Teaching design thinking in business schools
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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