviews and seeing how they interact with an existing product. You should pay attention to facial expressions and body language. During the empathise phase in the Design Thinking Process , it's crucial to set aside assumptions and gain first-hand insights to design with real users in mind. That's the essence of Design Thinking.

During the second stage of the Design Thinking process, the goal is to identify the user’s problem. To accomplish this, collect all your observations from the empathise phase and begin to connect the dots.

Ask yourself: What consistent patterns or themes did you notice? What recurring user needs or challenges were identified? After synthesising your findings, you must create a problem statement, also known as a Point Of View (POV) statement, which outlines the issue or challenge you aim to address. By the end of the define stage, you will be able to craft a clear problem statement that will guide you throughout the design process, forming the basis of your ideas and potential solutions.

After completing the first two stages of the Design Thinking process, which involve defining the target users and identifying the problem statement, it is now time to move on to the third stage - ideation. This stage is all about brainstorming and coming up with various ideas and solutions to solve the problem statement. Through ideation, the team can explore different perspectives and possibilities and select the best ideas to move forward with.

During the ideation phase, it is important to create an environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their ideas without fear of judgment. This phase is all about generating a large quantity of ideas, regardless of feasibility. This is done by encouraging the team to think outside the box and explore new angles. To maximise creativity, ideation sessions are often held in unconventional locations.

It’s time to transform the ideas from stage three into physical or digital prototypes. A prototype is a miniature model of a product or feature, which can be as simple as a paper model or as complex as an interactive digital representation.

During the Prototyping Stage , the primary objective is to transform your ideas into a tangible product that can be tested by actual users. This is crucial in maintaining a user-centric approach, as it enables you to obtain feedback before proceeding to develop the entire product. By doing so, you can ensure that the final design adequately addresses the user's problem and delivers an enjoyable user experience.

During the Design Thinking process, the fifth step involves testing your prototypes by exposing them to real users and evaluating their performance. Throughout this testing phase, you can observe how your target or prospective users engage with your prototype. Additionally, you can gather valuable feedback from your users about their experiences throughout the process.

Based on the feedback received during user testing, you can go back and make improvements to the design. It is important to remember that the Design Thinking process is iterative and non-linear. After the testing phase, it may be necessary to revisit the empathise stage or conduct additional ideation sessions before creating a successful prototype.

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Successful Design Thinking Case Studies  

Now that you have a foundational understanding of Design Thinking, let's explore how some of the world's most successful companies have leveraged this methodology to drive innovation and success:

Case Study 1: Airbnb  

Airbnb’s one of the popular Design Thinking Case Studies that you can aspire from. Airbnb disrupted the traditional hotel industry by applying Design Thinking principles to create a platform that connects travellers with unique accommodations worldwide. The founders of Airbnb, Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk, started by identifying a problem: the cost and lack of personalisation in traditional lodging.

They conducted in-depth user research by staying in their own listings and collecting feedback from both hosts and guests. This empathetic approach allowed them to design a platform that not only met the needs of travellers but also empowered hosts to provide personalised experiences. 

Airbnb's intuitive website and mobile app interface, along with its robust review and rating system, instil trust and transparency, making users feel comfortable choosing from a vast array of properties. Furthermore, the "Experiences" feature reflects Airbnb's commitment to immersive travel, allowing users to book unique activities hosted by locals. 

Case Study 2.  Apple    

Apple Inc. has consistently been a pioneer in  Design Thinking, which is evident in its products, such as the iPhone. One of the best Design Thinking Examples from Apple is the development of the iPhone's User Interface (UI). The team at Apple identified the need for a more intuitive and user-friendly smartphone experience. They conducted extensive research and usability testing to understand user behaviours, pain points, and desires.   

The result? A revolutionary touch interface that forever changed the smartphone industry. Apple's relentless focus on the user experience, combined with iterative prototyping and user feedback, exemplifies the power of  Design Thinking in creating groundbreaking products.    

Apple invests heavily in user research to  anticipate what customers want before they even realise it themselves. This empathetic approach to design has led to groundbreaking innovations like the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook, which have redefined the entire industry.  

Case Study 3. Netflix  

Netflix, the global streaming giant, has revolutionised the way people consume entertainment content. A major part of their success can be attributed to their effective use of Design Thinking principles.

What sets Netflix apart is its commitment to understanding its audience on a profound level. Netflix recognised that its success hinged on offering a personalised, enjoyable viewing experience. Through meticulous user research, data analysis, and a culture of innovation, Netflix constantly evolves its platform. Moreover, by gathering insights on viewing habits, content preferences, and even UI, the company tailors its recommendations, search algorithms, and original content to captivate viewers worldwide.

Furthermore, Netflix's iterative approach to Design Thinking allows it to adapt quickly to shifting market dynamics. This agility proved crucial when transitioning from a DVD rental service to a streaming platform. Netflix didn't just lead this revolution; it shaped it by keeping users' desires and behaviours front and centre. Netflix's commitment to Design Thinking has resulted in a highly user-centric platform that keeps subscribers engaged and satisfied, ultimately contributing to its global success.  

Case Study 4. Uber Eats     

Uber Eats, a subsidiary of Uber, has disrupted the food delivery industry by applying Design Thinking principles to enhance user experiences and create a seamless platform for food lovers and restaurants alike.  

One of  UberEats' key innovations lies in its user-centric approach. By conducting in-depth research and understanding the pain points of both consumers and restaurant partners, they crafted a solution that addresses real-world challenges. The user-friendly app offers a wide variety of cuisines, personalised recommendations, and real-time tracking, catering to the diverse preferences of customers.  

Moreover,  UberEats leverages technology and data-driven insights to optimise delivery routes and times, ensuring that hot and fresh food reaches customers promptly. The platform also empowers restaurant owners with tools to efficiently manage orders, track performance, and expand their customer base. 

Case Study  5 . IBM    

IBM is a prime example of a large corporation successfully adopting Design Thinking to drive innovation and transform its business. Historically known for its hardware and software innovations, IBM recognised the need to evolve its approach to remain competitive in the fast-paced technology landscape.   

IBM's Design Thinking journey began with a mission to reinvent its enterprise software solutions. The company transitioned from a product-centric focus to a user-centric one. Instead of solely relying on technical specifications, IBM started by empathising with its customers. They started to understand customer’s pain points, and envisioning solutions that genuinely addressed their needs. 

One of the key elements of IBM's Design Thinking success is its multidisciplinary teams. The company brought together designers, engineers, marketers, and end-users to collaborate throughout the product development cycle. This cross-functional approach encouraged diverse perspectives, fostering creativity and innovation. 

IBM's commitment to Design Thinking is evident in its flagship projects such as Watson, a cognitive computing system, and IBM Design Studios, where Design Thinking principles are deeply embedded into the company's culture. 

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Case Study 6. Oral-B’s electric toothbrush

Oral-B, a prominent brand under the Procter & Gamble umbrella, stands out as a remarkable example of how Design Thinking can be executed in a seemingly everyday product—Electric toothbrushes. By applying the Design Thinking approach, Oral-B has transformed the world of oral hygiene with its electric toothbrushes.  

Oral-B's journey with Design Thinking began by placing the user firmly at the centre of their Product Development process. Through extensive research and user feedback, the company gained invaluable insights into oral care habits, preferences, and pain points. This user-centric approach guided Oral-B in designing electric toothbrushes that not only cleaned teeth more effectively but also made the entire oral care routine more engaging and enjoyable.  

Another of Oral-B's crucial innovations is the integration of innovative technology into their toothbrushes. These devices now come equipped with features like real-time feedback, brushing timers, and even Bluetooth connectivity to sync with mobile apps. By embracing technology and user-centric design, Oral-B effectively transformed the act of brushing teeth into an interactive and informative experience. This has helped users maintain better oral hygiene.  

Oral-B's success story showcases how Design Thinking, combined with a deep understanding of user needs, can lead to significant advancements, ultimately improving both the product and user satisfaction.

Case Study 7. IDEO  

IDEO, a Global Design Consultancy, has been at the forefront of Design Thinking for decades. They have worked on diverse projects, from creating innovative medical devices to redesigning public services.

One of their most notable Design Thinking examples is the development of the "DeepDive" shopping cart for a major retailer. IDEO's team spent weeks observing shoppers, talking to store employees, and prototyping various cart designs. The result was a cart that not only improved the shopping experience but also increased sales. IDEO's human-centred approach, emphasis on empathy, and rapid prototyping techniques demonstrate how Design Thinking can drive innovation and solve real-world problems.   

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Case Study  8 .  Tesla  

Tesla, led by Elon Musk, has redefined the automotive industry by applying Design Thinking to Electric Vehicles (EVs). Musk and his team identified the need for EVs to be not just eco-friendly but also desirable. They focused on designing EVs that are stylish, high-performing, and technologically advanced. Tesla's iterative approach, rapid prototyping, and constant refinement have resulted in groundbreaking EVs like the Model S, Model 3, and Model X.    

From the minimalist interior of their Model S to the autopilot self-driving system, every aspect is meticulously crafted with the end user in mind. The company actively seeks feedback from its user community, often implementing software updates based on customer suggestions. This iterative approach ensures that Tesla vehicles continually evolve to meet and exceed customer expectations .   

Moreover, Tesla's bold vision extends to sustainable energy solutions, exemplified by products like the Powerwall and solar roof tiles. These innovations  showcase Tesla's holistic approach to Design Thinking, addressing not only the automotive industry's challenges but also contributing to a greener, more sustainable future.   

Case Study 9. GE Healthcare 

GE Healthcare is a prominent player in the Healthcare industry, renowned for its relentless commitment to innovation and design excellence. Leveraging Design Thinking principles, GE Healthcare has consistently pushed the boundaries of medical technology, making a significant impact on patient care worldwide.  

One of the key areas where GE Healthcare has excelled is in the development of cutting-edge medical devices and diagnostic solutions. Their dedication to user-centred design has resulted in devices that are not only highly functional but also incredibly intuitive for healthcare professionals to operate. For example, their advanced Medical Imaging equipment, such as MRI and CT scanners, are designed with a focus on patient comfort, safety, and accurate diagnostics. This device reflects the company's dedication to improving healthcare outcomes.  

Moreover, GE Healthcare's commitment to design extends beyond the physical product. They have also ventured into software solutions that facilitate data analysis and Patient Management. Their user-friendly software interfaces and data visualisation tools have empowered healthcare providers to make more informed decisions, enhancing overall patient care and treatment planning.

Case Study 10. Nike 

Nike is a global powerhouse in the athletic apparel and Footwear industry. Nike's journey began with a simple running shoe, but its design-thinking approach transformed it into an iconic brand.

Nike's Design Thinking journey started with a deep understanding of athletes' needs and desires. They engaged in extensive user research, often collaborating with top athletes to gain insights that inform their product innovations. This customer-centric approach allowed Nike to develop ground breaking technologies, such as Nike Air and Flyknit, setting new standards in comfort, performance, and style.

Beyond product innovation, Nike's brand identity itself is a testament to Design Thinking. The iconic Swoosh logo, created by Graphic Designer Carolyn Davidson, epitomises simplicity and timelessness, reflecting the brand's ethos.  

Nike also excels in creating immersive retail experiences, using Design Thinking to craft spaces that engage and inspire customers. Their flagship stores around the world are showcases of innovative design, enhancing the overall brand perception.

Lessons learned from Design Thinking Case Studies

The Design Thinking process, as exemplified by the success stories of IBM, Netflix, Apple, and Nike, offers valuable takeaways for businesses of all sizes and industries. Here are three key lessons to learn from these Case Studies:  

1)   Consider the b ig p icture   

Design Thinking encourages organisations to zoom out and view the big picture. It's not just about solving a specific problem but understanding how that problem fits into the broader context of user needs and market dynamics. By taking a holistic approach, you can identify opportunities for innovation that extend beyond immediate challenges. IBM's example, for instance, involved a comprehensive evaluation of their clients' journeys, leading to more impactful solutions.  

2)  Think t hrough a lternative s olutions   

One of the basic principles of Design Thinking is ideation, which emphasises generating a wide range of creative solutions. Netflix's success in content recommendation, for instance, came from exploring multiple strategies to enhance user experience. When brainstorming ideas and solutions, don't limit yourself to the obvious choices. Encourage diverse perspectives and consider unconventional approaches that may lead to breakthrough innovations.  

3)  Research e ach c ompany’s c ompetitors   

Lastly, researching competitors is essential for staying competitive. Analyse what other companies in your industry are doing, both inside and outside the realm of Design Thinking. Learn from their successes and failures. GE Healthcare, for example, leveraged Design Thinking to improve medical equipment usability, giving them a competitive edge. By researching competitors, you can gain insights that inform your own Design Thinking initiatives and help you stand out in the market.  

Incorporating these takeaways into your approach to Design Thinking can enhance your problem-solving capabilities, foster innovation, and ultimately lead to more successful results.  

Conclusion    

Design Thinking is not limited to a specific industry or problem domain; it is a versatile approach that promotes innovation and problem-solving in various contexts. In this blog, we've examined successful Design Thinking Case Studies from industry giants like IBM, Netflix, Apple, Airbnb, Uber Eats, and Nike. These companies have demonstrated that Design Thinking is a powerful methodology that can drive innovation, enhance user experiences, and lead to exceptional business success.   

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Frequently Asked Questions

Design Thinking Case Studies align with current market demands and user expectations by showcasing practical applications of user-centric problem-solving. These Studies highlight the success of empathetic approaches in meeting evolving customer needs.

By analysing various real-world examples, businesses can derive vital insights into dynamic market trends, creating innovative solutions, and enhancing user experiences. Design Thinking's emphasis on iterative prototyping and collaboration resonates with the contemporary demand for agility and adaptability.

Real-world examples of successful Design Thinking implementations can be found in various sources. For instance, you can explore several Case Study repositories on Design Thinking platforms like IDEO and Design Thinking Institute. Furthermore, you can also look for business publications, such as the Harvard Business Review as well as Fast Company, which often feature articles on successful Design Thinking applications.

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What is design thinking?

Discover what is design thinking and why it’s important, including the five stages of design thinking. Deep dive into a few case studies and learn how to apply design thinking.

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Design thinking is a mindset that breeds innovation. While it’s based on the design process, anyone in any profession can use it when they’re trying to come up with creative solutions to a problem. 

In this guide, we’ll walk you through what design thinking is and why it’s important, including the five stages of design thinking. Then we’ll present a couple of design thinking case studies and wrap up with a primer on how to apply design thinking. And don’t worry, this guide is broken down into easily digestible chunks, as follows:

Let’s get started!

What is design thinking? A definition

Design thinking is an approach used for problem-solving. Both practical and creative, it’s anchored by human-centred design.

Design thinking is extremely user-centric in that it focuses on your users before it focuses on things like technology or business metrics. 

Design thinking is also solution-based, looking for effective solutions to problems, not problem-based, which looks at the problem itself and tends to focus on limitations. 

Design thinking is all about getting hands-on with solutions. The aim is to quickly turn your ideas into testable products so you can see what works and what doesn’t.

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Why is design thinking important? 

Design thinking is important because it challenges assumptions and fosters innovation. While many ways of thinking rely on the habits and experiences we’ve formed, they can limit us when it comes to thinking of design solutions. Design thinking, however, encourages us to explore new ideas. 

It’s an actionable technique that allows us to tackle “wicked problems,” or problems that are ill-defined. For example, achieving sustainable growth or maintaining your competitive edge in business count as wicked problems, and on a broader scale, poverty and climate change are wicked problems too. Design thinking uses empathy and human-centred thinking to tackle these kinds of problems.

Who uses design thinking?

The short answer? Everyone! Design thinking can help you in whatever your role or industry. People in business, government, entertainment, health care, and every other industry can benefit from using design thinking to come up with innovative solutions. 

The most important thing design thinking does is help people focus on their customers or end users. Instead of focusing on problems to fix, design thinking keeps things user-centric, which boosts customer engagement. 

What are the 5 stages of design thinking?

According to the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University (known as d-school), the five stages of design thinking are: 

Although these stages appear to be linear, following one after the other, design thinking isn’t a linear process. Stages are often run in parallel or out of order, or repeated when necessary.

Phase 1: Empathise 

Your goal here is to research your users’ needs to gain an empathic understanding of the problems they face. You’ll get to know your users and their wants and needs so you can make sure your solutions put them front and centre. This means setting aside your own assumptions and getting to know your users on a psychological and emotional level. You’ll observe, engage, watch and listen. 

Phase 2: Define

Here you state your users’ needs by compiling the information you gathered during the Empathise phase and then analysing it until you can define the core problem your team has identified. 

You do this by asking questions like: what patterns do you see in the data? What user issues need to be resolved? The conclusion of this phase comes when you’ve figured out a clear problem statement that is defined by the users’ needs. For example, “Bank customers in Glasgow need…”

You can learn more about how to write a problem statement in this guide.

Phase 3: Ideate

In this phase, you’ll generate ideas and solutions. You and your team will hold ideation sessions where you can come up with as many ideas as possible. No idea is too silly for this stage. The important thing is getting all ideas out on the table. There are a variety of techniques you can use, like brainstorming and mind mapping, to come up with solutions. This phase ends when you’ve managed to narrow down your ideas to just a few of the best ones.

Phase 4: Prototype

Your goal in this phase is to find the best solution to the problem by prototyping —that is, producing scaled down versions of the product or its features found in the previous phase. You’ll put each solution to the test by improving, redesigning, accepting, or rejecting it.

Phase 5: Test

Here you’ll try out the solutions you arrived at in the previous phases by user testing them. However, while this is the final stage of design thinking in theory, it’s rarely the final stage in reality. Design thinking often includes going back to previous phases to find other solutions or to further iterate or refine your existing solution.

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Design thinking examples and case studies

Now that you understand the theory and process of design thinking, let’s look at some examples in action where design thinking had a real-world impact.

Case Study 1: American Family Insurance’s Moonrise App

American Family Insurance, a company that offers life, business, auto, and home insurance, came to design company IDEO with the goal of innovating in a way that would help working families. 

Stages 1 & 2: Empathise and Define

While American Family thought their customers might benefit from budgeting tools, IDEO found from their research in the Empathise phase that, actually, people needed a way to build up their savings against unforeseen needs.

They noticed a lot of people had meticulously planned budgets, which made budgeting tools a moot point. But they were living just within their means and an extra expense, like a doctor’s visit or kid’s basketball uniform, could throw their budget off. These people didn’t want to take on debt though, they wanted extra work so they could have a cushion.

Stages 3 & 4: Ideate and Prototype

IDEO took that idea and ran with it, creating Moonrise, an app that matches people looking for work with extra hours and income. Today’s businesses depend on on-demand work but the temp agencies they work with tend to want permanent placements. Moonrise does things differently. It enables companies to find people who are already employed elsewhere for short-term work through a simple text message interface. The employers can list shifts on the platform and workers are paid as soon as they finish their shifts.

Stage 5: Test

To test the app, 11 Moonrisers, six employers, and a team of designers and programmers were assembled for a one week period to work out the kinks in the platform. 

Based on the test’s success, American Family Insurance now owns the startup Moonrise, which launched in Chicago in 2018 and has since expanded to additional states. In 2018, over 7,000 shifts have been fulfilled and over $500,000 has been earned by people on the app.

Case Study 2: GE Healthcare’s Scanning Tools

GE Healthcare has cutting-edge diagnostic imaging tools at its disposal, but for kids they’re an unpleasant experience. 

“The room itself is kind of dark and has those flickering fluorescent lights…. That machine that I had designed basically looked like a brick with a hole in it,” explained Doug Dietz , a designer who worked for GE. How could they make the experience better for kids?

The team at GE began by observing and gaining empathy for children at a daycare centre and talking to specialists who knew what paediatric patients went through. The team then recruited experts from a children’s museum and doctors from two hospitals. This gave them a lot of insight into what children went through when they had to sit for these procedures and what could be done to lessen the children’s stress.

Stages 3, 4 & 5: Ideate, Prototype, and Test

The first prototype of the new and improved “Adventure Series” scanner was invented. Through research and pilot programs, the redesign made imaging machines more child-friendly, making sure they have other things to focus on than the scary looks and sounds of the machine. For example, the Coral City Adventure in the emergency room gives children an underwater experience where they get into a yellow submarine and listen to the sound of harps while their procedure takes place.

Patient satisfaction scores increased to 90% and children no longer suffer such anxiety about their scans. The children hold still for their procedures more easily, making repeats of the scans unnecessary. There’s also less need for anesthesiologists, which improved the bottom line for those hospitals that used the scanning machines because more patients could get scanned each day.

How to apply design thinking 

If you want to apply design thinking in your own work, follow these steps and best practices:

• Improve design thinking skills. Use training to explain, improve, and practically implement the phases of design thinking. You can do this in several ways such as workshops, online courses, or case studies shared with your team.
• Identify the correct problem. Listen to users and ask them unbiased questions in order to understand their perspectives. Engage with everyone and stay open-minded, so you can identify the correct problem, not the problem you or your organisation thinks users are having. 
• Have more debriefs. Be open about what went right and what went wrong in your process. Openly discuss why things succeeded or failed and why. View failure as learning, not as an excuse to give up.
• Iterate and iterate some more. The goal of design thinking is finding the best answer possible—and that probably won’t come in the first round of iteration. You’ll need to test and iterate as much as possible with new ways to solve the problem.

Design thinking is so popular—and so effective—because it places the user’s needs front and centre. For more user-centric design tips, learn how to incorporate user feedback in product design , get to grips with user research ethics , and learn how to conduct effective user interviews .

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5 Examples of Design Thinking in Business

• 22 Feb 2022

Design thinking has become a business buzzword that’s changed how companies approach problem-solving . Countless brands, including GE Healthcare, Netflix, and UberEats, have utilized design thinking to develop effective solutions to challenges.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is Design Thinking?

Design thinking is a user-centric, solutions-based approach to problem-solving that can be described in four stages :

• Clarify: This phase involves observing a situation without bias. It leans into design thinking’s user-centric element and requires empathizing with those affected by a problem, asking them questions about their pain points, and identifying what they solved. You can then use what you learn to create a problem statement or question that drives the rest of the design thinking process.
• Ideate: Begin brainstorming potential solutions. Take your problem statement or question and ideate based on patterns or observations collected in the clarify phase. This is the time to let your imagination and creativity run wild.
• Develop: Develop potential solutions using the ideas you generate, then test, experiment with, and reiterate to determine which are successful and which aren’t. Be ready to return to the ideation or clarification stage based on your results. Stepping back in the process is common—and encouraged—in design thinking.
• Implement: Finally, implement the solution you’ve developed. Again, it’s likely you’ll have to take a few steps back and reiterate your final solution, but that’s a central part of this phase. After several tests and edits, you’ll have a solution that can yield positive results.

Examples of Design Thinking

What does a properly executed design thinking process look like? Examining real-world examples is an effective way to answer that question. Here are five examples of well-known brands that have leveraged design thinking to solve business problems.

1. GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare is an example of a company that focused on user-centricity to improve a product that seemingly had no problems.

Diagnostic imaging has revolutionized healthcare, yet GE Healthcare saw a problem in how pediatric patients reacted to procedures. Many children were observed crying during long procedures in cold, dark rooms with flickering fluorescent lights. Considering this, GE Healthcare’s team observed children in various environments, spoke to experts, and interviewed hospital staff to gain more insight into their experiences.

After extensive user research, hospital pilots, and reiteration, GE Healthcare launched the “Adventure Series.” This redesign initiative focused on making magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines more child-friendly.

For example, the “Pirate Adventure” transforms MRI machines from dark, black holes to pirate ships with scenery of beaches, sandcastles, and the ocean. By empathizing with children’s pain points, GE Healthcare was able to craft a creative solution that was not only fun but increased patient satisfaction scores by 90 percent. This also yielded unexpected successes, including improved scan quality of pediatric patients, and ultimately saved customers time and resources.

Design thinking not only succeeds at finding effective solutions for companies but also at putting initiatives to the test before implementation.

When Oral B wanted to upgrade its electric toothbrush, it enlisted designers Kim Colin and Sam Hecht to help. The company’s request was to add more functions for electric toothbrush users, such as tracking brushing frequency, observing gum sensitivity, and playing music.

While clarifying the problem, however, Colin and Hecht pointed out that brushing teeth was a neurotic act for many people. Users didn’t want additional functionality and, in many cases, thought it could potentially cause more stress. Instead, they recommended two solutions that could improve user experience without adding gimmicks.

Their first recommendation was to make the toothbrush easier to charge, especially while users were on the road. Another was making it more convenient for users to order replacement heads by allowing toothbrushes to connect to phones and send reminder notifications. Both proposals were successful because they focused on what users wanted rather than what the company wanted to roll out.

Although many companies have successfully used design thinking, Netflix has repeatedly leveraged it to become an industry giant. During the company’s inception, its main competitor, Blockbuster, required customers to drive to brick-and-mortar stores to rent DVDs. The process was the same for returns, which was a major pain point for many. Netflix eliminated that inconvenience by delivering DVDs directly to customers’ homes with a subscription model.

While this revolutionized the movie industry, Netflix’s real success has been in its innovation over the years. For example, when the company realized DVDs were becoming outdated, it created an on-demand streaming service to stay ahead of the curve. This also inadvertently eliminated the inconvenience of having to wait for DVDs.

Subsequently, in 2011, Netflix took its design thinking one step further and responded to customers’ need for original, provocative content that wasn’t airing on traditional networks. Later, in 2016, it improved its user experience by adding short trailers to its interface. Each of Netflix’s major updates was in response to customers’ needs and driven by an effective design thinking process.

Another household name, Airbnb , started by only making around $200 a week. After some observation, its founders recognized that the advertising pictures hosts were posting online weren’t of a high enough quality, which often deterred customers from renting rooms.

To empathize with customers, the founders spent time traveling to each location, imagining what users look for in a temporary place to stay. Their solution? Invest in a high-quality camera and take pictures of what customers want to see, based on their travel observations. For example, showing every room rather than a select few, listing special features like a hot tub or pool in the description, and highlighting the neighborhood or areas in close proximity to the residence. The result? A week later, Airbnb’s revenue doubled.

Instead of focusing on reaching a bigger audience, Airbnb’s founders used design thinking to determine why their existing audience wasn’t utilizing their services. They realized that rather than focusing on traditional business values, like scalability, they needed to simply put themselves in users’ shoes to solve business problems.

5. UberEats

The go-to food delivery service app UberEats attributes its success to its ability to reiterate quickly and empathize with customers.

A prime example of this is UberEats’s Walkabout Program , where designers observe cities in which the company operates. Some elements they inspect are food culture, cuisine, infrastructure, delivery processes, and transportation. One of the innovations that came from their immersive research is the driver app, which focuses on delivery partners’ pain points around parking in highly populated urban areas. To address this, the driver app provides step-by-step directions from restaurant to customer to ensure smoother delivery processes.

Understanding that pain points vary between geographic locations helps UberEats implement effective upgrades to its service that solve problems in specific locations.

Practice Design Thinking

While these examples illustrate the kind of success design thinking can yield, you need to learn how to practice and use it before implementing it into your business model. Here are several ways to do so:

• Consider the Big Picture

In the examples above, it’s easy to say the solutions are obvious. Yet, try taking a step back to reflect on how each company thought about its customer base’s perspective and recognized where to employ empathy.

• Think Through Alternative Solutions

This is a useful exercise you can do with the examples above. Consider the problem each company faced and think through alternative solutions each could have tried. This can enable you to practice both empathy and ideation.

• Research Each Company’s Competitors

Another helpful exercise is to look at each company’s competitors. Did those competitors have similar problems? Did they find similar solutions? How would you compete? Remember to walk through the four design thinking phases.

Design thinking is a powerful tool you can use to solve difficult business problems. To use it successfully, however, you need to apply it to problems both big and small.

If you want to learn more about design thinking, explore our online course Design Thinking and Innovation —one of our online entrepreneurship and innovation courses —for more real-world case studies and opportunities to practice innovative problem-solving in your career.

About the Author

The Accidental Design Thinker

Bringing Design Thinking to All

40 Design Thinking Success Stories

I’m incredibly optimistic of the power of DT but also always on the lookout for design thinking success stories and examples. As I’ve shared my knowledge of design thinking with others, I’ve frequently been asked how often it delivers demonstrable results and how broadly it can be applied. Below is my collection of design thinking success stories that have helped reinforce my conviction that design thinking can deliver incredibly powerful results and be applicable to everyone.

Consumer Packaged Goods

• Designing a Simplified IoT Electric Toothbrush
• Indra Nooyi HBR Design Thinking Interview
• Using Design Thinking to Guide Product Development for Oil of Olay Brand
• Design Thinking for K-12 Educators
• Great Fast Co Design Article on Teaching Kids DT
• Design Thinking STEAM School Case Study
• Awesome Case of Designing an Entire High School Via Design Thinking
• Dense but Rich Dissertation of Use of Design Thinking in a School District
• The Power of Empathy in the Elementary Classroom

Financial Services

• Click Link & Scroll Down for Bank of America Case Profile
• How ABN AMRO Leverages Design Thinking
• 3 Banks Integrating Design Into Customer Experience
• Evolution of Design Thinking in Deutsche Bank’s IT Division
• Bank of Ireland’s Lesley Tully on the Value of Design Thinking
• GE Healthcare – From Terrifying to Terrific
• NY Times – Design Thinking for Doctors & Nurses
• Design Thinking in Healthcare – Schizophrenia
• Design Thinking Lessons from Mayo Clinic
• Design Thinking at Stanford University Medicine
• Design Thinking Case Studies in Journalism
• Why Design Thinking & Journalism Go Together

Non-Profit/NGOs

• Design Thinking & Winnebago at GGRC for Better Service
• Collection of Design Thinking Case Studies from Museums
• Improving Quality of Life for the Elderly Via Better Food Service
• Mobisol’s Use of Design Thinking for Solar Energy
• Leveraging Design Thinking in Cambodia Video
• How Nike Became a Fashion Powerhouse Through Design
• Nordstrom Innovation Lab Video Profile
• Popular Airbnb Design Thinking Success Story
• Innovation at Apple – Design Thinking Case Study
• IBMs Design Centered Strategy
• Design Thinking at IBM
• Google’s 3 Step Process for Generating Innovative Ideas
• Intuit’s Designing for Delight
• How the Uber Eats Team Designs
• Design Thinking in Action at SAP

Transportation

• Cool Step by Step Case of Applying DT to a Common Challenge for Travelers
• How Makassar Plans To Use Design Thinking to Improve Transport

Self-Improvement

• Designing Your Life Through Design Thinking – My Personal Story
• NY Times – Design Thinking for a Better You
• Stanford professor’s Take on How DT Can Help You Lose Weight, Stop Worrying, & Change Your Life
• Designing Your Life – Insight into the Most Popular Class at Stanford!

If you’re at the beach and would rather read an actual book full of design thinking case studies, I’d recommend ‘Solving Problems with Design Thinking: Ten Stories of What Works’ by Jeanne Lietdka.

In summary, there are plenty of available and powerful design thinking success stories, that will hopefully increase your conviction in the strength of DT. I’m always on the lookout for new examples and will continue to add to this list. Please don’t hesitate to share any great examples that I’m missing and continue to check back in as this list grows in size!

Interested in expanding your design thinking mindset and skills?  Click here for my collection of design thinking tools and resources!

• Category: Design Thinking , Innovation , Marketing & Branding
• Tag: Best Practices , Case Studies , Design , Design Thinking , Innovation , Success Stories

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accidentalDT- thank you for sharing so much amazing resources on your site.

[…] Be an Advocate for Design Thinking – Know, believe, share, and celebrate the success stories of design thinking. Here are 40 design thinking stories that will help make anyone a believer […]

[…] Check out my collection in the Self-Improvement section of 40 Design Thinking Success Stories! […]

[…] It was wonderful hearing case studies to supplement the research I’ve conducted on design thinking success stories. […]

Thank you for your valuable contribution to Design Thinkers!

My pleasure Denise! Thank you for your kind words and for visiting my site; it means a ton to me!

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Ideas Made to Matter

Design thinking, explained

Rebecca Linke

Sep 14, 2017

What is design thinking?

Design thinking is an innovative problem-solving process rooted in a set of skills.The approach has been around for decades, but it only started gaining traction outside of the design community after the 2008 Harvard Business Review article [subscription required] titled “Design Thinking” by Tim Brown, CEO and president of design company IDEO.

Since then, the design thinking process has been applied to developing new products and services, and to a whole range of problems, from creating a business model for selling solar panels in Africa to the operation of Airbnb .

At a high level, the steps involved in the design thinking process are simple: first, fully understand the problem; second, explore a wide range of possible solutions; third, iterate extensively through prototyping and testing; and finally, implement through the customary deployment mechanisms. 

The skills associated with these steps help people apply creativity to effectively solve real-world problems better than they otherwise would. They can be readily learned, but take effort. For instance, when trying to understand a problem, setting aside your own preconceptions is vital, but it’s hard.

Creative brainstorming is necessary for developing possible solutions, but many people don’t do it particularly well. And throughout the process it is critical to engage in modeling, analysis, prototyping, and testing, and to really learn from these many iterations.

Once you master the skills central to the design thinking approach, they can be applied to solve problems in daily life and any industry.

Here’s what you need to know to get started.

Understand the problem 

The first step in design thinking is to understand the problem you are trying to solve before searching for solutions. Sometimes, the problem you need to address is not the one you originally set out to tackle.

“Most people don’t make much of an effort to explore the problem space before exploring the solution space,” said MIT Sloan professor Steve Eppinger. The mistake they make is to try and empathize, connecting the stated problem only to their own experiences. This falsely leads to the belief that you completely understand the situation. But the actual problem is always broader, more nuanced, or different than people originally assume.

Take the example of a meal delivery service in Holstebro, Denmark. When a team first began looking at the problem of poor nutrition and malnourishment among the elderly in the city, many of whom received meals from the service, it thought that simply updating the menu options would be a sufficient solution. But after closer observation, the team realized the scope of the problem was much larger , and that they would need to redesign the entire experience, not only for those receiving the meals, but for those preparing the meals as well. While the company changed almost everything about itself, including rebranding as The Good Kitchen, the most important change the company made when rethinking its business model was shifting how employees viewed themselves and their work. That, in turn, helped them create better meals (which were also drastically changed), yielding happier, better nourished customers.

Involve users

Imagine you are designing a new walker for rehabilitation patients and the elderly, but you have never used one. Could you fully understand what customers need? Certainly not, if you haven’t extensively observed and spoken with real customers. There is a reason that design thinking is often referred to as human-centered design.

“You have to immerse yourself in the problem,” Eppinger said.

How do you start to understand how to build a better walker? When a team from MIT’s Integrated Design and Management program together with the design firm Altitude took on that task, they met with walker users to interview them, observe them, and understand their experiences.  

“We center the design process on human beings by understanding their needs at the beginning, and then include them throughout the development and testing process,” Eppinger said.

Central to the design thinking process is prototyping and testing (more on that later) which allows designers to try, to fail, and to learn what works. Testing also involves customers, and that continued involvement provides essential user feedback on potential designs and use cases. If the MIT-Altitude team studying walkers had ended user involvement after its initial interviews, it would likely have ended up with a walker that didn’t work very well for customers. 

It is also important to interview and understand other stakeholders, like people selling the product, or those who are supporting the users throughout the product life cycle.

The second phase of design thinking is developing solutions to the problem (which you now fully understand). This begins with what most people know as brainstorming.

Hold nothing back during brainstorming sessions — except criticism. Infeasible ideas can generate useful solutions, but you’d never get there if you shoot down every impractical idea from the start.

“One of the key principles of brainstorming is to suspend judgment,” Eppinger said. “When we're exploring the solution space, we first broaden the search and generate lots of possibilities, including the wild and crazy ideas. Of course, the only way we're going to build on the wild and crazy ideas is if we consider them in the first place.”

That doesn’t mean you never judge the ideas, Eppinger said. That part comes later, in downselection. “But if we want 100 ideas to choose from, we can’t be very critical.”

In the case of The Good Kitchen, the kitchen employees were given new uniforms. Why? Uniforms don’t directly affect the competence of the cooks or the taste of the food.

But during interviews conducted with kitchen employees, designers realized that morale was low, in part because employees were bored preparing the same dishes over and over again, in part because they felt that others had a poor perception of them. The new, chef-style uniforms gave the cooks a greater sense of pride. It was only part of the solution, but if the idea had been rejected outright, or perhaps not even suggested, the company would have missed an important aspect of the solution.

Prototype and test. Repeat.

You’ve defined the problem. You’ve spoken to customers. You’ve brainstormed, come up with all sorts of ideas, and worked with your team to boil those ideas down to the ones you think may actually solve the problem you’ve defined.

“We don’t develop a good solution just by thinking about a list of ideas, bullet points and rough sketches,” Eppinger said. “We explore potential solutions through modeling and prototyping. We design, we build, we test, and repeat — this design iteration process is absolutely critical to effective design thinking.”

Repeating this loop of prototyping, testing, and gathering user feedback is crucial for making sure the design is right — that is, it works for customers, you can build it, and you can support it.

“After several iterations, we might get something that works, we validate it with real customers, and we often find that what we thought was a great solution is actually only just OK. But then we can make it a lot better through even just a few more iterations,” Eppinger said.

Implementation

The goal of all the steps that come before this is to have the best possible solution before you move into implementing the design. Your team will spend most of its time, its money, and its energy on this stage.

“Implementation involves detailed design, training, tooling, and ramping up. It is a huge amount of effort, so get it right before you expend that effort,” said Eppinger.

Design thinking isn’t just for “things.” If you are only applying the approach to physical products, you aren’t getting the most out of it. Design thinking can be applied to any problem that needs a creative solution. When Eppinger ran into a primary school educator who told him design thinking was big in his school, Eppinger thought he meant that they were teaching students the tenets of design thinking.

“It turns out they meant they were using design thinking in running their operations and improving the school programs. It’s being applied everywhere these days,” Eppinger said.

In another example from the education field, Peruvian entrepreneur Carlos Rodriguez-Pastor hired design consulting firm IDEO to redesign every aspect of the learning experience in a network of schools in Peru. The ultimate goal? To elevate Peru’s middle class.

As you’d expect, many large corporations have also adopted design thinking. IBM has adopted it at a company-wide level, training many of its nearly 400,000 employees in design thinking principles .

What can design thinking do for your business?

The impact of all the buzz around design thinking today is that people are realizing that “anybody who has a challenge that needs creative problem solving could benefit from this approach,” Eppinger said. That means that managers can use it, not only to design a new product or service, “but anytime they’ve got a challenge, a problem to solve.”

Applying design thinking techniques to business problems can help executives across industries rethink their product offerings, grow their markets, offer greater value to customers, or innovate and stay relevant. “I don’t know industries that can’t use design thinking,” said Eppinger.

Ready to go deeper?

Read “ The Designful Company ” by Marty Neumeier, a book that focuses on how businesses can benefit from design thinking, and “ Product Design and Development ,” co-authored by Eppinger, to better understand the detailed methods.

Register for an MIT Sloan Executive Education course:

Systematic Innovation of Products, Processes, and Services , a five-day course taught by Eppinger and other MIT professors.

• Leadership by Design: Innovation Process and Culture , a two-day course taught by MIT Integrated Design and Management director Matthew Kressy.
• Managing Complex Technical Projects , a two-day course taught by Eppinger.
• Apply for M astering Design Thinking , a 3-month online certificate course taught by Eppinger and MIT Sloan senior lecturers Renée Richardson Gosline and David Robertson.

Steve Eppinger is a professor of management science and innovation at MIT Sloan. He holds the General Motors Leaders for Global Operations Chair and has a PhD from MIT in engineering. He is the faculty co-director of MIT's System Design and Management program and Integrated Design and Management program, both master’s degrees joint between the MIT Sloan and Engineering schools. His research focuses on product development and technical project management, and has been applied to improving complex engineering processes in many industries.

Read next: 10 agile ideas worth sharing

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Unlocking China

• Mar 13, 2023

Putting People First: The Power of Human-Centred Innovation Over Business Success

Updated: Nov 22, 2023

Design Thinking is one of them and the glue between all disciplines: 8 stats that prove Design Thinking pays off . It is a process that can be learned, not aiming at becoming designers or designing products, but to solve problems and innovate your way to success.

Here is a collection of the success stories in various sectors and personal development.

Self-Improvement

The New York Times: Design Thinking for a Better You

A Stanford professor explains how "design thinking" can help you lose weight, stop worrying, and change your life

Standford's Most Popular Class Isn't Computer Science - It's Something Much More Important

I used Design Thinking to Reinvent My Career - Here's Why It Worked （A former lawyer explains how the methodology led her to try out life as a pastry chef before getting a master’s in psychology.）

Christian Wodtke is a world class information architect and product designer, who teaches at Stanford University. Like many designers, she used to think Design Thinking is a hyped up concept, until she discovered the approach works better than nearly any other methods to product and service innovation. How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Design Thinking

Design Thinking Can Create a Better Life Process : When incorporated into our personal lives, design thinking can turn life’s processes to work with us, not against us.

Consumer Packaged Goods

Nespresso – in her book, Design Works , Heather Fraser details how the brand went from an idea to turning it into a powerful business ecosystem that continues to build capabilities that are hard for others to replicate.

Braun – Simplify the Oral B IoT brush design

PepsiCo – How Indra Nooyi Turned Design Thinking into Strategy: An Interview with PepsiCo's CEO ; Leading from the Heart: The committed Innovator: The Power of Design

Procter & Gamble – How can Design Thinking reinvent a brand (Oil of Olay)? ; How Procter & Gamble Designs Change ; The Innovation Method Behind Swiffer Madness ; Oral B 's request was to add more functions for electric toothbrush users, Design Thinking helped them focus on what users wanted rather than what the company wanted to roll out.

Apple – How did Apple survive its most critical time? Design Thinking Case Study: Innovation at Apple

IBM – IBM'S Design-Centered Strategy ； Design Thining at IBM ； Good Design is Good Business

Siemens - Design Thinking in China: How Siemens CT Copes with Cultural Issues

Google – How to Brainstorm Like a Googler

Adobe – How did Adobe come up with the product Adobe XD? Design Thinking: A Manual for Innovation

Airbnb – The company has gone from making 200 euros a week to revolutionizing tourism: Airbnb, a Design Thinking success story ； How Design Thinking Transformed Airbnb from a Failing Startup to a Billion Dollar Business ? ; The Link between Data Triangulation and Brainstorming Facilitation: Design Thinking at AirBnB

Intuit – How Intuit communicates and measures the impact of its Design Thinking program ; How Intuit Used Design Thinking to Boost Sales by $10M in a Year

Uber – Understanding that pain points vary between geographic locations helps UberEats implement effective upgrades to its service that solve problems in specific locations. A prime example of this is UberEats's Walkabout Program: How We Design on the UberEATS Team

Pulse : Starting Up with Design Thinking: The Story of LinkedIn's Pulse

Financial Services

Why VC Firms Are Snapping Up Designers?

ABN AMRO – Design Thinking gives you an edge over your competitors

BBVA / USAA / Citi – "Design is a competitive advantage": How three banks are integrating design into customer experience

Bank of Ireland – How business can benefit from a more creative approach to problem solving Podcast： The value of design thinking with Bank of Ireland's Lesley Tully

Bank of America – Case Study: IDEO and Bank of America's Keep the Change program (scroll down to the Case Study) ; Feeling in Control: Bank of America Helps Customers to "Keep the Change"

Umpqua - How did a small Oregon-based bank succeed into one of the best in the world? Slow Banking: Building a Community of Experience

How Design Thinking in Banking Could Help When 4P Marketing Falls Short

China Trust Bank - 中国信托银行携手IBM采用设计思维打造未来金融服务

GE Healthcare - "Sending Moms and Babies Home Healthy": The Design Thinking Journey: Tragedy into Triumph ; Changing Experiences through Empathy - The Adventure Series

Thomas Jefferson University，University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Montreal - University hospitals Design Thinking success cases: Design Thinking for Doctors and Nurses ( The New York Times)

University of California San Francisco and IDEO - Applying Design Thinking to Schizophrenia Care

Mayo Clinics - Design Thinking in Health Care - Case Study Synopsis & Teaching Objectives

Standford Medicine - Design Thinking as a way to improve patient experience

Rotterdam Eye Hospital - Patient Experience Transformation Program: How Design Thinking Turned One Hospital into a Bright and Comforting Place

Cartier - Employee Experience future scenario in Luxury Retail

Nike – How Nike Became a Fashion Powerhouse ; How Nike Uses Design Thinking to Develop Talent

Nordstrom - Help customers pick the best sun glasses： Nordstrom Innovation Lab Sunglass iPad App

Lapeyre - Extreme Bathroom Users: Lapeyre Embraces the Elderly

A Tough Crowd： Using Design Thinking to Help Traditional German Butchers

Netflix - Although many companies have successfully used Design Thinking, Netflix has repeatedly leveraged it to become an industry giant: How Netflix Used Design Thinking to Reinvent Itself, Over and Over

Thinking & Acting Like a Designer: How Design Thinking Supports Innovation in K-12 Education

Design Thinking for Kids

Design Thinking in the Elementary Classroom: the Power of Empathy

Transportation, Automobile

IDEO - Transportation and Mobility: A selection of case studies

Makassar, Indonesia - How Makassar will use design thinking to improve transportation

Ford - Why Ford Hired a Furniture Maker as CEO

Human Resources & Organizational Development

NIKE - How Nike Uses Design Thinking to Develop Talent

Siemens - Design Thinking in China; How Siemens CT copes with Cultural Issues

Coca-Cola - How the Coca-Cola Company used service design to take a human-centred approach to HR

Legal Services

Liberty Mutual Insurance - Transforming Your Law Department with Design Thinking

Voice of San Diego, OrbitaLAB - Journalism case studies that apply design thinking

Design Thinking and Journalism Go Together. Here's How.

Non-Profit/NGOs

Golden Gate Regional Center - Better Service, Faster: A Design Thinking Case Study for Disabled

Design Thinking for Museums – a collection of Design Thinking for Museums Case Studies

Mobisol - Reinventing Solar Energy Supply for Rural Africa

Army Field Manual 5-0: The Operations Process (U.S. Military) - The first time to add Design Thinking in its operations manual

Public Sector

Municipality of Holstebro, Denmark – The Good Kitchen：How an Improved Food Service Creates a Better Life Quality for Elderly People

Local Government Association UK - Design in the public sector case studies

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) - Observatory of public sector innovation

Though past success doesn't guarantee future performance, it leaves behind valuable lessons, insights, methods and systems that we can learn from. These treasures can significantly increase our chances of success for a bright future.

Design Thinking empowers us to empathize with the people we serve, redefine problems, generate fresh ideas, prototype and iterate innovative solutions. The results?

Significant value increase which translates to financial performances

Satisfied customers and employees

Lower risk to try new things

Strong organizational culture and ecosystems for sustainable performance

About the Author

You can find me on LinkedIn: Jennifer He .

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The Complete Design Thinking Process

Learn about the Design Thinking process powering today’s most user-friendly products, services and solutions.

About The Design Thinking Process

What is the design thinking process.

The Design Thinking process helps teams use work through “wicked” problems and turn opportunities into innovations. When teams apply the Design Thinking process, they work through a series of steps and activities toward a solution that is desirable, feasible and viable — also known as the Three Lenses of Human-Centered Design .

Given the iterative nature of design, the Design Thinking process can be considered more of a playbook than a predefined agenda. When teams need to learn more about their users, they turn to Empathy. When it’s time to test models, they pivot to Prototype. Often, Test results can reframe the opportunity, resulting in fresh rounds of Ideation and Definition.

Who participates in the Design Thinking process?

Unlike methods made for manufacturing or software development, the Design Thinking Process is designed for everybody. In fact, the Design Thinking process becomes more efficient as more skill sets are added to the team. This is because Design Thinking leans heavily on empathy and divergence, which both benefit from increased perspectives.

In practice, the most effective Design Thinking teams usually include 6 – 12 core members with diverse strategic and technical profiles. Some participants may be designers, but most will be experts and leaders in connected disciplines such as strategy, technology or marketing. Users are also common participants on the Design Thinking teams, as are other stakeholders or community members.

When building a Design Thinking team, consider the range of skills you need in order to make effective decisions during the workshop itself. This usually means having a mix of strategic and technical experts on-hand. In practice, teams with a mixture of “T-profiles” are most effective — that is, subject matter experts with a range of experiences.

Who facilitates the Design Thinking process?

While anyone can participate in Design Thinking, coaching a team through the process does take practice. Facilitating the Design Thinking process typically entails coordinating research efforts and running multi-day workshops.

According to a study published by the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design [1], the three most active facilitators of Design Thinking in organizations are:

• Research & Development Leads
• Design Thinking Consultants
• Marketing Leads

The Design Thinking Framework

The Design Thinking framework provides a convenient mental model of the decision making process. It breaks the innovation process into simple steps, and helps teams know where to focus and when.

The framework was pioneered by John Arnold, an MIT professor who described an early version as: Question, Observe, Associate and Predict. [2]

Arnold encouraged the iteration of his approach, and the Design Thinking framework has since been widely adapted to suit diverse organizations, technologies and needs.

The Double Diamond Model

The Double Diamond model is one of the most influential models of the Design Thinking framework. It was published by the British Design Council in the early 2000s, and helped crystallize underlying concepts for the working world. Specifically, the Double Diamond model depicts how the two phases of divergent and convergent thinking work together to develop ideas. Other common cyclical Design Thinking models include those published by Nielsen Norman Group and IDEO.

Basically, there’s a problem statement at the beginning and a solution at the end, and the solution is reached in an iterative procedure.

The Integrated Model

Staged frameworks are designed to help organizations integrate the iterative design process. The Integrated Design Thinking framework at Konrad is divided into three major stages containing a total of seven steps.

The following sections describe the Stages and Steps of the Design Thinking process, including what their objectives and key activities.

Design Thinking Stages

What are the stages of design thinking.

There are three primary stages of the Design Thinking process: Discover, Design, Deliver. Referred to as the 3 “Ds”, stages help organizations adopt Design Thinking into their existing processes. Together, the three stages provide a convenient way to coordinate complex projects containing iterative steps.

Design Thinking Stage 1: Discover

“We’ve sensed an opportunity and are exploring the space”

Every Design Thinking project kicks off in Discover. The goal of Discover is to move from a sense of the opportunity to a clear picture of the current landscape. This stage is often completed by a core project team who share their results with the broader team during Design Thinking workshops.

Key Output: A comprehensive landscape of the opportunity

Design Thinking Stage 2: Design

“We’ve aligned on objectives and are building experiences”

The Design stage is where rapid iteration occurs as teams shape insights into innovation. During the Design stage, teams work through five core steps of every Design Thinking process: Empathy, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test. These steps are completed through a series of design workshops and sprints that are tailored to each team.

Key Output: A working prototype ready to scale

Design Thinking Stage 3: Deliver

“We’ve found our solution and are ready to grow”

The Deliver stage is where lead prototypes are integrated with new and existing technologies. Whereas earlier stages are focused on working through ambiguity, the Deliver stage focuses on efficient execution and streamlined integration through training and technology.

Key Output: A real-world solution

The Design Thinking Process in Practice

How gillette designed india’s favorite shave.

Read how Gillette used Design Thinking to develop the Gillette Guard: A made-for-India experience for 400-million people.

Gillette’s Opportunity

Shortly after Gillette was acquired by P&G in 2005, they set out to redesign the shaving experience for 400 million men in India. At the time, Gillette’s Western-style offerings were only catering to a sliver of the market, and the vast majority relied on (very) low-cost double-edged razors. After mapping the value chain from the steel to the sink, a cross functional team leveraged Design Thinking to re-learn the art of shaving in India — and bring an innovative product to market.

The Insights

The team met with men from across the country and saw first-hand how different the shaving experience was compared to in the United States. They saw how many men sat on the ground to shave using a mirror in their free hand. Often, only a small bowl of water was used to clean the blade. They saw the care it took to avoid cuts, and how long it could take (up to 30 minutes). While men had become experts in the craft, the desire for a less strenuous experience was clear — as long as it fit their current needs:

• a faster, more relaxing experience
• can still handle beards without running water
• doesn’t clog easily from hair/shaving lather
• priced competitively

The Innovation

With these criteria, the team worked through a series of design iterations before arriving at the Gillette Guard: A made-for-India experience that delivered a relaxing shave for an affordable price. What makes the Guard unique is how it uses small plastic “teeth” to flatten the skin ahead of the blade, along with a custom pivoting head that works well in still water.

Thanks to a cost-saving design and distributed manufacturing model, the Gillette Guard sells profitably for 25 cents — or just 2% of the Mach 3 price. Launched in 2010, today 2 out of every 3 razors sold in India are Gillette Guards. [4]

Read more about how P&G tripled its innovation success by engineering reverse innovations at Harvard Business Review.

Design Thinking Steps

What are the steps of design thinking.

Instead of trying to jump from mountains of research data straight to ideas, the Design Thinking steps help unpack the black box of creativity, and provide clear objectives for collaboration. Each step of the Design Thinking process works through a handful of core activities, completed with an array of tools.

Design Thinking steps begin with Research, end with Implement, and traverse an iterative 5-step core of Empathy, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test. This core set of 5 steps has been adopted by diverse industries and is championed by leading UX design communities including the Interaction Design Foundation.

Step 1 Design Thinking Research

Build the Foundation . Research helps move from sensing an opportunity, to seeing it in the context. It requires carefully studying the opportunity from every direction, and provides the foundation cross-functional teams need to work together effectively. Without a holistic view of the opportunity, teams will struggle to find feasible solutions that satisfy their innovation goals.

Core Design Thinking Research Activities

Create a current landscape.

The current landscape describes all the systems and structures expected to underpin the solution. While the elements of the landscape are tailored to every project, the goal is always the same: Create a holistic view of the opportunity so disciplines can make decisions in real-time. The landscape is often created by a core team of project owners and design thinking consultants, and then shared with the complete team during design thinking workshops. Research Tools like AEIOU can help organize your landscape and identify any gaps.

Consider Key Performance Indicators

The most successful design thinking projects begin with a shared understanding of what success looks like. Discussing the quantitative and qualitative KPIs early in the process helps teams have better conversations about the feasibility and viability of their ideas. If you aren’t sure where to start, you can use the Three Lenses of Human Centered Design as a guide (desirability, feasibility, viability).

Draft a Statement of Opportunity

After the current landscape has been created and shared among the team, and the KPIs have been discussed and drafted, teams are ready to “align on 1 line” with a statement of opportunity. Also called a problem statement, this activity helps complex teams speak the same language by articulating the high-level opportunity in simple terms. The most important part of the statement of opportunity is ensuring all disciplines are involved in drafting it.

Step 2 Design Thinking Empathy

Become your Users . The first step of the Design stage, Empathy is where teams immerse themselves in the user experience and challenge their own assumptions. Often referred to as ethnography , the Empathy step studies people in the context of their culture and environment. Depending on the scale and complexity of the opportunity, the Empathy step can take just a few days or up to several months, as was the case in the Gillette Guard example above.

Before drafting jumping into Empathy activities, teams must be clear who their primary users are. For a company like AirBnB, that means considering both people who rent apartments, and the people with apartments to rent. These two groups have very different needs, and should be considered separately to avoid compromising designs. When drafting user personas, these groups would be further divided based on shared travel interests, demographics, or other criteria.

Core Design Thinking Empathy Activities

Connect with user experiences.

Design Thinking Empathy is about immersing yourself in the user experience. That means interviewing real users, observing them in their daily life, and walking a mile in their shoes. Direct observation is a powerful creative tool, and small details can be very inspiring during ideation. Teams should look to connect both directly and indirectly with users, creating a holistic view of their experience through interviews, analytics and heuristic approaches.

Draft user personas

User personas help design teams put a face to a name. They are the center of human-centered design, and a critical activity of the Empathy step. If you have worked with personas before, you’ll appreciate the level of realism and clarity of purpose Design Thinking personas provide. Personas are commonly drafted in advance of workshops by a core team and finalized together.

Generate user stories

User stories allow teams to clearly articulate what users want and why. Without user stories (or closely related job stories / jobs to be done) teams would be overwhelmed trying to compare all the competing insights and user goals. It’s best to generate as many specific user stories as possible before converging on the top opportunities in a later activity.

Step 3 Design Thinking Define

Make choices . The Define step helps teams frame insights from Research and Empathy steps into a compass for their collaboration. During Define, teams validate, prioritize and align on next moves using guided activities in Design Thinking workshops. Without the Design Thinking process, aligning a cross functional team on human-centered opportunities would be very difficult, if not impossible. By the end of the Define step, ideas for solutions will begin to appear everywhere.

Core Design Thinking Define Activities

Validate statement of opportunity.

It’s important for teams to challenge their Statement of Opportunity several times throughout the Design Thinking process. Does it still stand? Or should it be updated to reflect new insights about users or feasibility? Validating the statement during Define keeps everyone on the same page.

Validate user personas

A user persona should be as realistic as possible to inspire desirable ideas. Given how critical strong user personas are, design thinking teams should take care to make sure they reflect reality. Workshop tools like the Gallery Walk can be a refreshing way to review and revise draft personas, especially when combined with Dot Voting or other consensus-generating methods.

Rank user stories

User stories provide UX teams with a single source of truth to design solutions with. Design Thinking provides transparent prioritization tools to help teams identify and apply the most effective criteria.

Map user journeys

User journeys are a powerful visualization technique that combine user personas and user stories into a complete experience roadmap. Defining the journey helps uncover new moments and opportunities to delight users and improve the user experience.

Define solution requirements

Defining the requirements of the solution is a major milestone in the Design Thinking process. While the statement of opportunity outlines what the team is hoping to achieve, the requirements (sometimes called the Minimum Viable Product) give shape to the solution. For example, a team may begin with the opportunity to improve their online shopping experience, and after Research and Empathy they align on what specific user goals they need to support.

A design team working in the normal way might never appreciate that the problem had so many ramifications.”

Step 4 Design Thinking Ideate

Create choices . Ideate is where the magic of Design Thinking happens. Following weeks of research and immersion in the user experience, teams will begin seeing human-centered solutions everywhere they look. Core activities in the Ideate step help structure brainstorms and inspire new perspectives with creative tools like Brainwriting and SCAMPER. The Ideate step is usually revisited several times during the design thinking process as teams reframe opportunities and refine their solutions.

Core Design Thinking Ideate Activities

Share inspiration.

Sharing inspiring or innovative solutions among the team helps spark new ideas and creates a frame of reference for members with widely different professional disciplines or experiences. When planning a Design Thinking workshop, save time to have participants discuss a design or service that has personally surprised or delighted them. And be sure to look for inspiration outside your sector — hospitals can learn a lot from hospitality and vice versa.

Brainstorm solutions

Brainstorming is where human insights become innovative ideas. It is a highly divergent activity, dedicated to creating as many interesting avenues as possible. In practice, brainstorms are most effective when they’re focused on supporting a specific user goal. For example, “how can we help people get from X to Y”. For this reason, Design Thinking teams often split into small groups when brainstorming, each tackling one user story or moment. While not every brainstorm idea will be feasible or financially viable, each will reveal some truth about what users really want, which may inspire new ideas or be further expanded.

Expand on ideas

Step 5 design thinking prototype.

Create context . The Prototype step puts ideas in context, allowing teams to make performance-based design decisions before any big commitments are made. Prototyping begins with low-resolution sketches that can be quickly created and compared, adding resolution as more is learned. In practice, the best prototypes provide just enough context to keep users focused on the aspects you want to learn about.

Core Design Thinking Prototype Activities

Prototype the concept.

Making abstract ideas more tangible is an important first step in prototyping. It allows teams to compare strategic alternatives before committing resources, and provides valuable context for technical teams during production. Sketches, storyboards, or other ways to capture the concept will work well.

Prototype the experience

Modern prototyping tools are a design thinking superpower. From cloud-based tools to 3D printing, today’s designers can quickly simulate and iterate realistic experiences unlike ever before. This removes a lot of guesswork from the traditional design process, and creates more connected experiences at launch.

Step 6 Design Thinking Test

Measure outcomes . The Test step in Design Thinking Test helps teams gather valuable feedback from users and other stakeholders. This step works hand-in-hand with Prototyping to inspire fresh ideas and refine working solutions. And just like with prototyping, the fidelity of the test should fit the situation — while “launch and learn” may be the best test for some projects, others have far lower risk tolerance.

Core Design Thinking Test Activities

Test for impressions.

You only get one chance to make a first impression, so it’s important to know what users say, think and feel when they first encounter your solution. Tools like the Feedback Capture Grid help organize user impressions to inform the design of higher-fidelity prototypes.

Test for risks

While not mandatory, evaluating solutions using tools like crowdsourced QA or live A/B testing can dramatically de-risk production.

Step 7 Design Thinking Implement

Make reality . Implement is the final step of the Design Thinking process, and the first step of full-scale development. Here, teams map out how to integrate their proven prototype with the current landscape they explored during Research, optimizing as needed along the way. If you’re interested in learning more about what end-to-end design thinking consultants can offer, contact us .

Core Design Thinking Tools

Design Thinking tools help teams combine perspectives and shape ideas. Each tool supports specific steps of the design thinking process, and comes in several flavors. The following section introduces the most popular Design Thinking tools, with additional links to more detailed resources.

Empathy Map

Develop a holistic understanding of your current or potential users and capture it in a simple cognitive canvas.

Empathy maps help organize and compare emotional insights about your users. They are typically divided into six parts to create a holistic view of a person’s experience and needs: Think + Feel, Say + Do, See, Hear, Pain and Gain While not a requirement of all Design Thinking projects, empathy maps are an excellent source of insight most often used to build user personas, brainstorm user stories and map user journeys.

How to create an Empathy Map

• Divide a whiteboard or sheet of paper into the six sections above — preferably right after a user interview ends
• Arrange your notes and verbatims around the canvas
• Review interview recordings to fill in any gaps and dig deeper
• Compare notes with other interviewers and look to build on one another’s observations
• Share your empathy map with the broader team and align on the major Pains and Gains

Note: If you are working alone or in small groups, waiting to complete the pains and gains sections as a team can help create better ideas and alignment.

User Persona

Create a rich, realistic profile of your users that brings their experience to life for the entire team.

A user persona is a fictitious character profile that embodies one segment of your potential audience. They contain detailed descriptions on their background (age, career, education), behaviors (patterns, interests), and goals.

User personas are created based on observations from a variety of user surveys, interviews and analytics. As a critical piece of the Design Thinking process, user personas help teams focus all their downstream problem-solving efforts.

How to create a User Persona

• Think about a specific user role or goal you want to support
• Name your persona
• Fill out their personal details based on your observations of similar users
• Write a brief description about their current role and responsibilities as they pertain to your project
• List 4-5 relevant behaviors or patterns they have using the insights gathered in an empathy map, interview for empathy or other Design Thinking research tool
• Add a photo or mood board that captures their personality

Note: Avoid making more user personas than your team can remember in detail at once. Working with 3-6 user personas is usually best. Also consider scheduling quarterly team reviews of all your active user personas. This has the dual-benefit of keeping your users top of mind and your personas up to date.

User Journey Map

Develop a bird’s eye view of one user persona that encompasses all the important touch points relevant to your solution over time.

User journey maps are a powerful visualization technique. They are built in small teams using inputs from ethnographic research, empathy and ideation activities.

Common elements of user journey maps include basic details about the user persona, a timeline from start to finish, the user’s thoughts and emotions at each key moment, and significant opportunities to improve the experience.

How to create a User Journey Map

• Select one of your user personas
• Fill in basic details about the scenario
• Divide the journey into overarching phases
• Subdivide each phase into key moments
• Overlay emotions and quotes from interviews and empathy maps
• Identify user needs and opportunities to exceed expectations
• Discuss your journey map with the full team and iterate until complete

Note: Mapping your user’s entire journey – not just when they interact with you – is a great source for inspiration. You can upgrade a user journey to a service blueprint by connecting KPIs and organizational processes.

User Stories

Describe what your users want and why in a format that can be easily captured and compared among the team.

User stories help teams align on high-priority opportunities to improve the user experience. They are formatted as a single sentence that answers 3 W-H questions: WHO is the user, WHAT do they want, and WHY.

User stories are often created during brainstorming activities and discussed as a team using tools like a cluster matrix. User stories are common in Agile methodologies, and can be grouped together to form epics and themes .

How to create a User Story

• Grab post its or open your user stories template
• As a [person in a specific role]
• I want [to perform a specific action]
• So that [I can achieve a specific goal]
• Write as many stories about your different users as you can
• Review user stories as a team

Note: Defining what needs to happen to “complete” the story can add more clarity for designers downstream. This is called the “acceptance criteria”.

Build upon an existing idea or solution with a simple, structured brainstorming technique.

SCAMPER is a brainstorming activity for breaking through to unexpected ideas. The word is an acronym for seven words that serve as cognitive prompts to help push thinking “outside the box”. SCAMPER stands for: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate and Revers

How to brainstorm with SCAMPER

• Start with a solution you want to improve
• Answer probing questions labelled under each letter
• Generate as many ideas as possible
• Move to the next letter if you get stuck

Note: Assigning one letter per person and rotating every 2-3 minutes can push ideas even farther.

Statement of Opportunity

Align on a singular statement that encompasses the spirit and scope of the current opportunity.

The statement of opportunity, also called a problem statement, is a simple tool for aligning teams. They answer the WHO, WHAT and WHY of your project in a single line, and are similar to user stories but with a different focus.

Statement of opportunity is usually developed early in a Design Thinking workshop and revisited throughout the process.

How to create a Statement of Opportunity

• Grab post its or open your statement of opportunity template
• Write down what you believe the project’s strategic opportunity to be
• Share your statements with the team
• Align on a single statement of opportunity

Note: It is more helpful to focus on writing exactly what you feel the statement should be, instead of generating a pile of half-thought ideas

Gallery Walk

Share immersive user research with a broader team to mine for insights and opportunities.

Gallery walks are an engaging way to share detailed results discovered during the Research or Empathy steps. They are intended to replicate the thoughtful experience of browsing in an art gallery, and participants are given worksheets or encouraged to record what stood out or surprised them.

Gallery walks are most often used to pressure test working user personas, with one large poster dedicated to visualizing each user type.

How to conduct a Gallery Walk

• Create a “canvas” for each user persona
• Hang your canvases around the room
• Invite the full team come and browse
• Provide a worksheet to focus discussion
• Discuss the show and validate findings

Note: Gallery walks are best when stakeholders can actually walk. Use large posters, big pictures and fat markers. In addition, rules like no talking and changing stations at set intervals makes it easier to organize your thoughts.

So what is the Design Thinking process?

Simply put, the Design Thinking process is a playbook that helps teams shape a field of opportunities into specific innovations. It breaks down the human-centered design process into a series of stages and steps, and guides complex collaborations with tools and activities.

Given the collaborative nature, most Design Thinking activities are completed during design workshops with the help of experienced facilitators. To learn more about putting the process into practice, see our guide How to Run a Design Thinking Workshop .

• Schmiedgen J, Rhinow H, Köppen E. Parts without a whole?: The current state of Design Thinking practice in organizations. Universitätsverlag Potsdam; 2016.
• Smith P. Creativity: An Examination of the Creative Process; a Report on the Third Communications Conference of the Art Directors Club of New York. Paul Smith, Editor. 1959.
• Lewrick M, Link P, Leifer L. The Design Thinking Playbook: Mindful Digital Transformation of Teams, Products, Services, Businesses and Ecosystems. John Wiley & Sons; 2018.
• Harvard Business Review, Brown T, Christensen CM, Nooyi I, Govindarajan V. HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Design Thinking (with featured article “Design Thinking” By Tim Brown). Harvard Business Press; 2020.
• Jones JC. Design Methods. John Wiley & Sons; 1992.

Design Thinking Case Study Index

Welcome to the Design Thinking Case Study Index. There are many Design Thinking Case Studies on the internet. Many are retrofitted descriptions of what occurred, rather than evidence of the Design Thinking process in action. In order to bring a higher standard to the practice of Design Thinking, we require stronger evidence and rigor. Only members can post and must provide strong evidence in the Design Thinking Case Study that the Design Thinking process was used to create the original idea for the product or service solution. The criteria that needs to be proved to make your project a Design Thinking Case Study are:

• Evidence of an empathic human/user centered approach in the research phase
• Evidence of rapid prototyping
• Evidence of user testing of early prototypes
• Evidence of cross functional collaboration during the process

The Design Thinking Case Study Index is arranged according to market or industry verticals to help you find relevant Case Studies for your industry.

THE DESIGN THINKING CASE STUDY INDEX

• Bank of America Helps Customers Keep the Change - IDEO
• Bank of America: Keep the Change  - an HBR Case Study
• Bank of America Keep the Change - thisisdesignthinking.com
• How to Use Design Thinking to Make Great Things Actually Happen
• Co-designing OTP Bank's Strategic Plan for Success
• Société Générale's Time Tracking Nightmare Solved - Design Thinking Society
• The Total Economic Impact of IBM's Design Thinking Practice - IBM/Forrester
• The Strategic Importance of Design  - Fjord
• IDEO: Journey to Mastery - IDEO
• Improving School Experiences and Helping Teachers
• Transforming Constructivist Learning into Action: Design Thinking in Education
• Design Thinking in the Classroom: What can we do about Bullying? - Dr. Maureen Carroll
• Design Thinking in Education: Perspectives, Opportunities and Challenges  - Stefanie Panke
• Building Cape Town's Resilience Qualities - GreenCape
• Applying Design Thinking Internally - Meredith James

FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS (FMCG)

• The Features of Design Thinking in Fast Moving Consumer Goods Branding Development
• A Chain of Innovation the Creation of Swiffer
• Oral B: Putting the User at the Center of Innovation - Future Facility
• Design for Action: Mass Mutual and Intercorp Group (Peru)  - Tim Brown and Roger Martin
• E*Trade: From Idea to Investment in 5 Minutes.

GOVERNMENT/PUBLIC SERVICES

• Failure to Launch: Learning About Design the Hard Way - Australian Taxation Office
• The US Tax Forms Simplification Project  - US Government
• Redesigning The Employment Pass Application in Singapore  - Government of Singapore
• How is Design Thinking Reshaping Singapore - Government of Singapore
• Design Thinking in Public Engagement: Two Case Studies in British Columbia  - Dave Roberston
• India: Using Design Thinking to Enhance Urban Redevelopment  - Indian Government
• Making Calgary's Downtown a more Welcoming Place  - City of Calgary, Canada
• Capitalism Needs Design Thinking - Tim Brown and Roger Martin
• Making Government Work Better -  The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)
• Better Service Faster, a Design Case Study - The Golden Gate Regional Center
• Better Foodservice for the Elderly in Denmark - Hatch & Bloom
• Applying Design Thinking to Public Service Delivery - IBM
• The Lab at US Government, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Field Guide  - US Government
• The Right Way to Lead Design Thinking - Denmark
• Design Thinking and Participation in Switzerland - Swiss Government
• How to Stimulate Innovation in Your Organization with Design Thinking - Municipalities of Aalborg and Rotterdam, Netherlands
• How SwipeSense Makes Hand Cleaning Easy - Northwestern University
• Using Design Thinking in Healthcare to Create an Emergency Pediatric Department  - Philips
• Design Thinking can Help Improve Care for the Elderly - IDEO
• How can a People Focus Bring Value to Healthcare?  - Philips
• Philips: Improving the Patient Experience
• Developing an App for Diabetes Type II
• Developing Environmental Sustainability Strategies
• 4 Case Studies in Healthcare: Nursing
• Mayo Clinic: Design Thinking in Healthcare
• The Use of Design Thinking in MNCH Programs in Ghana - Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Tackling the Opioid Crisis at the Human and Systems Level  - Stanford Business School

HUMAN RESOURCES

• Design thinking disrupts HR, re-defines the HR function
• Design Thinking in HR at Deutche Telekom
• Transforming Life Insurance: McKinsey
• Bringing Design Thinking to the Insurance World

K-12 EDUCATION

• Design is to Doing as Learning is to Thinking - Design Learning Network

Following One School District's Approach to Innovation for the 21st Century  - Loraine Rossi de Campos

MEDIA & JOURNALISM

• The Guardian Using Design to Reaffirming Values
• Journalism Case Studies that Apply Design Thinking - Poynter
• The Guardian: Benefits of Design Thinking - The Design Council
• Selling the 'Smart Home' with an Immersive Retail Experience
• Using Design Thinking to help traditional German Butchers
• Self-Checkout: Improving Scan Accuracy through Design Thinking
• Designing Waste Out of the Food System
• Design Thinking in our Digital Product Creation Process
• Better Service Faster, A Design Thinking Case Study
• How we Design on the UberEATS Team

SOCIAL IMPACT

• IMPACT: A case study about Design Thinking for helping who help!  - Mattia Tamborini
• Clean Team In-Home Toilets for Ghana’s Urban Poor - IDEO
• Reinventing Solar Energy Supply for Rural Africa
• Asili: Addressing an Entire Ecosystem of Need in a Rural Community  - IDEO.org
• Saving Product X – A Design Thinking Case Study  - Paul Clayton Smith
• Scaling Design Thinking in the Enterprise: a 5 Year Case Study at Citrix
• B2B Design Thinking: Product Innovation when the User is a Network

TRANSPORTATION

• How we Design on the UberEATS Team
• Improving UX in Public Transportation
• IDEO: Using Design Thinking to Create a Better Car
• Design Thinking at Innogy: eCarSharing
• The Impact of Design Thinking on Innovation: A Case Studty at Scania IT

Blockbuster vs. Netflix

If the 2010s taught us anything, it’s that there’s no better example of a business that pivoted to meet customer needs and preferences than Netflix. Likewise, there’s no better example of a business that failed to pivot, innovate and meet modern market demands than Netflix’s original competitor: Blockbuster.

As a brick-and-mortar DVD rental business, customers had to drive to Blockbuster to get the latest new releases on video or DVD. In its early days in the aughts, Netflix delivered movies directly to customer’s doorsteps via the mail. Initially, that was an innovative model — until cable companies started offering movies on-demand. This left Netflix with a dilemma: why would customers order from Netflix and wait a few days when they could stream any movie anytime?

How both companies responded to the shift towards on-demand and online content illustrates the difference between traditional and agile business models, and shows why business leaders must constantly engage with customers to drive innovation and stay relevant.

The streaming revolution

Leaders at Netflix recognized the value of design thinking for what it is: a method to consistently hone their business offerings. Teams were encouraged to look for new opportunities to delight customers, drive engagement and generate new revenue. The approach? Empathize with customers,unearth pain points and find their unaddressed needs. 

Beginning in 2011, Netflix began producing their own original movies and streaming series. But they didn’t just stop at offering new shows: they dropped every episode of each season on the first day it was launched. Original and provocative programming like Orange Is The New Black, House of Cards and Bojack Horseman helped Netflix capitalize on the binge-watching phenomena, even spawning the now ubiquitous catchphrase “Netflix and chill”. With the watch-in-one-sitting binge option catching on like wildfire, shows were devoured by audiences. Eventually, even bigger streaming phenomena, like Stranger Things and Black Mirror, dominated the cultural conversation whenever a new season dropped, leaving everyone talking about one thing: Netflix.

Need to outpace the competition and shift your business model? Learn the basics of design thinking with our free eBook: Design Thinking 101

Continuing to innovate

In 2016, Netflix adapted to the market again, rebuilding their main landing page to capture user’s attention the moment they logged in. Instead of offering still images or series posters, they added auto-play trailers that launched on mouse hover. 

Seeing more opportunities to give users what they didn’t know they wanted, Netflix leveraged artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to create a unique experience for each viewer based on their own viewing habits. The “Because you watched” feature not only transformed the customer experience on Netflix — it transformed expectations for every other entertainment company scrambling to enter the streaming game.

Netflix discovered all of these innovations by using design thinking to empathize again and again with their customers. Meanwhile, Blockbuster stuck to their traditional brick-and-mortar model, making it harder for customers to get what they wanted, when they wanted it. Netflix knew their survival depended on knowing exactly what each and every customer wanted to experience when using their service, and consistently working to meet customers where they were at. By identifying customer needs and adapting, Netflix evolved; whereas Blockbuster, and DVD rentals in general, failed to compete and went extinct. 

An industry changed

The next time you’re tempted to think your business is fine and just sit back and rely on the same old strategies to deliver success, remember this story. The last Blockbuster closed in 2019, and ironically, Netflix eventually bought the IP for the brand and made a streaming comedy about the failed business. 

In the 2020s, more and more people are ditching cable in favor of Netflix and the various other services the streaming wars inspired. Nowadays, there’s nothing worse than sitting in front of the TV waiting for good content to come on. So, remember, “change happens pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Learn how to evolve with the market, change your organization's DNA and gain a new perspective with customer empathy.

Get started with the foundations of human-centered design with ExperienceInnovation™ | Aware . 

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Design Thinking (DT)

What is design thinking (dt).

Design thinking is a non-linear, iterative process that teams use to understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems and create innovative solutions to prototype and test. It is most useful to tackle ill-defined or unknown problems and involves five phases: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test.

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Why Is Design Thinking so Important?

“Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer's toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.”

— Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO

Design thinking fosters innovation . Companies must innovate to survive and remain competitive in a rapidly changing environment. In design thinking, cross-functional teams work together to understand user needs and create solutions that address those needs. Moreover, the design thinking process helps unearth creative solutions.

Design teams use design thinking to tackle ill-defined/unknown problems (aka wicked problems ). Alan Dix, Professor of Human-Computer Interaction, explains what wicked problems are in this video.

Wicked problems demand teams to think outside the box, take action immediately, and constantly iterate—all hallmarks of design thinking.

Don Norman, a pioneer of user experience design, explains why the designer’s way of thinking is so powerful when it comes to such complex problems.

Design thinking offers practical methods and tools that major companies like Google, Apple and Airbnb use to drive innovation. From architecture and engineering to technology and services, companies across industries have embraced the methodology to drive innovation and address complex problems. 

The End Goal of Design Thinking: Be Desirable, Feasible and Viable

The design thinking process aims to satisfy three criteria: desirability (what do people desire?), feasibility (is it technically possible to build the solution?) and viability (can the company profit from the solution?). Teams begin with desirability and then bring in the other two lenses.

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0

Desirability: Meet People’s Needs

The design thinking process starts by looking at the needs, dreams and behaviors of people—the end users. The team listens with empathy to understand what people want, not what the organization thinks they want or need. The team then thinks about solutions to satisfy these needs from the end user’s point of view.

Feasibility: Be Technologically Possible

Once the team identifies one or more solutions, they determine whether the organization can implement them. In theory, any solution is feasible if the organization has infinite resources and time to develop the solution. However, given the team’s current (or future resources), the team evaluates if the solution is worth pursuing. The team may iterate on the solution to make it more feasible or plan to increase its resources (say, hire more people or acquire specialized machinery).

At the beginning of the design thinking process, teams should not get too caught up in the technical implementation. If teams begin with technical constraints, they might restrict innovation.

Viability: Generate Profits

A desirable and technically feasible product isn’t enough. The organization must be able to generate revenues and profits from the solution. The viability lens is essential not only for commercial organizations but also for non-profits. 

Traditionally, companies begin with feasibility or viability and then try to find a problem to fit the solution and push it to the market. Design thinking reverses this process and advocates that teams begin with desirability and bring in the other two lenses later.

The Five Stages of Design Thinking

Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, commonly known as the d.school, is renowned for its pioneering approach to design thinking. Their design process has five phases: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. These stages are not always sequential. Teams often run them in parallel, out of order, and repeat them as needed.

Stage 1: Empathize —Research Users' Needs

The team aims to understand the problem, typically through user research. Empathy is crucial to design thinking because it allows designers to set aside your assumptions about the world and gain insight into users and their needs.

Stage 2: Define—State Users' Needs and Problems

Once the team accumulates the information, they analyze the observations and synthesize them to define the core problems. These definitions are called problem statements . The team may create personas to help keep efforts human-centered.

Stage 3: Ideate—Challenge Assumptions and Create Ideas

With the foundation ready, teams gear up to “think outside the box.” They brainstorm alternative ways to view the problem and identify innovative solutions to the problem statement.

Stage 4: Prototype—Start to Create Solutions

This is an experimental phase. The aim is to identify the best possible solution for each problem. The team produces inexpensive, scaled-down versions of the product (or specific features found within the product) to investigate the ideas. This may be as simple as paper prototypes .

Stage 5: Test—Try the Solutions Out

The team tests these prototypes with real users to evaluate if they solve the problem. The test might throw up new insights, based on which the team might refine the prototype or even go back to the Define stage to revisit the problem.

These stages are different modes that contribute to the entire design project rather than sequential steps. The goal is to gain a deep understanding of the users and their ideal solution/product.

Design Thinking Frameworks

There is no single definition or process for design thinking. The five-stage design thinking methodology described above is just one of several frameworks.

Hasso-Platner Institute Panorama

Ludwig Wilhelm Wall, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Innovation doesn’t follow a linear path or have a clear-cut formula. Global design leaders and consultants have interpreted the abstract design process in different ways and have proposed other frameworks of design thinking.

Head, Heart and Hand by the American Institution of Graphic Arts (AIGA)

The Head, Heart, and Hand approach by AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) is a holistic perspective on design. It integrates the intellectual, emotional, and practical aspects of the creative process.

More than a process, the Head, Heart and Hand framework outlines the different roles that designers must perform to create great results.

© American Institute of Graphic Arts, Fair Use

“ Head ” symbolizes the intellectual component. The team focuses on strategic thinking, problem-solving and the cognitive aspects of design. It involves research and analytical thinking to ensure that design decisions are purposeful.

“ Heart ” represents the emotional dimension. It emphasizes empathy, passion, and human-centeredness. This aspect is crucial in understanding the users’ needs, desires, and experiences to ensure that designs resonate on a deeper, more personal level.

“ Hand ” signifies the practical execution of ideas, the craftsmanship, and the skills necessary to turn concepts into tangible solutions. This includes the mastery of tools, techniques, and materials, as well as the ability to implement and execute design ideas effectively.

Inspire, Ideate, Implement by IDEO

IDEO is a leading design consultancy and has developed its own version of the design thinking framework.

IDEO’s design thinking process is a cyclical three-step process that involves Inspiration, Ideation and Implementation.

© IDEO, Public License

In the “ Inspire ” phase, the team focuses on understanding users’ needs, behaviors, and motivations. The team empathizes with people through observation and user interviews to gather deep insights.

In the “ Ideate ” phase, the team synthesizes the insights gained to brainstorm a wide array of creative solutions. This stage encourages divergent thinking, where teams focus on quantity and variety of ideas over immediate practicality. The goal is to explore as many possibilities as possible without constraints.

In the “ Implement ” phase, the team brings these ideas to life through prototypes. The team tests, iterates and refines these ideas based on user feedback. This stage is crucial for translating abstract concepts into tangible, viable products, services, or experiences.

The methodology emphasizes collaboration and a multidisciplinary approach throughout each phase to ensure solutions are innovative and deeply rooted in real human needs and contexts.

The Double Diamond by the Design Council

In the book Designing Social Systems in a Changing World , Béla Heinrich Bánáthy, Professor at San Jose State University and UC Berkeley, created a “divergence-convergence model” diagram. The British Design Council interpreted this diagram to create the Double Diamond design process model.

As the name suggests, the double diamond model consists of two diamonds—one for the problem space and the other for the solution space. The model uses diamonds to represent the alternating diverging and converging activities.

© Design Council, CC BY 4.0

In the diverging “ Discover ” phase, designers gather insights and empathize with users’ needs. The team then converges in the “ Define ” phase to identify the problem.

The second, solution-related diamond, begins with “ Develop ,” where the team brainstorms ideas. The final stage is “ Deliver ,” where the team tests the concepts and implements the most viable solution.

This model balances expansive thinking with focused execution to ensure that design solutions are both creative and practical. It underscores the importance of understanding the problem thoroughly and carefully crafting the solution, making it a staple in many design and innovation processes.

With the widespread adoption of the double diamond framework, Design Council’s simple visual evolved.

In this expanded and annotated version, the framework emphasizes four design principles:

Be people-centered.

Communicate (visually and inclusively).

Collaborate and co-create.

Iterate, iterate, iterate!

The updated version also highlights the importance of leadership (to create an environment that allows innovation) and engagement (to connect with different stakeholders and involve them in the design process).

Common Elements of Design Thinking Frameworks

On the surface, design thinking frameworks look very different—they use alternative names and have different numbers of steps. However, at a fundamental level, they share several common traits.

Start with empathy . Focus on the people to come up with solutions that work best for individuals, business, and society.

Reframe the problem or challenge at hand . Don’t rush into a solution. Explore the problem space and look at the issue through multiple perspectives to gain a more holistic, nuanced understanding.

Initially, employ a divergent style of thinking (analyze) . In the problem space, gather as many insights as possible. In the solution space, encourage team members to generate and explore as many solutions as possible in an open, judgment-free ideation space.

Later, employ a convergent style of thinking (synthesize) . In the problem space, synthesize all data points to define the problem. In the solution space, whittle down all the ideas—isolate, combine and refine potential solutions to create more mature ideas.

Create and test prototypes . Solutions that make it through the previous stages get tested further to remove potential issues.

Iterate . As the team progresses through the various stages, they revisit different stages and may redefine the challenge based on new insights.

Design thinking is a non-linear process. For example, teams may jump from the test stage to the define stage if the tests reveal insights that redefine the problem. Or, a prototype might spark a new idea, prompting the team to step back into the ideate stage. Tests may also create new ideas for projects or reveal insights about users.

Design Thinking Mindsets: More than a Process

A mindset is a characteristic mental attitude that determines how one interprets and responds to situations . Design thinking mindsets are how individuals think , feel and express themselves during design thinking activities. It includes people’s expectations and orientations during a design project.

Without the right mindset, it can be very challenging to change how we work and think.

The key mindsets that ensure a team can successfully implement design thinking are.

Be empathetic: Empathy is the ability to place yourself, your thinking and feelings in another person’s shoes. Design thinking begins from a deep understanding of the needs and motivations of people—the parents, neighbors, children, colleagues, and strangers who make up a community. 

Be collaborative: No one person is responsible for the outcome when you work in a team. Several great minds are always stronger than just one. Design thinking benefits from the views of multiple perspectives and lets others’ creativity bolster your own.

Be optimistic: Be confident about achieving favorable outcomes. Design thinking is the fundamental belief that we can all create change—no matter how big a problem, how little time, or how small a budget. Designing can be a powerful process no matter what constraints exist around you.

Embrace ambiguity: Get comfortable with ambiguous and complex situations. If you expect perfection, it is difficult to take risks, which limits your ability to create radical change. Design thinking is all about experimenting and learning by doing. It gives you the confidence to believe that new, better things are possible and that you can help make them a reality. 

Be curious: Be open to different ideas. Recognize that you are not the user.

Reframe: Challenge and reframe assumptions associated with a given situation or problem. Don’t take problems at face value. Humans are primed to look for patterns. The unfortunate side effect of these patterns is that we form (often false and sometimes dangerous) stereotypes and assumptions. Design thinking aims to help you break through any preconceived notions and biases and reframe challenges.

Embrace diversity: Work with and engage people with different cultural backgrounds, experiences, and ways of thinking and working. Everyone brings a unique perspective to the team. When you include diverse voices in a team, you learn from each other’s experiences, further helping you break through your assumptions.

Make tangible: When you make ideas tangible, it is faster and easier for everyone on the team to be on the same page. For example, sketching an idea or enacting a scenario is far more convenient and easy to interpret than an elaborate presentation or document.

Take action: Run experiments and learn from them.

Design Thinking vs Agile Methodology

Teams often use design thinking and agile methodologies in project management, product development, and software development. These methodologies have distinct approaches but share some common principles.

Similarities between Design Thinking and Agile

Iterative process.

Both methodologies emphasize iterative development. In design thinking, teams may jump from one phase to another, not necessarily in a set cyclical or linear order. For example, on testing a prototype, teams may discover something new about their users and realize that they must redefine the problem. Agile teams iterate through development sprints.

User-Centered

The agile and design thinking methodologies focus on the end user. All design thinking activities—from empathizing to prototyping and testing—keep the end users front and center. Agile teams continually integrate user feedback into development cycles.

Collaboration and Teamwork

Both methodologies rely heavily on collaboration among cross-functional teams and encourage diverse perspectives and expertise.

Flexibility and Adaptability

With its focus on user research, prototyping and testing, design thinking ensures teams remain in touch with users and get continuous feedback. Similarly, agile teams monitor user feedback and refine the product in a reasonably quick time.

In this video, Laura Klein, author of Build Better Products , describes a typical challenge designers face on agile teams. She encourages designers to get comfortable with the idea of a design not being perfect. Notice the many parallels between Laura’s advice for designers on agile teams and the mindsets of design thinking.

Differences between Design Thinking and Agile

While design thinking and agile teams share principles like iteration, user focus, and collaboration, they are neither interchangeable nor mutually exclusive. A team can apply both methodologies without any conflict.

From a user experience design perspective, design thinking applies to the more abstract elements of strategy and scope. At the same time, agile is more relevant to the more concrete elements of UX: structure, skeleton and surface. For quick reference, here’s an overview of the five elements of user experience.

Design thinking is more about exploring and defining the right problem and solution, whereas agile is about efficiently executing and delivering a product.

Here are the key differences between design thinking and agile.

Design Thinking

It primarily originates in design and borrows from multiple disciplines, including psychology, systems thinking, and business strategy.

It primarily originates from software development and borrows from disciplines such as manufacturing and project management.

Primary Focus

Problem-solving and innovative solutions.

Efficient product delivery.

Phase of Application

Usually, toward the beginning of a project. Aims to define the problem and test and pick a solution.

Usually, after teams have a clear solution. Aims to deliver that solution and continuously iterate on the live product.

Structure and Documentation

Fluid process, less formal and relatively lesser documentation.

Structured and formal process with extensive documentation.

End product

An idea or solution, usually with a prototype, may not be tangible.

Tangible, working product (usually software) shipped to end users.

Design Sprint: A Condensed Version of Design Thinking

A design sprint is a 5-day intensive workshop where cross-functional teams aim to develop innovative solutions.

The design sprint is a very structured version of design thinking that fits into the timeline of a sprint (a sprint is a short timeframe in which agile teams work to produce deliverables). Developed by Google Ventures, the design sprint seeks to fast-track innovation.

In this video, user researcher Ditte Hvas Mortensen explains the design sprint in detail.

Learn More about Design Thinking

Design consultancy IDEO’s designkit is an excellent repository of design thinking tools and case studies.

To keep up with recent developments in design thinking, read IDEO CEO Tim Brown’s blog .

Enroll in our course Design Thinking: The Ultimate Guide —an excellent guide to get you started on your design thinking projects.

Questions related to Design Thinking

You don’t need any certification to practice design thinking. However, learning about the nuances of the methodology can help you:

Pick the appropriate methods and tailor the process to suit the unique needs of your project.

Avoid common pitfalls when you apply the methods.

Better lead a team and facilitate workshops.

Increase the chances of coming up with innovative solutions.

IxDF has a comprehensive course to help you gain the most from the methodology: Design Thinking: The Ultimate Guide .

Anyone can apply design thinking to solve problems. Despite what the name suggests, non-designers can use the methodology in non-design-related scenarios. The methodology helps you think about problems from the end user’s perspective. Some areas where you can apply this process:

Develop new products with greater chances of success.

Address community-related issues (such as education, healthcare and environment) to improve society and living standards.

Innovate/enhance existing products to gain an advantage over the competition.

Achieve greater efficiencies in operations and reduce costs.

Use the Design Thinking: The Ultimate Guide course to apply design thinking to your context today.

A framework is the basic structure underlying a system, concept, or text. There are several design thinking frameworks with slight differences. However, all the frameworks share some traits. Each framework: 

Begins with empathy.

Reframes the problem or challenge at hand.

Initially employs divergent styles of thinking to generate ideas.

Later, it employs convergent styles of thinking to narrow down the best ideas,

Creates and tests prototypes.

Iterates based on the tests.

Some of the design thinking frameworks are:

5-stage design process by d.school

7-step early traditional design process by Herbert Simon

The 5-Stage DeepDive™ by IDEO

The “Double Diamond” Design Process Model by the Design Council

Collective Action Toolkit (CAT) by Frog Design

The LUMA System of Innovation by LUMA Institute

For details about each of these frameworks, see 10 Insightful Design Thinking Frameworks: A Quick Overview .

IDEO’s 3-Stage Design Thinking Process consists of inspiration, ideation and implementation:

Inspire : The problem or opportunity inspires and motivates the search for a solution.

Ideate : A process of synthesis distills insights which can lead to solutions or opportunities for change.

Implement : The best ideas are turned into a concrete, fully conceived action plan.

IDEO is a leader in applying design thinking and has developed many frameworks. Find out more in 10 Insightful Design Thinking Frameworks: A Quick Overview .

Design Council's Double Diamond diagram depicts the divergent and convergent stages of the design process.

Béla H. Bánáthy, founder of the White Stag Leadership Development Program, created the “divergence-convergence” model in 1996. In the mid-2000s, the British Design Council made this famous as the Double Diamond model.

The Double Diamond diagram graphically represents a design thinking process. It highlights the divergent and convergent styles of thinking in the design process. It has four distinct phases:

Discover: Initial idea or inspiration based on user needs.

Define: Interpret user needs and align them with business objectives.

Develop: Develop, iterate and test design-led solutions.

Deliver: Finalize and launch the end product into the market.

Double Diamond is one of several design thinking frameworks. Find out more in 10 Insightful Design Thinking Frameworks: A Quick Overview .

There are several design thinking methods that you can choose from, depending on what stage of the process you’re in. Here are a few common design thinking methods:

User Interviews: to understand user needs, pain points, attitudes and behaviors.

5 Whys Method: to dig deeper into problems to diagnose the root cause.

User Observations: to understand how users behave in real life (as opposed to what they say they do).

Affinity Diagramming: to organize research findings.

Empathy Mapping: to empathize with users based on research insights.

Journey Mapping: to visualize a user’s experience as they solve a problem.

6 Thinking Hats: to encourage a group to think about a problem or solution from multiple perspectives.

Brainstorming: to generate ideas.

Prototyping: to make abstract ideas more tangible and test them.

Dot Voting: to select ideas.

Start applying these methods to your work today with the Design Thinking template bundle .

For most of the design thinking process, you will need basic office stationery:

Pen and paper

Sticky notes

Whiteboard and markers

Print-outs of templates and canvases as needed (such as empathy maps, journey maps, feedback capture grid etc.) You can also draw these out manually.

Prototyping materials such as UI stencils, string, clay, Lego bricks, sticky tapes, scissors and glue.

A space to work in.

You can conduct design thinking workshops remotely by:

Using collaborative software to simulate the whiteboard and sticky notes.

Using digital templates instead of printed canvases.

Download print-ready templates you can share with your team to practice design thinking today.

Design thinking is a problem-solving methodology that helps teams better identify, understand, and solve business and customer problems.

When businesses prioritize and empathize with customers, they can create solutions catering to their needs. Happier customers are more likely to be loyal and organically advocate for the product.

Design thinking helps businesses develop innovative solutions that give them a competitive advantage.

Gain a competitive advantage in your business with Design Thinking: The Ultimate Guide .

The evolution of Design Thinking can be summarised in 8 key events from the 1960s to 2004.

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Herbert Simon’s 1969 book, "The Sciences of the Artificial," has one of the earliest references to design thinking. David Kelley, founder of the design consultancy IDEO, coined the term “design thinking” and helped make it popular.

For a more comprehensive discussion on the origins of design thinking, see The History of Design Thinking .

Some organizations that have employed design thinking successfully are:

Airbnb: Airbnb used design thinking to create a platform for people to rent out their homes to travelers. The company focused on the needs of both hosts and guests . The result was a user-friendly platform to help people find and book accommodations.

PillPack: PillPack is a prescription home-delivery system. The company focused on the needs of people who take multiple medications and created a system that organizes pills by date and time. Amazon bought PillPack in 2018 for $1 billion .

Google Creative Lab: Google Creative Lab collaborated with IDEO to discover how kids physically play and learn. The team used design thinking to create Project Bloks . The project helps children develop foundational problem-solving skills "through coding experiences that are playful, tactile and collaborative.”

See more examples of design thinking and learn practical methods in Design Thinking: The Ultimate Guide .

Innovation essentially means a new idea. Design thinking is a problem-solving methodology that helps teams develop new ideas. In other words, design thinking can lead to innovation.

Human-Centered Design is a newer term for User-Centered Design

“Human-centred design is an approach to interactive systems development that aims to make systems usable and useful by focusing on the users, their needs and requirements, and by applying human factors/ergonomics, and usability knowledge and techniques. This approach enhances effectiveness and efficiency, improves human well-being, user satisfaction, accessibility and sustainability; and counteracts possible adverse effects of use on human health, safety and performance.”

— ISO 9241-210:2019(en), ISO (the International Organization for Standardization)  

User experience expert Don Norman describes human-centered design (HCD) as a more evolved form of user-centered design (UCD). The word "users" removes their importance and treats them more like objects than people. By replacing “user” with “human,” designers can empathize better with the people for whom they are designing. Don Norman takes HCD a step further and prefers the term People-Centered Design.

Design thinking has a broader scope and takes HCD beyond the design discipline to drive innovation.

People sometimes use design thinking and human-centered design to mean the same thing. However, they are not the same. HCD is a formal discipline with a specific process used only by designers and usability engineers to design products. Design thinking borrows the design methods and applies them to problems in general.

Design Sprint condenses design thinking into a 1-week structured workshop

Google Ventures condensed the design thinking framework into a time-constrained 5-day workshop format called the Design Sprint. The sprint follows one step per day of the week:

Monday: Unpack

Tuesday: Sketch

Wednesday: Decide

Thursday: Prototype

Friday: Test

Learn more about the design sprint in Make Your UX Design Process Agile Using Google’s Methodology .

Systems Thinking is a distinct discipline with a broader approach to problem-solving

“Systems thinking is a way of exploring and developing effective action by looking at connected wholes rather than separate parts.”

— Introduction to Systems thinking, Report of GSE and GORS seminar, Civil Service Live

Both HCD and Systems Thinking are formal disciplines. Designers and usability engineers primarily use HCD. Systems thinking has applications in various fields, such as medical, environmental, political, economic, human resources, and educational systems.

HCD has a much narrower focus and aims to create and improve products. Systems thinking looks at the larger picture and aims to change entire systems.

Don Norman encourages designers to incorporate systems thinking in their work. Instead of looking at people and problems in isolation, designers must look at them from a systems point of view.

In summary, UCD and HCD refer to the same field, with the latter being a preferred phrase.

Design thinking is a broader framework that borrows methods from human-centered design to approach problems beyond the design discipline. It encourages people with different backgrounds and expertise to work together and apply the designer’s way of thinking to generate innovative solutions to problems.

Systems thinking is another approach to problem-solving that looks at the big picture instead of specific problems in isolation.

The design sprint is Google Ventures’ version of the design thinking process, structured to fit the design process in 1 week.

There are multiple design thinking frameworks, each with a different number of steps and phase names. One of the most popular frameworks is the Stanford d.School 5-stage process.

Design thinking is an iterative and non-linear process. It contains five phases: 1. Empathize, 2. Define, 3. Ideate, 4. Prototype and 5. Test. It is important to note the five stages of design thinking are not always sequential. They do not have to follow a specific order, and they can often occur in parallel or be repeated iteratively. The stages should be understood as different modes which contribute to the entire design project, rather than sequential steps.

For more details, see The 5 Stages in the Design Thinking Process .

IDEO is a leading design consultancy and has developed its own version of the design thinking framework and adds the dimension of implementation in the process.

IDEO’s framework uses slightly different terms than d.school’s design thinking process and adds an extra dimension of implementation. The steps in the DeepDive™ Methodology are: Understand, Observe, Visualize, Evaluate and Implement.

IDEO’s DeepDive™ Methodology includes the following steps:

Understand: Conduct research and identify what the client needs and the market landscape

Observe: Similar to the Empathize step, teams observe people in live scenarios and conduct user research to identify their needs and pain points.

Visualize: In this step, the team visualizes new concepts. Similar to the Ideate phase, teams focus on creative, out-of-the-box and novel ideas.

Evaluate: The team prototypes ideas and evaluates them. After refining the prototypes, the team picks the most suitable one.

Implement: The team then sets about to develop the new concept for commercial use.

IDEO’s DeepDive™ is one of several design thinking frameworks. Find out more in 10 Insightful Design Thinking Frameworks: A Quick Overview .

Answer a Short Quiz to Earn a Gift

What are the stages in the design thinking process?

• Brainstorm, Prototype, Design, Launch, Test
• Define, Ideate, Research, Design, Test
• Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test

Why is empathy critical in the design thinking process?

• It allows designers to understand and address the real needs of users.
• It helps designers maintain control over the creative process.
• It makes sure the solution is inexpensive and easy to create.

What is the primary purpose of the prototyping phase in design thinking?

• To explore potential solutions and how they might work in real-world situations
• To finalize the product design for mass production
• To sell the idea to stakeholders with a high-fidelity (hi-fi) demonstration

What is a "wicked problem" in design thinking?

• Problems that are complex, ill-defined and have no single correct answer.
• Problems that are straightforward and have a clear, single solution.
• Problems that are tricky, but can be solved quickly with conventional methods.

Why is the iterative process important in design thinking?

• It allows design teams to use up all available resources.
• It allows for the improvement of solutions based on user feedback and testing.
• It makes sure the solution remains unchanged throughout development.

Better luck next time!

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Literature on Design Thinking (DT)

Here’s the entire UX literature on Design Thinking (DT) by the Interaction Design Foundation, collated in one place:

Learn more about Design Thinking (DT)

Take a deep dive into Design Thinking (DT) with our course Design Thinking: The Ultimate Guide .

Some of the world’s leading brands, such as Apple, Google, Samsung, and General Electric, have rapidly adopted the design thinking approach, and design thinking is being taught at leading universities around the world, including Stanford d.school, Harvard, and MIT. What is design thinking, and why is it so popular and effective?

Design Thinking is not exclusive to designers —all great innovators in literature, art, music, science, engineering and business have practiced it. So, why call it Design Thinking? Well, that’s because design work processes help us systematically extract, teach, learn and apply human-centered techniques to solve problems in a creative and innovative way—in our designs, businesses, countries and lives. And that’s what makes it so special.

The overall goal of this design thinking course is to help you design better products, services, processes, strategies, spaces, architecture, and experiences. Design thinking helps you and your team develop practical and innovative solutions for your problems. It is a human-focused , prototype-driven , innovative design process . Through this course, you will develop a solid understanding of the fundamental phases and methods in design thinking, and you will learn how to implement your newfound knowledge in your professional work life. We will give you lots of examples; we will go into case studies, videos, and other useful material, all of which will help you dive further into design thinking. In fact, this course also includes exclusive video content that we've produced in partnership with design leaders like Alan Dix, William Hudson and Frank Spillers!

This course contains a series of practical exercises that build on one another to create a complete design thinking project. The exercises are optional, but you’ll get invaluable hands-on experience with the methods you encounter in this course if you complete them, because they will teach you to take your first steps as a design thinking practitioner. What’s equally important is you can use your work as a case study for your portfolio to showcase your abilities to future employers! A portfolio is essential if you want to step into or move ahead in a career in the world of human-centered design.

Design thinking methods and strategies belong at every level of the design process . However, design thinking is not an exclusive property of designers—all great innovators in literature, art, music, science, engineering, and business have practiced it. What’s special about design thinking is that designers and designers’ work processes can help us systematically extract, teach, learn, and apply these human-centered techniques in solving problems in a creative and innovative way—in our designs, in our businesses, in our countries, and in our lives.

That means that design thinking is not only for designers but also for creative employees , freelancers , and business leaders . It’s for anyone who seeks to infuse an approach to innovation that is powerful, effective and broadly accessible, one that can be integrated into every level of an organization, product, or service so as to drive new alternatives for businesses and society.

You earn a verifiable and industry-trusted Course Certificate once you complete the course. You can highlight them on your resume, CV, LinkedIn profile or your website .

All open-source articles on Design Thinking (DT)

What is design thinking and why is it so popular.

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Personas – A Simple Introduction

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Stage 2 in the Design Thinking Process: Define the Problem and Interpret the Results

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What is Ideation – and How to Prepare for Ideation Sessions

Affinity Diagrams: How to Cluster Your Ideas and Reveal Insights

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Stage 4 in the Design Thinking Process: Prototype

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Stage 3 in the Design Thinking Process: Ideate

• 4 years ago

Stage 1 in the Design Thinking Process: Empathise with Your Users

Empathy Map – Why and How to Use It

What Is Empathy and Why Is It So Important in Design Thinking?

10 Insightful Design Thinking Frameworks: A Quick Overview

Define and Frame Your Design Challenge by Creating Your Point Of View and Ask “How Might We”

Design Thinking: Get Started with Prototyping

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5 Common Low-Fidelity Prototypes and Their Best Practices

Design Thinking: New Innovative Thinking for New Problems

The History of Design Thinking

Test Your Prototypes: How to Gather Feedback and Maximize Learning

• 11 mths ago

The Ultimate Guide to Understanding UX Roles and Which One You Should Go For

• 10 mths ago

Stage 5 in the Design Thinking Process: Test

What Are Wicked Problems and How Might We Solve Them?

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Breaking Down the Design Thinking Process

Design thinking goes beyond the usual problem-solving focus of most UI and UX designers and adds the aspect of deep empathy for the user to the entire product design lifecycle, increasing the prospect of success.

By Cameron Chapman

Cameron comes from a design background and is the author of two web design books: Color for Web Design and The Smashing Idea Book.

What is design thinking? Put simply, design thinking as a strategy goes beyond the usual problem-solving focus of most UI and UX designers. It adds deep empathy for the user to the entire design process, creating a human-centered design outcome.

Why is design thinking so important to implement? Designs focused on empathy for the user and centered around their wants and needs will always be superior to designs that only focus on solving the problem in the most efficient or creative way. After all, what the designer views as efficient and creative won’t always meet user needs in the best possible way.

The design thinking process can be broken down into five stages: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. Each one should be given time and the appropriate resources in order to create an end product that truly meets user needs and wants.

Step 1: Empathize

The first step in applying the design thinking process to any project is to consider the human needs involved in the problem being solved. Designers must employ their design thinking empathy and consider the needs of the users impacted by the problem—step into their shoes, so to speak.

Conducting research at this stage is vital to the success of the end result, even though the end result hasn’t yet been conceived. User research at this point should be focused on gathering more information about the problem as well as other solutions users may have tried.

If users have tried a solution that has failed, it’s best to find out early in the process. Revealing this information through user interviews and other research helps prevent designers from repeating the same unsuitable solution.

Asking the right questions during the UX research stage is essential to gathering the information necessary to find a real solution that will meet user needs and expectations. Exactly what those questions are, however, will depend on the project and problem to be solved.

Step 2: Define

Once research into the problem has been conducted and an idea of what solutions have failed in the past has formed, it’s time to define the problem in human-centric terms. This means looking at it from the user’s perspective, rather than the designer’s or company’s viewpoint.

On occasion it goes beyond simply defining the problem—sometimes reframing it can lead to better solutions. For example, designers of a medical device might look at the problem to be solved from the perspective of the technician operating the device. But that viewpoint could cause problems for the patients who are using the device.

For example, MRI machines are terrifying to many children. GE Healthcare product designer Doug Dietz was shocked to learn that 80% of children needed to be sedated in order to undergo an MRI. While his team had created an innovative new MRI machine, they didn’t address that particular issue because they hadn’t looked at it from the perspective of a child. When they finally did, and added colorful graphics to the machine and a story to the experience, only a fraction of one percent of kids had to be sedated for the tests.

Solving that problem was all about the point of view . Dietz didn’t realize children had issues with the tests until he witnessed it firsthand while reviewing the installation of one of the machines.

Stanford’s D.School has come up with a POV MadLib for defining a design problem and refining it to a single point of view. This can be incredibly helpful for design teams that are having trouble distilling user needs in relation to the problem they’re trying to solve.

Designers should think of problems in terms of user needs. They also need to consider the various users faced with the problem. In the MRI example, for instance, it wasn’t just the technicians running the machines who needed to be considered; the patients who would also be “users” needed to be considered as well.

At the same time, it’s a good idea to define the strengths of the design team in relation to the problem. Designers all have their strengths and weaknesses, and creating a team that can play to its strengths (and hopefully cover for each other’s weaknesses) is a vital part of creating a winning solution.

Albert Einstein once said , “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first fifty-five minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.” Figuring out the right question is the same as figuring out the right perspective.

Step 3: Ideate

The ideation phase of any design project can be one of the most creative and rewarding components. Ideation sessions should include all the members of your design team as well as other stakeholders who can offer different perspectives on the same problem.

Alex Osborn, who popularized the term “brainstorm” in his 1953 book Applied Imagination , says that two rules are needed for an effective brainstorming session: The team must defer judgment of the ideas that are presented and must aim for quantity over quality.

Sometimes it takes a lot of bad ideas to come up with a good one. But if the team avoids even voicing the “bad” ideas, they may never reach the good ones. In fact, many times, one person’s bad idea will get another person’s brain going in the right direction, leading to an excellent solution. Without the bad idea being voiced in the first place, the right idea may never have come along.

Set limits to the brainstorming sessions. Time limits (usually 15-20 minutes per topic or aspect of a project) can help spark productivity and prevent participants from going on forever and getting burned out before all of the topics have been addressed.

As mentioned above, including stakeholders who aren’t on the design team is an important part of this process. In addition to finding out what ideas they’ve already tried, including them in brainstorming sessions encourages them to buy into the design process. Hearing the reasoning behind why certain options are disqualified from the start—or considered to be worth a try, can reduce resistance later in the process.

Challenging the assumptions of those involved about what is or isn’t a viable solution can also lead to innovative ideas. When someone says that something can’t be done or wouldn’t work, the rest of the team should ask, “Why not?” This can lead to more ideas and cause participants to challenge their own assumptions about how a design “should” be done.

Realize that, during the ideation phase, it’s unlikely the ultimate solution to the problem will be discovered. The point here is to come up with as many ideas as possible, sort through them to find the best (which will likely be some combination of user needs, practicality, cost-effectiveness, and other factors specific to the project) and then figure out which ones should move on the next step: prototyping.

Step 4: Prototype

Prototyping ideas is a vital part of the design thinking process. Without good prototypes , user testing can’t be carried out effectively, which means designs won’t be properly vetted before being sent to a production environment.

Prototypes for the best ideas from step three should be built. These need to be real, tactile representations of the ideas that users can interact with. In the case of an app, for example, the full workflow of the app’s usage should be represented, including onboarding, signup and login screens, as well as the actual functionality.

Prototypes can allow designers to create innovative solutions that haven’t been thought of yet. When a design team isn’t restricted by current modalities, or current technologies, they can create prototypes that break away from those conventions. It’s why so many designers still prefer to create initial wireframes and prototypes with pen and paper rather than software—it allows them to create whatever they can imagine without restraint.

Prototyping should be done in stages, starting with low-fidelity prototypes used to gather feedback from users and stakeholders. As solutions are narrowed down, higher-functioning and better-designed prototypes can be created for further testing in a more realistic production environment.

Creating higher-fidelity prototypes early on can feel overwhelming. If the main part of an app’s functionality, for example, requires complex coding, how can that be achieved so early in the process without delaying the entire project, and possibly wasting a lot of time and resources on functionality that ultimately won’t make it? One solution is to use humans to simulate the needed functionality. For example, initially a chatbot could be manned by actual people until user needs are understood.

Step 5: Test

One of the most important parts of the design thinking process is to test your designs with actual users. This step often goes hand-in-hand with step four (prototyping).

Testing is incredibly valuable because without it, designers can’t collect user feedback. And user feedback is what allows products to really solve the problems they were designed to solve.

In all likelihood, testing will end up challenging assumptions made by the design team during the previous phases of the design thinking process. The real world has a tendency to throw a wrench into even the most well-thought-out designs . For example, did the designers take into account things like server lag or unstable internet connections? Did they consider that users might need instant feedback even if processing their requests takes a few seconds?

User testing reveals kinks in processes that are otherwise incredibly well-thought-out and planned.

The testing phase often goes along with the prototyping phase because testing should be done early and often. Think of the prototyping and testing phases as a cycle. A prototype is created, then tested, then refined (or scrapped entirely for a different idea), then tested again, and so on and so forth until the project is ready to be unleashed on the world.

The user testing process will change depending on the product being tested. For example, a website design could largely be tested with anonymous users through sites like UserInput.io or Five Second Test . Testing an app for an established company, though, might include their current customers and go through a more rigorous testing process that includes user interviews et al. Vox Media outlines their user research testing method in an informative article that discusses methods for conducting remote user research .

Implementing the Design Thinking Process

Designers should strive to create products that are the best possible solutions for their users. Too often, designers can get caught up in creating what they think as “best”—measured as either the most efficient, the most creative, or some other metric that may or may not be important to users.

Implementing the design thinking process to a project workflow is an excellent way to prevent these kinds of design mistakes. Users don’t care about the most objectively efficient or creative solutions. They care about the solution that actually solves their problem. Using the design thinking framework more easily allows designers to figure out what users consider the optimal solution, rather than operating based on their own biases.

In the end, creating satisfied users should be the goal of every design team.

Further Reading on the Toptal Blog:

• The Value of Design Thinking in Business
• The Importance of Human-centered Design in Product Design
• What Is Strategic Design Thinking and How Can It Empower Designers?
• Great Questions Lead to Great Design: A Guide to the Design-thinking Process
• Design Problem Statements: What They Are and How to Frame Them
• How Thinking Like a Designer Can Help Solve Complex Business Problems

Understanding the basics

What is the purpose of design thinking.

Put simply, design thinking as a strategy goes beyond the usual problem-solving focus most UI and UX designers have. It adds a deep empathy for the user to the entire design process, creating a human-centered design outcome.

What does empathy imply as per design thinking?

Empathy in terms of the design thinking framework refers to the first stage of the process, where designers look at a problem from the perspective of users to create solutions that will solve those problems in a way that is best for the user rather than just the most efficient or creative solution.

What are the stages of design thinking?

There are five design thinking stages: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. These stages are tackled in order as part of the design thinking framework, with each building on the previous, although the final two stages are often done simultaneously and are often repeated until the best solution is found.

Is design thinking an iterative approach?

Parts of the design thinking framework are iterative, and the entire design thinking process can be used in an iterative design environment. The final two stages are particularly iterative, with prototyping and testing happening in cycles to improve upon each prototype based on user feedback.

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Why Design Thinking Works

• Jeanne Liedtka

While we know a lot about practices that stimulate new ideas, innovation teams often struggle to apply them. Why? Because people’s biases and entrenched behaviors get in the way. In this article a Darden professor explains how design thinking helps people overcome this problem and unleash their creativity.

Though ostensibly geared to understanding and molding the experiences of customers, design thinking also profoundly reshapes the experiences of the innovators themselves. For example, immersive customer research helps them set aside their own views and recognize needs customers haven’t expressed. Carefully planned dialogues help teams build on their diverse ideas, not just negotiate compromises when differences arise. And experiments with new solutions reduce all stakeholders’ fear of change.

At every phase—customer discovery, idea generation, and testing—a clear structure makes people more comfortable trying new things, and processes increase collaboration. Because it combines practical tools and human insight, design thinking is a social technology —one that the author predicts will have an impact as large as an earlier social technology: total quality management.

It addresses the biases and behaviors that hamper innovation.

Idea in Brief

The problem.

While we know a lot about what practices stimulate new ideas and creative solutions, most innovation teams struggle to realize their benefits.

People’s intrinsic biases and behavioral habits inhibit the exercise of the imagination and protect unspoken assumptions about what will or will not work.

The Solution

Design thinking provides a structured process that helps innovators break free of counterproductive tendencies that thwart innovation. Like TQM, it is a social technology that blends practical tools with insights into human nature.

Occasionally, a new way of organizing work leads to extraordinary improvements. Total quality management did that in manufacturing in the 1980s by combining a set of tools—kanban cards, quality circles, and so on—with the insight that people on the shop floor could do much higher level work than they usually were asked to. That blend of tools and insight, applied to a work process, can be thought of as a social technology.

• JL Jeanne Liedtka is a professor of business administration at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

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7 Examples of Design Thinking in Practice (And What We Can Learn From Them)

Design thinking is a problem-solving methodology that actively addresses user-centric challenges. Learn how industry leaders implement this concept through our compilation of real-life design thinking examples.   

Design thinking has risen as an influential methodology for problem-solving that actively employs empathy, brainstorming, and testing to produce novel solutions. However, contrary to popular belief, this methodology is not just a handy tool for designers and has found application in multiple different industries. 

In this article, we explore some key examples and case studies where popular brands have implemented design thinking in the pursuit of finding solutions to complex challenges, as well as what you can learn from each.  Here’s what we cover:

How is Design Thinking Implemented?

• GE Healthcare
• Project Bloks

Is Design Thinking Intuitive?

The design thinking process is a systematic approach to problem-solving that follows a structured framework for producing novel solutions. The same is implemented through five distinct steps:

The first step of the design thinking process, empathise, is dedicated to gaining profound insights into the needs, desires, and challenges of the end users. The main goal at this point is to observe and collect user data without letting any preconceived notions hinder the process.

During the define step, all data collected is meticulously synthesized to formulate a precise problem statement. The goal is to refine and narrow down the scope of the problem into clear and concise statements by identifying recurring user patterns, discerning trends, and categorising problem areas.

This is the point in the design process where most creativity, innovation, and solutions are birthed. The primary aim is to effectively address the identified problem statements and alleviate user pain points through solution-oriented interventions.

The prototype step is all about bringing ideas and solutions to life through experimentation. This is a particularly important step as it allows individuals to see the tangible impact of their solutions and focus on their functionality and effectiveness.

User feedback is paramount at this stage, as it significantly influences the design process. The testing step offers an invaluable opportunity to assess the ease of functioning, operational efficiency, and how effectively the solution tackles the problem statement.

Since design thinking is inherently iterative, the steps in the process are not set in stone and often take a non-linear approach. For deeper insights into how each of these steps flesh out in practice, you can refer to this Parent Assistance Project by AND learner Shrikant Subramaniam. 

Examples of design thinking applications

Design thinking has been extensively used across industries and sectors to address common user and business problems. However, some monumental examples where major brand names employed design thinking to spearhead their growth are what we will cover.

Renowned as a prominent influencer in the shoe design industry, Nike has maintained its status as a favourite among athletes for nearly five decades. 

Source: Nike

How they use design thinking

Nike’s design ideology of ‘ moving forward ’ has consistently focused on creating new, groundbreaking innovations. Here are a few design thinking strategies that the brand has consistently implemented in their process:

• Nike’s innovation is rooted in user needs. Since the brand caters to athletes, their products are not just sports gear but are rather developed to cater to questions of comfort and performance - a big factor when it comes to athletic prowess. 
• Nike’s emphasis on user-centric design is also evident in their vast offering of designs and styles that are developed to cater to the cultural nuances of diverse groups at a global level. 
• Nike’s design thinking approach also places a huge emphasis on prototyping without constraints. Their Flyknit Racer is an excellent example of dedication to prototyping considering the final design was achieved after 195 trials.

Application of Design Thinking by Nike

Nike’s Air Force One campaign, which established the brand as a leader in the sports fashion industry, utilised pressurised air technology. The product was developed keeping in mind not only what athletes needed in terms of performance, but also what they wanted in terms of style and comfort. 

Another instance where Nike drove business decisions based on user needs was with its Nike Dunk SB line. Struggling to enter the skateboarding community, the brand involved skateboarders in the design process to understand what they were looking for in skateboarding footwear and, by extension, their perception of Nike. The Nike SB line of shoes saw great success and earned Nike a spot within the skateboarding community. 

What you can learn from Nike

Nike has explored new ventures, but its primary target audience has always been athletes, with performance being at the core of all business and design decisions. The brand’s ability to understand and empathize with the needs of customers, combined with its flexibility towards prototyping and testing, has propelled them to success. 

Known as the pioneer of the experience economy, Airbnb today stands as a $75.4B company still dictating the fundamentals of user-friendly design. However, behind Airbnb’s massive success lies its approach to human-centric design. 

Source: Airbnb

When it comes to actively addressing user pain points, Airbnb has always focused on human-centric design. The biggest challenge for Airbnb has been to address the ‘ absence of trust ’ guests feel when booking a room. Some design thinking-based strategies came in quite handy in addressing these.

• The social bias against strangers was addressed through rampant user research that prioritized empathy. Airbnb’s decision to design a form suggesting an appropriate host message length and suggestive prompts was rooted in this research, which found a correlation between the message length and host acceptance rates. 
• The UI UX of the platform has been carefully designed to enhance user experience since it is the first brand touchpoint for users. Personalised recommendations, the incorporation of storytelling to foster an emotional connection, and the addition of detailed information and pictures are deliberate decisions that allow Airbnb to address the lack of trust among customers. 
• The Airbnb office was also redesigned to resemble apartments. The idea was to allow employees to function in the environment that they were designing for, actualising the importance of empathy and the role it plays in successful ideation.

Application of Design Thinking by Airbnb

While Airbnb has consistently applied design thinking principles, two notable case studies exemplify its commitment to this approach. First, when faced with the challenge of low registrations, Airbnb founders took a hands-on approach by personally visiting hosts in New York to assist them in uploading high-quality images of their properties. Despite being an unconventional and non-scalable decision, this initiative proved highly effective, doubling revenue by alleviating customer uncertainty regarding the accommodations they were considering.

Similarly, Airbnb adopts the 'Patient Approach' as part of its onboarding process for new employees. This involves sponsoring trips for employees during their first or second week to experience firsthand the customer's journey. Employees are tasked with documenting their experiences and answering structured questions, fostering an environment of empathy-driven innovation within the company.

What you can learn from Airbnb

The essence of the design thinking process lies in empathy, a principle that Airbnb has fully embraced and mastered. From having employees experience a customer’s journey to making business decisions based on empathy, Airbnb’s success showcases the value of deviating from traditional approaches to address challenges. The company’s focus on testing new hypotheses for making long-term decisions has also contributed to its success. 

Credited for bringing in the phenomenon of ‘binge-watching’, Netflix has been known for keeping up with the changing market and producing customer-friendly solutions. The application of design thinking has undoubtedly helped this streaming giant maintain its position in the market. 

Source: Netflix

Netflix’s primary goals, ever since its inception, have been:

• To reduce user effort by elevating the overall experience. 
• To utilise user data to adapt to the changing market needs

This approach has pioneered several customer-friendly innovations. Features like ‘Skip Intro’ or ‘Because you watched’ were developed after observing user behaviour and have contributed to the platform’s unmatched experience. 

The incorporation of video previews instead of still images or movie posters is one small change that significantly improved user experience. Similarly, the decision to create and stream original content that fit user tastes further enabled Netflix to strengthen its hold over the market. 

Application of Design Thinking by Netflix

Netflix's Shuffle button is a prime example of design thinking in practice. Recognising that the vast array of choices on the platform sometimes overwhelms users, based on data from user research, Netflix effectively removed the burden of decision-making from the user's shoulders. 

Instead of spending precious time browsing through countless options, users can simply hit the Shuffle button and let Netflix curate a selection for them. This not only alleviates decision fatigue but also adds an element of surprise and spontaneity to the viewing process.

What you can learn from Netflix

Netflix constantly gathers user feedback and actively applies gathered data to the next iterative improvement. This constant cycle of feedback and testing based on the user’s changing needs is the core of design thinking and Netflix employs it seamlessly.

4. GE Healthcare

Founded in 1994, GE Healthcare is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and operates in more than 100 countries. It was through design thinking that the brand revamped the typically scary experience that children face when undergoing a scan.

Source: GE Healthcare

The experience of undergoing a scan has often proven to be harrowing for young children. Identifying this as a potential pain point for the young audience, Doug Dietz, the chief designer at GE Healthcare identified two problem statements:

1- To reduce the anxiety children experienced while undergoing a standard scan

2- To address the need for anaesthesiologists to help calm down children for a scan

Doug's journey began with a keen desire to gain a deeper understanding of his target audience, much in line with the “empathize” step of the design thinking process. To achieve this, he took proactive steps such as actively observing children at a daycare centre and engaging with child specialists to uncover the motivations and behaviours of young children.

Doug also organised a brainstorming session at a children's museum, wherein the children participated and contributed by sketching out their ideas. Many of these later served as valuable inspiration for refining designs and prototypes.

Drawing from his extensive research findings, Doug developed what would become known as the 'Adventure Series', a groundbreaking pilot program implemented at the children's hospital within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Application of Design Thinking by GE Healthcare

As per the ‘Adventure Series’, MRI machines were completely redesigned into captivating adventure environments. Each machine was decorated with distinct themes, such as pirate ships, black holes, beach scenes, and whimsical sandcastles to make the MRI experience enjoyable and engaging for young children. This not only alleviated the fears and anxieties associated with the procedure but also significantly reduced the children’s dependency on anesthesiologists for scans, bringing down overall expenses. In fact, the overall patient satisfaction rating went up to 90% after the intervention. [H4] What you can learn from GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare stands as one of the best examples of the application of the design thinking process. Right from Doug Dietz’s immersive user research to understand the needs of young children and empathizing with their fear right up to the multidisciplinary approach he undertook towards the problem statement, each step exemplifies the lasting impact design thinking can have if done right. 

5. UberEats

UberEats stands out among other delivery services as one of the fastest-growing platforms. Unlike a retrospective approach, which focuses on refining existing models, UberEats opted for a forward-thinking strategy, emphasising the importance of creativity and user-centric design from the outset. 

Source: UberEats Newsletter

The design thinking approach that UberEats took concentrated primarily on three levels: empathising, iteration, and testing.

At the empathising level, UberEats designers conducted interviews with stakeholders at every touchpoint of the delivery process. This included delivery partners seeking to increase their earnings, restaurant owners interested in business expansion, and customers ordering food. To effectively empathize with each group, UberEATS launched three distinct programs operating at different levels:

• The Walkabout Program allowed employees to travel to different cities and learn key aspects like the culture of the city, transportation system, and interview each stakeholder for first-hand information.  
• Order Shadowing enabled designers to observe the app operation in person. Essentially, employees were asked to shadow delivery partners during their shifts, visit restaurants at peak hours, and observe how people interacted with the app to order food from home. 
• Fireside Chats, was started as a program that encouraged all stakeholders to provide feedback on their experience. These were lightweight sessions that were put in place particularly to help designers actively empathise with the users and bridge any gaps between the Walkabout and Shadow programs. 

Application of Design Thinking by UberEats

UberEats' application features aim to optimise the experiences of all stakeholders. Notable functionalities include drivers' ability to undertake rides and deliveries concurrently for increased income, a restaurant sales dashboard empowering chefs to refine dishes based on demand, and the 'Under 30 Minutes' service for swift deliveries. Additionally, user behaviour insights led to the 'Most Popular Item' category being introduced for simplified ordering and a dedicated driver app facilitating efficient route planning by avoiding congested parking areas.

What you can learn from UberEats

UberEats stands as a valuable example of how incorporating design thinking into the strategic and planning levels can lead to long-term success. In the case of UberEats particularly, the emphasis on user research and empathising helped the company accurately assess the needs and create solutions that addressed latent customer desires.  

Oral-B, a renowned brand in oral hygiene products, has consistently leveraged design thinking principles across its product development and innovation endeavours. Notably, one standout project showcasing the effective application of design thinking is the redesign of Oral-B's children's toothbrush. 

Source: IDEO

Oral-B's Children's Toothbrush exemplified a comprehensive integration of design thinking principles, from empathizing to testing. The initiative was driven by two key challenges:

• Creating a children's toothbrush that transformed oral hygiene into an enjoyable experience for young users.
• Enhancing the toothbrush design to meet children's needs and gain a competitive edge in the market.

To address these challenges, Oral B partnered with IDEO and conducted extensive observational research to comprehend children's interactions with the product. Through this process, the design team observed that children tended to grasp the toothbrush with their palms rather than their fingers due to limited dexterity. This user insight led to the creation of a prototype solution named the "Squish Gripper."

Application of Design Thinking by Oral B

The children's toothbrush featured the “Squish Gripper”, a wider handle with a soft texture grip, facilitating easier handling for children. This aspect was crucial as many existing children's toothbrushes on the market were essentially scaled-down versions of adult products, lacking consideration for a child's grip strength. Subsequently, the prototype underwent testing with young users, who were observed while using the product. The team also incorporated vibrant colours and engaging graphics to appeal to children and make them look forward to brushing their teeth. 

What you can learn from Oral B

Oral-B's children's toothbrush exemplifies the power of accurate observation in driving success. By delving into why children held the toothbrush with their palms instead of fingers, designers uncovered a gap between needs and market supply, paving the path to eventual success.

7. Project Bloks

Project Bloks was an experimental research project initiated by Google's Creative Lab in collaboration with IDEO to explore tangible programming for kids. The experiment focused on making coding more accessible to young children who might not have access to digital devices or might find traditional programming methods too abstract.

Source: Google Research

The core idea behind Project Bloks was to create a system of physical, modular components that children could use to learn programming concepts in a hands-on, playful way. These components consisted of three main things:

• Pucks: These were small, programmable physical objects that represented different programming commands or actions, such as "turn left," "move forward," or "start/stop." Each puck had a unique shape and colour, making them easily recognizable and distinguishable.
• Base Boards: The baseboards were flat, circuit-board-like surfaces onto which the pucks could be attached and programmed. 
• Brain Board: This was the central processing unit of the system, responsible for interpreting the commands programmed into the pucks and executing them. It connected to the baseboards and provided the computational power needed to run the programming logic.

To develop these three essential components the team at IDEO observed how children interacted with their environment. The research also included interacting with teachers and parents which helped narrow down three essential design principles that the product was supposed to incorporate: simplicity, modularity, and familiarity. The final product development stage took an iterative process where teams first made rough sketches and mockups that were tested before zeroing in on a final design.  

Application of Design Thinking by Project Bloks

Project Bloks allowed children to arrange the pucks on the baseboards to create sequences of instructions. Children could activate it by pressing a play button, and the Brain Board would execute the instructions, allowing them to see the results of their code in action. By doing so, Project Bloks provided a physical, tangible interface that could be easily understood and manipulated by children of various ages and backgrounds. 

What you can learn from Project Bloks

Project Bloks' effectiveness stems from thorough empathetic research. Observations of children's interactions informed a product that revolutionised programming for kids, simply by enhancing interactivity and user-friendliness.

The iterative nature of design thinking often leads to the misconception that the process is inherently intuitive. This is especially apparent in activities like empathising and brainstorming, which may seem subjective and instinctual. However, it's crucial to understand that mastering design thinking requires dedicated time and effort. Even fundamental principles such as empathy and brainstorming necessitate a structured approach to effectively filter out a designer's preconceptions and biases. Tools like empathy mapping, journey maps, and persona creation serve as essential aids in this regard.

For individuals more accustomed to linear, analytical problem-solving approaches, the open-ended nature of design thinking can present unique challenges. In such cases, seeking professional guidance through a formal design thinking course can be the most effective way to adopt the required mindset. Consider reading this blog that curates a list of the best design thinking courses to help you choose the best one.

We hope this comprehensive guide to design thinking examples could throw light on what this problem-solving methodology can do. If you are particularly interested in learning design thinking in the context of user experience, AND’s UX UI Design courses could be an excellent starting point.

Here are some related resources that you might find useful:

• Watch this session by Shiva Viswanathan, Design Head of Ogilvy Pennywise, and Naman Singh, Product Experience Designer at RED.
• Talk to a course advisor to discuss how you can transform your career with one of our courses.
• Pursue our UX UI Design courses - all courses are taught through live, interactive classes by industry experts, and some even offer a Job Guarantee.
• Take advantage of the scholarship and funding options that come with our courses to overcome any financial hurdle on the path of your career transformation.

Note: All information and/or data from external sources is believed to be accurate as of the date of publication.

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Design Thinking Case Study: Innovation at Apple

Apple is one of the leading companies that is renowned for its unique products and brand. A short talk with an Apple user reveals there is an emotional relation between consumers and Apple products , including every “i” product created in the past two decades.

Why are Apple products different from their competitors’ products? How does Apple manage to achieve innovation in its product families? Answering these questions provides interesting insight into Apple’s history and how it survived its most critical time between 1985 and 1997.

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple after being fired, the company share was only worth US $5 and its future was uncertain. Today, in 2016, Apple’s share price is around US $108 and the company achieved revenues of US $233.7 billion in 2015 with net income of US $53.39 billion.  This mini case study sheds light on the role that design thinking and innovation played in helping Steve Jobs rescue Apple with his consumer-driven strategy and vision for the company.

The Hard Times at Apple

The early days of Apple (which was cofounded by Steve Jobs on 1976) are characterized by its first personal computer that was delivered with Apple OS. During this time, Apple was dominating the market because there were no other manufacturers of this type of computer as computers were used only by governments or large companies. However, in 1985, Steve Jobs was forced to leave the company. This marked the start of a chaotic era in the company’s strategy and product development.

In the period 1985-1997, Apple struggled to achieve market success, especially after Jobs’s departure and increasing competition from other giants such as IBM, which decided to enter the PC computers market. During this period, Apple faced number of challenges including:

• Unstable strategy due to the change of executive teams
• Unclear vision about Apple’s competitive strategy, especially after IBM entered the PC market
• Unclear vision about selling OS licenses, which would put the company in competition with Windows operating system
• Large number of failed products (such as Newton PDA) and few successful ones (such as PowerBook)
• Products not unique in the market
• Confusion and uncertainty among Apple consumers, resulting from this strategy

Design Thinking to Fuel Innovation

Apple is one of the leading companies in the field of innovation and this couldn’t have happened without the company adopting design thinking . Design thinking is a solution-oriented process that is used to achieve innovation with considerations about the consumer at the heart of all development stages. Tim Brown, president and CEO of IDEO, defines design thinking as follows: “ Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success. ”

“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” — Steve Jobs

In previous design thinking articles, we explored the different models of design thinking including the IDEO model, d.school model, and IBM design thinking  model. Most of these models share the target of achieving innovation through three main factors:

User Desirability . The product should satisfy the consumer’s needs by solving everyday problems through a user-centered process. This can be achieved through a deep understanding of the user and through an empathic design process, which can only be achieved by putting ourselves in the shoes of our consumers (using tools such as an empathic persona map ).

Market Viability . Successful products require an integrated marketing strategy that identifies the target segment and builds the product brand in accordance with this target segment. Tools such as the business model canvas can help our understanding of the project and create a business strategy for it. Also, tools such as the SWOT analysis allows us to understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the specified product.

Technology Possibility . Technology provides state-of-art tools for designers to innovate and build products that meet today’s needs. Technology should be adopted through the development process, including the prototyping stage where a visual presentation of the product is made to the team.

Think Different!

After Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 (upon Apple’s acquisition NeXT), he started to apply the design thinking characteristics discussed above, which reflected his vision for Apple products. The vision discussed below was used to form Apple’s strategy from 1997 until today. Steve Jobs applied design thinking by focusing on:

• People’s needs and desires, rather than only the needs of the business
• Building empathy by helping people to love Apple products
• The design rather than the engineering work; designers consider both the form and the function of the product
• Building simple yet user-friendly products rather than complex hard-to-use products

The vision characterized above can be clearly identified in modern Apple products. Although other competitors focus on the features and product capabilities, Apple focuses on a holistic user experience.  For example, the iMac is renowned for being quiet, having a quick wake-up, better sound, and a high-quality display. This vision was formed in Apple’s development strategy that includes:

Excellence in Execution

In this part, Steve tended to improve the execution process by closing 2 divisions, eliminating 70% of the new products and focusing on the higher potential products, reducing the product lines from 15 to just 3, and shutting facilities to move manufacturing outside the company. Apple also launched a website for direct sale of its products and started to take an interest in materials and how products are manufactured within a consumer-driven culture.

Platform Strategy

Apple streamlined their product portfolio to a family of products that can be produced  much more quickly while keeping the existing design elements. Also, the company targeted product that require less repair and maintenance.

Iterative Customer Involvement

The consumer experience should be integrated into the design and development stages through participating in usability testing. Also, the design for interfaces should focus on the user experience.

Beautiful Products

In addition to the function of the product, the form should beautiful, which can be achieved through continuous innovation and development. Apple also focused on the materials and manufacturing process and took a bold approach to trying new ideas rather than sticking with the ordinary design forms.

Apple’s history with innovation provides a clear lesson about how design and innovation can turn company failure to market success and a leading position in a competitive market. Design thinking helped Apple to innovate while placing their consumers at the heart of the process. The period that Steve Jobs was absent from Apple demonstrates that copying others and lacking a clear innovation strategy can lead companies directly from success to failure. On the other hand, innovation can definitely help build a successful business.

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Dr Rafiq Elmansy

As an academic and author, I've had the privilege of shaping the design landscape. I teach design at the University of Leeds and am the Programme Leader for the MA Design, focusing on design thinking, design for health, and behavioural design. I've developed and taught several innovative programmes at Wrexham Glyndwr University, Northumbria University, and The American University in Cairo. I'm also a published book author and the proud founder of Designorate.com, a platform that has been instrumental in fostering design innovation. My expertise in design has been recognised by prestigious organizations. I'm a fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA), the Design Research Society (FDRS), and an Adobe Education Leader. Over the course of 20 years, I've had the privilege of working with esteemed clients such as the UN, World Bank, Adobe, and Schneider, contributing to their design strategies. For more than 12 years, I collaborated closely with the Adobe team, playing a key role in the development of many Adobe applications.

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Design Thinking Examples: Five Real Stories

min to read

Kateryna Mayka

Writer at Eleken

No other area of design requires such deep immersion in the client's world as UI/UX design. To create a user-friendly and practical product, it is necessary to understand the customers’ pains, needs, and expectations. This is what design thinking is all about.

Design thinking is a unique client-centered approach that helps businesses create innovative ideas using a human point of view instead of raw historical data. For example, our recent client, HandPrinter, based their project on a goal that is very important - to encourage people to protect the environment - which helped them become a company with an inimitable vision and no analogs around the globe. Interested in how they did it? Please, read further in our case study .

With the help of design thinking, you can help your clients solve their problems and create benefits for your business. Of course, in theory, using this approach seems just a piece of cake. But what about real life? I guess you are wondering if it is possible to efficiently apply design thinking in your business.

Want to innovate with a human-centered approach?

In this article, we will discuss five design thinking examples of real companies that actively use this approach as a part of their corporate strategy. So, get ready for your dose of inspiration!

Examples of companies that use design thinking

To show how resulting the design thinking can be we won't have to dig through the whole internet. What's more, I bet that you have not only heard about companies we're going to talk about but even use their products regularly!

Anyways, without further ado, let's analyze some cases when companies revolutionized the market using design thinking.

The first obvious choice to illustrate design thinking in action is Airbnb. Its founders, designers Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, studied together at the university and then rented an apartment in San Francisco. In 2007, a design conference took place, and hotel room prices skyrocketed. To make attending the conference more affordable for their colleagues, the two bought some air mattresses and created airbedandbreakfast.com to find guests.

It worked well enough, so Chesky and Gebbia wanted to continue developing the idea. As designers, they were familiar with the empathy method and used it to answer the following questions: "What do people do when they are traveling? How can they learn how to get from the airport to their lodging quickly? How can one recommend their favorite place to eat in the neighborhood?"

Answering these questions gave Chesky and Gebbia insights on the direction of further developing the website. The user can now rent an apartment, order breakfast, and communicate with their host to ask them for recommendations or local knowledge. The ability to leave feedback from both sides also allowed for a break in distrust between the host and the guest.

Now, every design team at Airbnb has a leader whose first priority is specifically to represent the customer and their needs.

• Start Small
• Fail Quickly

Netflix used these design thinking principles way back in 2011. It was not afraid to destroy its existing DVD delivery business in the wake of new tech trends, dropped the early streaming attempts once they failed, and grew rapidly thanks to the introduction of Netflix's original content. How did it come to this? In 2001, Netflix founder Reed Hastings spent $10 million a year on streaming technology research ( Forbes ) to better understand the market, the trends, and users.What makes Netflix's human-centered UX design so distinctive? Keep in mind: it goes further than digital design itself. It's all about the user experience from start to finish.

Interactive card design

Netflix's card design is a hallmark of its user interface, offering a visually engaging and intuitive way to browse content. Each card represents a movie or TV show, providing users with key visuals, such as posters or stills, that invite exploration and interaction. This design allows for an organized presentation of vast libraries, making it easier for users to scan and find content that appeals to them. Additionally, the card layout adapts to various screen sizes, ensuring a consistent and accessible user experience across devices.

AI-powered personalized recommendations

The AI-powered recommendations are another cornerstone of Netflix's design. By analyzing a user's viewing history, preferences, and even the time spent on specific titles, Netflix's algorithms curate a bespoke selection of content tailored to each viewer. This system not only enhances user satisfaction by reducing the time spent searching for something to watch but also introduces users to new content they might not have discovered otherwise.

Seamless cross-platform experience

Netflix offers a consistent user experience across various devices and platforms, including smart TVs, gaming consoles, smartphones, and tablets. This consistency ensures that users have a familiar interface, making it easy to switch between devices without relearning the navigation.

Efficient search functionality

The platform's highly optimized search feature allows users to find content by titles, actors, genres, or even specific keywords. This efficiency reduces users' time searching for content, enhancing their overall experience.

Personalized user profiles

Netflix allows the creation of multiple user profiles within a single account, each with its personalized recommendations, watch history, and content preferences. This feature is particularly useful for families or shared accounts, ensuring each user's experience is tailored to their tastes.

Smart download feature

Netflix introduced the 'Smart Downloads' feature for mobile users. This feature automatically downloads the next episode of a series you're watching and deletes the ones you've already watched. This feature is particularly useful for users who watch content on the go, ensuring they can always access their favorite shows without manual management.

High-quality thumbnails 

Netflix employs a unique strategy of using multiple, high-quality thumbnails for each title, which change dynamically. This approach is designed to capture the attention of different users based on their interests, making the content more appealing and increasing the likelihood of engagement.

Using design thinking to prioritize the customer has allowed Netflix to become a household name and an essential part of how we consume media.

Uber, with its global footprint spanning over 600 cities across 65 countries and serving more than 75 million users, stands as a testament to the transformative power of design thinking in creating innovative business models. The core of Uber's user experience excellence lies in its deep empathy for users, particularly addressing the universal disdain for waiting. This insight has been pivotal in shaping a service that is not just a ride-hailing app but a seamless part of modern urban mobility.

One of Uber's design thinking triumphs is the minimization of user inaction. Through engaging animations and interactive elements, Uber transforms passive waiting times into periods of engagement and information for its riders. This approach not only entertains but also keeps users informed about the status of their ride, effectively reducing the perceived wait time.

Transparency is another cornerstone of Uber's design strategy. By openly displaying key operational aspects, such as the dynamic calculation of arrival times, Uber fosters trust and appreciation among its users. This transparency ensures that users are not burdened with unnecessary technical details, yet they receive enough information to understand the efforts made to optimize their experience.

Additionally, Uber excels in setting and communicating clear expectations for the ride journey. By detailing each phase of the ride process, from car arrival to destination reach, Uber keeps users informed about their progress towards their goal, enhancing the overall experience and anticipation.

Moreover, Uber's design extends to features like safety protocols, real-time tracking, and easy payment options, which collectively contribute to a user-friendly, reliable, and efficient service. This holistic, user-centric design approach has not only solved practical transportation challenges but has also redefined the very fabric of urban mobility, making Uber an indispensable tool in daily life. Through design thinking, Uber has successfully transformed the concept of getting from point A to point B into an experience that users value and rely upon.

Bridget van Kralingen, senior vice president of IBM Global Business Services, recently told : “There’s no longer any real distinction between business strategy and the design of the user experience” and these words make a big difference.

IBM design has gone through many stages in its development (" good design is good business "), and now the company provides design services and invests $100 million in implementing principles of design thinking in their organization.

In 2014, IBM used design thinking when creating Bluemix (now IBM Cloud), a cloud platform for application development. IBM’s main goal was to help developers in big companies create cloud applications much faster.

Researching their target audience allowed IBM to create an easy-to-use and functional platform that attracted more than 1 000 000 developers.

Here are three main points why all these developers fall in love with Bluemix:

• Choice. Bluemix allows to build a consistent application that can run both on and off premise. It helps to reduce the cost and time developers spend on setting up infrastructure
• Extensive catalog with tools. Bluemix offers almost 150 tools and services that propels you months ahead in development (e.g. Internet of Things for secure data collection, Watson for cognitive computing services, etc.)

‍ Methodology. Using the DevOps tool chain allows to easily scale your projects.

That’s how identifying pains and needs of the target audience allowed IBM create a platform that helps developers quickly build applications.

Intuit is a global platform that helps its customers cope with financial issues (accounting, tax preparation, etc.).

Back in 2006, Scott Cook, the founder of Intuit decided that his accounting software company has to be more innovative. Inspired by an article about design thinking written by Roger Martin, Cook started thinking about how this approach can help to develop and improve his product.

First of all , Intuit’s team identified the problem. Most people hate spreadsheet-based personal finance tracking solutions, and they stop using them as soon as they start. The research of competitors helped to realize that existing solutions are suitable for professional accountants but difficult to use for an average person. Although there is a need for financial planning for individuals or small businesses as well.

The solution was to create an easy-to-use and consistent UX. When Intuit introduced its software to help people control their finances, there were 46 similar products on the market. At the beginning of the journey, they joked that at that moment they had the " 47th mover advantage . "

The basic version of Intuit offered only a third of all available features, but with a great design. Instead of spreadsheets, the program displays familiar images with check receipts on them.

Because of its extremely intuitive design, Intuit immediately became the market leader in personal finance software.

As a result, Intuit has shown software companies that good design is something every industry should care about. You can use empathy to create well-designed software that can both solve business problems and serve people.

Think of people and they will think about you

To make a successful product you need to put user needs at the center of your efforts focusing on designing usable, delightful, and efficient experiences. Design thinking helps you to understand real people’s needs and problems and uncovers ways of improving user experiences.

So, don’t hesitate to make design thinking a part of your company culture. It will promote creating products that deeply resonate with your customers — ultimately driving engagement and growth.

And if you need help in creating products that show how much you care about your customers, come to Eleken for a human-centered UI/UX design .

Senior content writer at Eleken UI/UX design agency. Kateryna has 4 years of experience translating complex design concepts into accessible content for SaaS businesses.

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Learn about what is human-centered design and design thinking and how they differ. Discover examples of how companies apply both approaches.

Agile vs Design Thinking? Why not use them both? Read on to learn what differs Agile from design thinking and how they can work together.

Read how to go beyond brainstorming in your ideation and get real tools for getting those out-of-the-box ideas.

Have you heard of design thinking? Learn what it is, how it helps to hack the way to innovation, and what are the six design thinking steps you can implement.

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12 Great Design Thinking Examples You Can Use to Seek Inspiration

Introduction

Design thinking is a crucial aspect of Creative Leadership. Leaders and entrepreneurs of today, who believe in carving their own way instead of following a standard path, rely on design thinking to re-imagine the future. 

According to a study by Parsons New School, 75% of organizations self-report that they are engaged in design thinking. This article lists top design thinking examples to illustrate the success of the design thinking in such organizations that have aligned their problem-solving approach to the design thinking process to come up with creative solutions for their business problems. Through design thinking, professionals and creative leaders in any vertical can stretch their minds, think out of the box, gather inspiration, and create innovative solutions. 

Let’s take a look at the best design thinking examples by going through the case studies of various companies that have implemented the design thinking process to build better, unique, and user-centric products and solutions. Here is the list of our top ten examples-

• AT Kingwood Trust UK
• Bank of America
• Designing for the Homeless 
• Stanford Hospital

Some Design Thinking Examples to Understand ‘Leadership Through Creativity’ Better!

Here are some design thinking examples in real life for some inspiration:   

1. AT Kingwood Trust UK

Some of the most fantastic design thinking examples can be found at AT Kingwood Trust UK. Here, a design team member got in touch with Pete, a non-verbal, autistic patient. She observed that he had destructive tendencies, such as picking on expensive sofas and rubbing indents into the wall. The designer started to document Pete’s behavior. She observed that such action generally accompanied a rise in the overall psychological health of the subject. The ruined sofa and walls were perceived as interesting and fun.

Documenting the details led to a better design of the care facility that would enhance the subject’s pleasure. Such a design thinking process example demonstrates how understanding your customer, or subject, in this case, can completely change the perception towards a problem.

2. Burberry

Another one of the best design thinking examples is the case of Burberry. Burberry’s business model was disrupted by the advent of the digital era. It was already being written off as the fashion brand of the bygone era. Instead of being intimidated and unaccepting of the change, it’s leadership decided to appeal to the Gen X users’ sentiments and behavior. Thus, the company invested heavily in its social media strategy. It invited users to collaborate on its design processes. By doing this, it increased its appeal and connection with the audience. The brand was able to leverage digital to post record revenue growths.  

Uber is another famous design thinking example. With the help of design thinking and a user-focused approach, it eliminated simple problems that had been plaguing customers in the past. It introduced features such as cashless payments, another great design thinking process example, to make transactions straightforward and reduce the chances of fraudulent activities. By providing the power to give ratings for both drivers and users, it increased the incentive for good behavior. Simple design tweaks, aided by a substantial user understanding, helped Uber pivot itself to the behemoth it has become today. It is one of the best design thinking problem statement examples.

Airbnb’s success story is also one of the best design thinking examples. The unicorn startup’s design thinking approach involved curating a unique experience that appeals to the expectations and demands of the global audience, while also ensuring an authentic and safe homestay for renters. 

5. Bank of America

It is a huge corporation that is applying the principles of design thinking to an industry that is not renowned for focusing on the design aspects. They made observations of the savings habits of its target audience. By closely observing various human behavior patterns, Bank of America came up with the innovative “Keep The Change” program that was a huge hit.

6. Designing for the Homeless

‘Designing for the Homeless’ is a collaborative social program that is attempting to design shelter homes and better community townships for homeless people across the USA. The design thinking approach helps to closely understand the problems that the dwellers face and design innovative solutions to fight the challenges plaguing the homeless residents.

7. Clean Team

Working with Unilever & Water and Sanitation for The Urban Poor, Clean Team is helping to design dignified and clean sanitation systems for people in Kumasi, Ghana. They are helping to make lives cleaner, healthier, and more dignified. By integrating design thinking principles, the team worked closely to understand the full waste ecosystem and how the people responded to the challenges they faced. Today, Clean Team has constructed over 600 toilets and is working with over 4,500 people to design and deliver a sanitary toilet system.

8. Pillpack

It epitomizes a great design thinking project example. Pillpack is an online pharmacy that delivers prescription drugs. The company followed a design thinking approach while crafting its brand strategy, creatives, and overall design that really appealed to its consumer base. This approach paid off as Pillpack received rave reviews for its business model and recorded impressive growth numbers. In 2014, Time Magazine called Pillpack that year’s best invention. Moreover, in 2018, it was acquired by Amazon for $1 billion.

When people think of IBM, the first thing that comes into their mind is technology, business, and computers. As their former CEO Thomas Watson Jr. declared, “Good design is good business”, IBM has invested heavily in design thinking. They started holding empathy map sessions and kept users in mind while designing processes and products. Consequently, they have witnessed significant ROIs with this change in approach. They have also made it openly available. 

10. Stanford Hospital

The hospital has been using design thinking principles to design better hospital wards and emergency rooms. They kept the interest and specific needs of the patients in mind, which boosted patients’ well-being and psychology. It is another great example of how design thinking is spreading beyond the field of traditional business strategy.

11. Netflix

In 1997, Reed Hasting came up with the idea to stream movies to people’s homes through the internet, and that’s when it all began. Netflix is a prime  design thinking example  because it used the approach throughout its journey to determine what its customers wanted and needed and then changed its business model to meet those needs.  

Almost $10 million a year was spent by Reed Hastings in 2001 to research streaming. In addition, he kept testing quickly and experimenting to see if he could make streaming video work. Netflix started giving it away as part of DVD subscriptions so people could see it. In this way, he made people get used to streaming while he kept adding to his library.

This option was finally made available in 2010, after 10 years of testing and experimenting. It was half the price of Netflix’s regular movie-rental service at the time. Thus, it took over the market when broadband and internet services began to grow quickly.  

They kept using design thinking to come up with new ideas. As time went on, it became obvious that customers were looking for more interesting content. Network Netflix made some changes to the way it looks and works in 2016 to make it even better for its users. There’s no sign Netflix will stop, it keeps changing the way people use the service by using Design Thinking.

Nike combined sports and design in the 1980s with the launch of Air Force One, the first sneaker with pressurized air technology designed to help athletes perform at their best. It quickly became a New York fashion sensation. Just one example of Nike’s use of design to improve the user experience by gaining an understanding of their needs. ‘

Another  design thinking example  is NIKE’s way to re-designed the Dunk Hi shoe with a transparent panel, allowing the wearer to express their individuality through the socks they choose to wear underneath.

The experimental collaborations begin at Nike Lab. Nike keeps looking for partners who can help them gain insights from their customers, which in turn inspires the company’s designers. This allows Nike to focus on the need and better serve its most loyal customers.

How to Start With Design Thinking?

These design thinking examples that showcase how businesses can achieve success with creative leadership. The different design thinking problem examples mentioned in the article did not only help in saving costs from ideation to successful product roll-out but also increased customer retention and recurring revenue. You can also use these successful design thinking examples as inspiration for your product innovations. By following these examples, you can notice how they have executed a transformative product and innovation strategy by tweaking their processes a bit; and you must understand that the key to a successful design-thinking is customer-centricity and always thinking from the shoes of your target audience to uncover their needs, desires and pain points. 

If design innovation thinking is something that grabs your attention, you can check out our Postgraduate Certificate Program in Design, Innovation and Strategy , which focuses on building the Creative Leaders of tomorrow.

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• Corpus ID: 2652560

A case study of a five-step design thinking process in educational museum game design

• P. Gestwicki , Brian J. McNely
• Published 2012
• Computer Science, Education

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21 Citations

Juicing the game design process: towards a content centric framework for understanding and teaching game design in higher education, design thinking in education: perspectives, opportunities and challenges.

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Adding Scrum-style project management to an advanced Design Thinking class

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