Design thinking is a methodology of growing interest to both management scholars and organisations, yet little rigorous research on its efficacy in practice has been conducted, though anecdotal reports of success are numerous. This article reports on a case-based exploratory study aimed at identifying the elements actually practiced under the rubric of “design thinking” and assessing its value for enhancing organizational innovation performance. It does this by examining design thinking methodologies in action in 22 organizations that span industry sectors (both business and social) and organizational types (large corporations, start-ups, government agencies and NGOs).
It first identifies the key elements of practice actually utilized by these organizations under the rubric of “design thinking” or “human-centred design” and then explores a set of findings concerning the enabling mechanisms these create that relate to innovation processes in the organizations studied. It then explores how these enabling process mechanisms facilitate improvements in organizational innovation performance related to the quality of choices available, reduced investment risk, enhanced likelihood of successful implementation, increased organizational adaptability and the creation of local capabilities.
In conclusion, this initial study demonstrates that, when looked at as an end-to-end system for problem solving, design thinking offers an integrating process and toolkit that incorporates both creative and analytic approaches to problem-solving, and that has the potential to significantly improve innovation outcomes.
Design thinking is a methodology of growing interest to both management scholars and organisations, yet little rigorous research on its efficacy in practice has been conducted, though anecdotal reports of success are numerous. This article reports on a case-based exploratory study aimed at identifying the elements actually practiced under the rubric of “design thinking” and assessing its value for enhancing organizational innovation performance. It does this by examining design thinking methodologies in action in 22 organizations that span industry sectors (both business and social) and organizational types (large corporations, start-ups, government agencies and NGOs).
It first identifies the key elements of practice actually utilized by these organizations under the rubric of “design thinking” or “human-centred design” and then explores a set of findings concerning the enabling mechanisms these create that relate to innovation processes in the organizations studied. It then explores how these enabling process mechanisms facilitate improvements in organizational innovation performance related to the quality of choices available, reduced investment risk, enhanced likelihood of successful implementation, increased organizational adaptability and the creation of local capabilities.
In conclusion, this initial study demonstrates that, when looked at as an end-to-end system for problem solving, design thinking offers an integrating process and toolkit that incorporates both creative and analytic approaches to problem-solving, and that has the potential to significantly improve innovation outcomes.
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