The Non-Linear Nature of Design Thinking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
We may have outlined a direct and linear Design Thinking process in which one stage seemingly leads to the next with a logical conclusion at user testing. However, in practice, the process is carried out in a more flexible and non-linear fashion. For example, different groups within the design team may conduct more than one stage concurrently, or the designers may collect information and prototype during the entire project so as to enable them to bring their ideas to life and visualise the problem solutions. Also, results from the testing phase may reveal some insights about users, which in turn may lead to another brainstorming session (Ideate) or the development of new prototypes (Prototype).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is important to note that the five stages are not always sequential \u2014 they do not have to follow any specific order and they can often occur in parallel and be repeated iteratively. As such, the stages should be understood as different modes that contribute to a project, rather than sequential steps. However, the amazing thing about the five-stage Design Thinking model is that it systematises and identifies the 5 stages\/modes you would expect to carry out in a design project \u2013 and in any innovative problem-solving project. Every project will involve activities specific to the product under development, but the central idea behind each stage remains the same.<\/em> Accelerate your career: Get industry-trusted Course Certificates<\/p>\n\n\n\n Design Thinking should not be seen as a concrete and inflexible approach to design; the component stages identified in the illustration above serve as a guide to the activities that you would typically carry out. In order to gain the purest and most informative insights for your particular project, these stages might be switched, conducted concurrently and repeated several times in order to expand the solution space, and zero in on the best possible solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you will note from the illustration above, one of the main benefits of the five-stage model is the way in which knowledge acquired at the later stages can feedback to earlier stages. Information is continually used both to inform the understanding of the problem and solution spaces, and to redefine the problem(s). This creates a perpetual loop, in which the designers continue to gain new insights, develop new ways of viewing the product and its possible uses, and develop a far more profound understanding of the users and the problems they face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his 1969 seminal text on design methods, \u201cThe Sciences of the Artificial<\/em>,\u201d Nobel Prize laureate Herbert Simon outlined one of the first formal models of the Design Thinking process. Simon’s model consists of seven major stages, each with component stages and activities, and was largely influential in shaping some of the most widely used Design Thinking process models today. There are many variants of the Design Thinking process in use in the 21st<\/sup> century, and while they may have different numbers of stages ranging from three to seven, they are all based upon the same principles featured in Simon\u2019s 1969 model. We focus on the five-stage Design Thinking model proposed by the Hasso-Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford (d.school).<\/p>\n\n\n\n In essence, the Design Thinking process is iterative, flexible and focused on collaboration between designers and users, with an emphasis on bringing ideas to life based on how real users think, feel and behave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Design Thinking tackles complex problems by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n![](\"https:\/\/public-media.interaction-design.org\/images\/uploads\/401261ba5cae057e1e039ae3ea1e056a.jpg\")
Author\/Copyright holder: Teo Yu Siang and Interaction Design Foundation. Copyright licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Origin of the 5-Stage Model<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Take Away<\/h2>\n\n\n\n