Abstract
There has been increased interest in design and ‘design thinking’ in recent times. This has led to the development of a number of interdisciplinary courses where non-designers have the opportunity to learn so-called ‘design thinking’. However, ‘design thinking’ is an ambiguous concept, which is challenging when trying to apply it in non-design learning and teaching contexts: notably, for this study, innovation management. The aim of this study has two aspects: first, a conceptual one, to articulate what ‘design thinking’ means in context of a design-driven approach to innovation management; and second, a more practical one, to consider how it could be taught in this context. In this paper, a seminar called ‘Design Thinking’ is analysed along with key texts within the range of design thinking discourses. This paper concludes by identifying the principles underlying ‘design thinking’ and develops a teaching framework based on these principles, by using the model of action research. This study is therefore the first stage in an on-going action research project.
Keywords
Design, design thinking, teaching, innovation, management, action research
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/learnxdesign.2013.068
Citation
Hestad, M.,and Brassett, J.(2013) Teaching ‘design thinking’ in the context of Innovation Management—from process to a dialogue about principles, in Reitan, J.B., Lloyd, P., Bohemia, E., Nielsen, L.M., Digranes, I., & Lutnæs, E. (eds.), DRS // Cumulus: Design Learning for Tomorrow, 14-17 May, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/learnxdesign.2013.068
Creative Commons License
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Included in
Teaching ‘design thinking’ in the context of Innovation Management—from process to a dialogue about principles
There has been increased interest in design and ‘design thinking’ in recent times. This has led to the development of a number of interdisciplinary courses where non-designers have the opportunity to learn so-called ‘design thinking’. However, ‘design thinking’ is an ambiguous concept, which is challenging when trying to apply it in non-design learning and teaching contexts: notably, for this study, innovation management. The aim of this study has two aspects: first, a conceptual one, to articulate what ‘design thinking’ means in context of a design-driven approach to innovation management; and second, a more practical one, to consider how it could be taught in this context. In this paper, a seminar called ‘Design Thinking’ is analysed along with key texts within the range of design thinking discourses. This paper concludes by identifying the principles underlying ‘design thinking’ and develops a teaching framework based on these principles, by using the model of action research. This study is therefore the first stage in an on-going action research project.