Design Thinking

What design thinking is — human-centred, iterative and solution-focused; its purpose and benefits; the desirability-feasibility-viability balance; its layered history (Simon 1969, the design-methods movement, wicked problems, IDEO and the Stanford d.school, Tim Brown 2008, Roger Martin); and the fundamental cognitive rhythm of divergent versus convergent, creative versus critical thinking. Taught honestly as a useful but contested lens.

The Stanford d.school's five modes — Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test — with an interior case running through each; why the process is iterative and NON-linear (you loop back); the UK Design Council's Double Diamond (Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver) as a companion model; the diverge-converge rhythm; and 'designing the right thing' versus 'designing the thing right'.

The working techniques of each mode — Empathize (asking the right questions, observation, immersion; empathy is research, not guessing); Define (point-of-view statements, How-Might-We questions, connecting the dots); Ideate (brainstorming rules, divergent generation, deferring judgment); Prototype (low- vs high-fidelity, build-to-learn, prototype types for interiors — sketches, boards, models, mock-ups, 3D); and Test (testing with users, feedback grids, iterating).

The design-thinking toolkit — the empathy map (says/thinks/does/feels), the affinity diagram (the KJ method), the project wall, mind mapping, and the user journey map; storytelling; surfacing and testing assumptions; the pitfalls of design thinking; and idea-generation methods with correct attribution — brainstorming (Osborn's rules) and SCAMPER (Eberle, built on Osborn).

Presenting a complete design-thinking process for a chosen interior problem — the deliverables mapped to each stage (research evidence, empathy map and journey map, POV and HMW, ideation, prototypes, test feedback, iteration narrative, resolved design and reflection); what a strong 'process story' looks like; and the weak submissions to avoid (empathy-washing, a loop-free march, testing that is just asking if people like it).