Teaching design thinking in business schools

doi:10.1016/j.ijme.2015.05.001

The International Journal of Management Education

Volume 13, Issue 2, July 2015, Pages 182-192

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2015.05.001 Get rights and content

Highlights

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Design thinking represents an important skill to be acquired for today's business environment.
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Core characteristics of design thinking are presented.
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A scaffolding consisting of six phases is offered to facilitate design thinking pedagogy.
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Guidance is provided for navigating the uncertainty and ambiguity in the design thinking process.
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Learning takeaways noted by students completing design thinking projects are provided.

Abstract

Incorporating design thinking in the business curriculum can provide students and instructors with a framework for dealing with unstructured problems and for managing the innovation process. However, many business students, like many business professionals, experience confusion and frustration when engaging in design thinking projects for the first time. This paper provides guidance for faculty who are considering incorporating design thinking projects into their business classes. For such projects, the complex, iterative process of design thinking is structured to include six phases: problem finding, observation, visualization and sense making, ideation, prototyping and testing, and the design of a business model enacting the innovation. Guidance is provided to the instructor for managing the activities and challenges faced in each of these phases. The Appendix summarizes this information in a practical format for the instructor.

Introduction

To address messy, ill-structured problems decision makers are increasingly attempting to incorporate the thought processes and methods underlying design practice. The term “design thinking” has been coined to describe the general outlines of these approaches. While key attributes of design thinking have been articulated over the course of several decades (Buchanan, 1992, Cross, 1982, Rowe, 1987), design thinking practices are now being applied to such areas as product innovation, business strategy, organizational change, and healthcare. Applications have been extended to community services and social innovation (Brown, 2009, Dunne and Martin, 2006, Liedtka et al., 2013, Melles et al., 2011).

For the last few years, we have been utilizing the design thinking approach in our undergraduate and graduate business classes. In this paper, we introduce the key features of the design thinking pedagogy to the interested, but uninitiated instructor, and describe what we have learned from our experiences. Our goal in this paper is to show, based on our experience, how teachers can successfully incorporate design thinking into their classes. We start with a discussion of the core characteristics of design thinking, then demonstrate their application in a phased approach adapted to a business pedagogy. Key challenges faced by students (and hence instructors) during the initial design thinking experience are raised and addressed throughout the discussion.

Section snippets

Background: core characteristics of design thinking

Design thinking differs in principle from analytical and linear problem solving approaches generally found in business schools (Glen, Suciu, & Baughn, 2014). The analytic approach emphasizes planning and optimizing objective, predefined criteria. This approach is most appropriate when the problem is clearly understood, relevant data are available prior to action, and the past is a good predictor of the future. On the other hand, design thinking is appropriate in uncertain, complex

A need for guidance

Currently, the most-favored pedagogical model for teaching design involves project-based learning. This is consistent with the increasing use of project and problem-based pedagogical frameworks seen in the professions of engineering, medicine, business, and law (Dym, Agogino, Eris, Frey, & Leifer, 2005). The design thinking approach reflects the more general movement in education away from an over-dependence on passive teaching approaches, towards more active problem-based learning (Glen

Helping students move though the design thinking process

The design thinking process is initially framed by a given “design challenge”. In the classroom, the design challenge will need to accommodate the class time available, student level, and pedagogical objectives. Design thinking teams at Carnegie Mellon University have been engaged in developing innovative ways of reducing healthcare costs (Boni, Weingart, & Evenson, 2009). Design thinking projects in the engineering program at Singapore Polytechnic challenged students to design a “Dream Home”

Managing uncertainty during the project

Students working on design thinking projects are immersed in extended periods of indeterminacy and equivocality (Welsh & Dehler, 2013). In our experience, students face an increasing sense of ambiguity as they move from the design challenge through the observation and visualization phase. Even those practiced in design thinking experience periods of frustration over the course of the project (Liedtka & Ogilvie, 2011). Ambiguity can turn into anxiety as the teams gather more information than

Discussion

Design thinking provides students with a process to tackle complex problem solving situations and to facilitate innovation. As such, it provides a much-needed supplement to the analytic emphasis seen throughout much of business education. Business students, accustomed to a more structured learning environment, benefit from guidance showing how the seemingly “messy” process of design thinking builds to a desired outcome. To this end, we have built on a foundation of learning theory and design

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Teaching design thinking in business schools

Highlights

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Background: core characteristics of design thinking

A need for guidance

Helping students move though the design thinking process

Managing uncertainty during the project

Discussion

Design Studies

Design Studies

Design Studies

Design Studies

X-Teams: How to build teams that lead, innovate, and succeed

Innovator's guide to growth: Putting disruptive innovation to work

Innovation as a learning process: embedding design thinking

California Management Review

The StartUp Owner's Manual: the step-by-step guide for building a great company

Innovation in an academic setting: designing and leading a business through market-focused, interdisciplinary teams

Academy of Management Learning & Education

Design thinking

Harvard Business Review

Change by design: How design thinking transforms organizations and inspires innovation

Innovation through design thinking

Wicked problems in design thinking

Design Issues

The innovator's solution

Designerly ways of knowing

Design thinking and how it will change management education: an interview and discussion

Academy of Management Learning & Education

Engineering design thinking, teaching, and learning

Journal of Engineering Education

Design thinker workshop

Successful individual approaches in engineering design

Research in Engineering Design

The need for design thinking in business schools

Academy of Management Learning & Education

Reading ethnographic research: A critical guide