IBM offers a comprehensive set of tools such as their IBM Design Thinking Toolkit to help you structure your creative problem solving work sessions better. Some of the tools are free, but the full set has to be paid for. IBM has been working successfully on developing Design Thinking tools for practical problem solving applications for many years.
Design thinking is a human-centered approach to problem-solving that emphasizes empathy, experimentation, and creativity. It is a process that can be used to solve a wide range of problems, from developing new products to improving organizational processes.
Jerry Sternin, founder of the Positive Deviance Initiative and an associate professor at Tufts University until he died last year, was skilled at identifying what and critical of what he called outsider solutions to local problems. Sternin’s preferred approach to social innovation is an example of design thinking in action.
Are you solving the right problem?
In 2009, IDEO designed and launched the IDEO Human Centered Design (HCD )Toolkit, a first-of-its-kind book that laid out how and why human-centered design can impact the social sector.
Design Thinking is a creative process that helps you design meaningful solutions to problems in the classroom, at your school, and in your community. This Design Thinking toolkit and Designer's Workbook provides you with instructions to explore Design Thinking with your students.
The Public Libraries in Aarhus (Denmark) and Chicago (USA), with funding from the Gates Foundation, created the Design Thinking for Libraries toolkit to introduce a way of working that will help you understand the needs of your patrons and engage your communities like never before. We understand that the challenges facing librarians are real, complex and varied.
Maggie Gram takes a critical look at Design Thinking, it's history and a project by IDEO in Gainesville Florida. This is a well balanced article that demonstrates how the process, not iterated far enough does not come up with a life changing solution.
From ideation to communication here are five design thinking tips that you can apply to your next project.
I’ve applied design thinking to my own life the past few months, and it seems to be working. I’ve lost 25 pounds, reconnected with close friends and refocused my energy on specific goals and habits.
Design thinking has helped me identify the obstacles that were stopping me from achieving my goals.
Design Thinking faces criticism for its lacking integration with business and compatibility with market reality. There are organizations that see Design Thinking as unnecessary rather than essential to driving organizational change and innovation. Does Design Thinking have to be reinvented or even replaced?