2.3 Design Thinking
2.3.2 Working Styles of a Design Thinker
Design thinking encompasses creative attributes as well as unique characteristics or skills of its own. As Owen (2006) stated, ―Creativity, of course, is of major importance to design thinking—as it is to science thinking and thinking in any field.
But as is true for every field, characteristics other than creativity are also
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important…‖ (p. 2). Owen also suggests that design thinkers have specific attributes or characteristics which are more difficult to identify and this remains true for design thinking—there has been little written and tested on the subject. In the following paragraphs this literature attempts to consolidate the views and writings of experts and advocates in the field of design thinking.
The following five tables depict the attributes and working styles of a design thinker as stated in the literature review. The studies discussed by the following expert authors: Roger Martin, Charles Owen, Bauer and Eagen, Clark Smith, and Heather Fraser. This list is not exhaustive but contributes a compilation of leading advocates views on the subject of design thinking qualities.
Table 2-1
Roger Martin: How a Designer Works
Trait Description Source
Bias toward validity
Designers often seek validity in their work through a deep understanding of the user and the context.
Martin (2007a), pp. 8 Integrative thinking Designers consider many variables at once
and integrate them into a holistic solution. Martin (2007a), pp. 8 Inductive and
This reasoning embraces the logic of what might be. Designers may not be able to prove that something "is" or "must be," but they nevertheless reason that it "may be."
This style of thinking is critical to the creative process. A ―Bring it on‖ attitude.
Martin (2005), para. 18
Preference for complex problems
A source of status and pride derives from solving "wicked problems" -- problems with no definitive formulation or solution and that have definitions open to multiple interpretations.
the enemy. Martin (2005), para. 30
Iterative working process
The ability to work with a process that is
not linear, but that is cyclical. Martin (2005), para. 32
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Trait Description Source
Collaborative working
Working with others is the key to design, even if one works alone they still have to collaborate with stakeholders.
Martin (2005), para. 32
Empathy
Only with such empathy can the designer forge a solution that meets the executive‘s needs in a productive way.
Creative thinking for designers is directed toward inventing.
Designers tend to be more interested in the ‗what‘ questions than the ‗whys‘ of interest to the scientist. Design creativity, thus, compliments scientific creativity.
Human-centered focus
Design is client-directed. Design thinking must continually consider how what is being created will respond to the clients‘
needs.
Environment-centered concern.
Design thinking has acquired a second, omnipresent and meta- level client: the environment. Present-day thinking puts
environmental interests at a level with human interests as primary constraints on the design process.
Ability to visualize.
All designers work visually. Designers can visualize ideas in a range of media, bringing a common view to concepts otherwise imagined uniquely by everyone in a discussion.
Tempered optimism
It is difficult to work—and especially to work creatively—in a pessimistic, critical mood. Designers are taught to recognize this and to establish optimistic and proactive ways of working.
Pronounced mood swings are not unusual among creative individuals, but designers learn to control these to level out both lows and highs.
Bias for adaptivity
Design thinking today has accepted an approach to problems with the view that, where possible, solutions should be adaptive—in production, to fit the needs of users uniquely; throughout their use, to fit users‘ evolving needs.
Predisposition toward multi-functionality
Designers routinely look for multiple dividends from solutions to problems.
Systemic vision or holistic thinking
Modern design treats problems as system problems with
opportunities for systemic solutions involving mixes of hardware, software, procedures, policies, organizational concepts and whatever else is necessary to create a holistic solution.
View of the generalist
Design thinking is highly generalist in preparation and execution.
In a world of specialists, there is real need for those who can reach across disciplines to communicate and who can bring diverse experts together in coordinated effort. A designer is a specialist in the process of design, but a generalist in as wide a range of content as possible.
Ability to use language as Language is usually thought of as means for communication but
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a tool for design thinking, it is also a tool. Visual language is used diagrammatically to abstract concepts, reveal and explain patterns, and simplify complex phenomena to their fundamental essences.
Affinity for teamwork
Good interpersonal skills become part of the professional set of tools designers develop. A push toward teamwork has been a movement in the professions over the last forty years toward team-based design.
Facility for avoiding the necessity of choice
Before moving to choice-making, the designer looks for ways to
‗have your cake and eat it too‘. The optimistic, adaptive designer, however, searches the competing alternatives for their essential characteristics and finds ways to reformulate them in a new configuration.
Self-governing practicality
Design is a field in which inventiveness is prized. In very few fields is there the freedom to dream expected in design. This is embedded in a style of thinking that explores freely in the foreground, while maintaining in the background a realistic appraisal of costs that can be met and functionality that can be affected.
Ability to work systematically with qualitative information
Qualitative information handling techniques applicable to many kinds of conceptual problems where complex, system solutions are desirable. They are also usable by anyone working on a planning team, enabling systematic aspects of design thinking to be made accessible to all.
Source: Owen (2007) pp. 23-25
Table 2-3
Bauer and Eagen: Designer Ways of Knowing and Working
Trait Description
Multi-epistemic using a Jungian
typology of ways of knowing Thinking, feeling, sensing and intuiting.
Use of conjectures Explore problems through solution conjectures.
Work in a playful way Often work in a playful fashion in form of drawings, models, prototypes, etc.
Challenging rules Even well-defined problems are treated as ill-defined problems.
Preference for complex problems
A source of status and pride derives from solving
"wicked problems‖—problems with no definitive formulation or solution and that have definitions open to multiple interpretations.
Inventive and challenge norms
Designers deliberately utilize the tension between what is desired and what is possible, often starting with the desired and working their way back to what is doable.
Divergent and convergent The use of divergent and a convergent motion.
Analytical thinking Analytical thinking challenges the presuppositions of extant ideas.
Associative thinking Associative thinking connects ideas in a
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Trait Description
spontaneous, stochastic fashion.
Daydreaming
Daydreaming playfully combines the powers of conscious and unconscious information processing;
dialogical thinking aloud, e.g., imagining the world as it could be.
Thinking systematically Thinking systematically and holistically.
Source: Bauer and Eagen (2008), pp. 64-73
Table 2-4
Clark Smith: Types of Intelligence Used by Designers
Type Description
Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and embrace in the context of culture that which moves us to act and which creates attachment, commitment, and conviction.
Integral intelligence
Integral intelligence is the ability to bring together diverse customer needs and business ecosystem capabilities into complete systems that deliver value and reflect the values of the birth organization.
Experiential intelligence
Experiential intelligence is the ability to understand and activate all five human senses to make
innovation tangible, known, and vibrant.
Source: Clark and Smith (2008), pp. 9
Table 2-5
Heather Fraser: Design Thinking Traits
Trait Description
Open-minded collaboration
Everyone on the team needs to be receptive to everyone and everything in order to achieve something worthwhile.
Courage
Great design does not come without risk-taking and trying new things, with the very strong possibility of failure.
Conviction Conviction is the absolute unwillingness to give into constraints and obstacles.
Source: Fraser (2009), pp. 25-26
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