Design thinking is not just about aesthetics; it’s a user-centric approach that intertwines creativity with practicality to solve complex problems and innovate product offerings.
Whether you’re a novice designer or a seasoned leader, these articles will equip you with the tools and methodologies to enhance your design thinking skills, elevate your projects and discover how you can turn abstract ideas into concrete solutions that resonate deeply with users.
Books
- Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All by Tom and David Kelley – This book aims to inspire readers to tap into their creativity using design thinking principles, providing strategies and guiding principles to unlock creativity in everyone.
- Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, and James Macanufo – A toolkit filled with practical tools for innovators to break barriers, communicate effectively, and generate new ideas.
- Six Thinking Hats by Edward De Bono: The multi-million bestselling guide to running better meetings and making faster decisions – A classic book on meetings, remains as relevant as ever. Used to huge success by big companies and organisations such as IBM, Siemens and NASA.
Other Resources
- Product School – “Design Thinking in Product Management” – This guide covers common design thinking frameworks such as Stanford school’s Five-Stage Model, IDEO’s Three-Phase Model, and the Double Diamond Model by the UK Design Council. It provides examples of how companies like Airbnb, Slack, and Uber have applied design thinking to their product development processes.
- Konrad – “The Complete Design Thinking Process [2024 Guide]” – This comprehensive guide explains the iterative five-step process of design thinking: Empathy, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. It also discusses how these steps are implemented in different industries and provides a foundation for cross-functional team collaboration.
- Hotjar – “11 Best Design Thinking Tools and Software for Each Stage”– Various tools that can be used during the design thinking process, such as Figma and FigJam for ideation and prototyping, and UserTesting for gathering user feedback.
- Design Thinking Association – Offers various resources and courses on design thinking, aiming to promote a shared language and set of creative tools for problem-solving.
- IDEO U – Provides online courses and resources on design thinking and creative leadership, helping individuals and teams develop innovative solutions.
Tools
- Figma – A collaborative design tool for prototyping and design
- FigJam – An online whiteboard for brainstorming and ideation.-
- InVision – An online whiteboard and prototyping tool that helps teams brainstorm, design wireframes, and create shared design libraries.
- Balsamiq – Wireframing software for creating low-fidelity prototypes to visualise design solutions.
- SolidWorks – A suite of products for product design, data management, manufacturing, and simulation, particularly useful for engineering applications.
- LabVIEW – A graphical programming tool for research, validation, and testing, ideal for teams working with electrical systems or large-scale projects.