Ever since it became clear that smart design led to the success of many products, companies have been employing it in other areas, from customer experiences, to strategy, to business ecosystems. But as design is used in increasingly complex contexts, a new hurdle has emerged: gaining acceptance (for the new solutions).

Design Thinking is the best innovation method. And it is not even close! In the 2019 Alchemist Accelerator Survey, 46% of Executives voted Design Thinking as the the most effective method to support Innovation.

Agile is a method to solve predefined problems, while design thinking focuses on finding the right problems to solve.

How do you systematically prototype, test, and scale up public sector policy and service responses to the challenges of Government?

The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) requires a consistent yet flexible approach to address wicked problems. A design-thinking methodology holds promise, as its tenets align with the diversity and complexity inherent within the homeland security environment.

Here are some best practices to keep in mind when entering your project(s) that will increase your chances of winning!

At the center of the room sat a new kind of prototype of a vehicle, which had been the focus of a startup-style development team made up of members of purchasing, HR, legal, design, accounting and more...

Government's role is to provide essential services for its people. Using the methodology and mindset of Design Thinking in government projects can help to clarify for whom, what problems need to be solved and test and improve the resultant ideas quickly before huge resources are applied to rolling out the new or improved government services.

Design thinking attempts to explain a design process to non-designers before their attention span runs out. It takes too long to include an explanation of the other influ­ences that make a great design, and designers—let alone anyone—have a hard time articulating such nuances, especially before the audience is lost...

Co-creation and empathy are fundamental principles of design thinking that enable teams to collaborate and solve user problems at pace. Cross-functional collaboration and deep understanding of end-users help to break down barriers between organization silos, resulting in an aligned vision and more holistic, user-centered solutions.