Five Emerging Trends in Design Thinking

Design Thinking began as a process for developing new technology and products. Currently, it is employed in all business areas, whether private, public, corporate projects, or personal. Thus, every modern Design Thinking practitioner will tell know that it is not about products, technology, or even design... it is a process that educates on how to better satisfy people's needs! Thus, many startups like Velou, Evea, Pharmadigit, and Gova are integrating design thinking into their business model. 

“Design Thinking helps businesses, government, and society be more creative, innovative, and humane in dealing with people’s needs.”

Tim Brown, Executive Chair of IDEO - 

While this concept helps organizations to create value for their customers, it also strives to solve specific problems that affect people and provide solutions that meet those demands. Thereby, individuals who integrate design thinking can provide novel solutions by exposing or identifying problems (Siragusa, 2022). Additionally, this concept supports startups in taking the lead in terms of innovation. A human, for example, cannot envision things that cannot be believed. As a result, it makes it difficult for designers to come up with a solution that does not exist. Thus, employing an iterative approach results in more innovative solutions.

While this concept is gaining attraction across startups and businesses, let us now explore the emerging trends!

The Emerging Trends

There are newer themes, thinking processes, and trends for the corporate design thinking methodology as we enter a new year of possibilities. The landscape of human-centered design has evolved dramatically.

So, what is upcoming for Design Thinking?

The design thinking process is guided by the idea of thinking innovation and creative problem-solving. Whether a person is a frequent practitioner of design thinking or is just becoming acquainted with the concept, the following will (and must) play a role in knowing the trends and road to becoming more creative in design thinking and innovation.

1. Systems Thinking 

“You have to look at everything as a system and you have to make sure you’re getting at the underlying root causes.”

Don Norman - 

Today's globe is more connected and interdependent than ever before, with information flowing quickly and practically instantly. Since everything is tightly connected and fast, even minor changes in one area can have a big (usually negative) influence on the entire system. Thus, systems thinking comes into play!

Designers utilize systems thinking to assess problems in their appropriate context. Thereby, they can disclose fundamental causes and avoid treating symptoms by going beyond obvious faults to analyze a system as a whole. Thus, they address more complex issues and are more likely to develop effective solutions (Systems Thinking, 2022). Additionally, this discipline permits the identification of each system stakeholder's interests and needs. While this has become a trend in design thinking it also emphasizes comprehending the factors required within the business system, services, and products.

1. Resilience Thinking 

One of the most significant components of resilience is the ability to think about difficulty and adversity in a flexible way and to solve problems accurately (Daryabegi, 2021). While design thinking strives for excellence and near perfection, what really is perfection? Thinking resilience has now become a solution to build and survive the shifting circumstances that are unavoidable. As a result, it is critical to think beyond the scope of the challenges at hand.

1. Humanity-centered Design 

Human-centered design thinking is another emerging trend that is beneficial for the workflow of product teams. It is the process of incorporating customer feedback and preferences into all stages of product development and design. This is further elaborated in other sources as an encouraging method for designers to define and address challenges from the end perspective of users (Center of Excellence, 2020). 

Human-centered design and aggressive prototyping are two critical foundations for Design Thinking. The human-centric approach is the driving force behind the success of design-focused services and products. However, nothing is guaranteed as we move into the future! Thereby, human-centric design serves as a concept that primarily focuses on proposing sustainable solutions. As a result, it is critical to devise a solution that gives a fantastic experience while also leading to long-term success.

1. Inclusive Thinking 

“The practice of inclusive design truly focuses on all-people-centric innovative solutions.”

Tim Brown, Executive Chair of IDEO - 

While businesses aim for creativity, they must prioritize variety during the research phases of design thinking. Designers must consider whether they have included the appropriate people in the problem definition and who should raise concerns. They must consider whether they are neglecting any neighborhood and whether they are doing what the solution can remedy. As a result, because innovation is strongly anchored in creativity, having a better understanding of varied origins and sources is crucial. As a result, inclusive thinking has now become a major trend in this field. This concept has two sides of welcoming both collaborators and users. Thereby, being an inclusive collaborator will allow startups to benefit from many viewpoints and backgrounds.

1. Master framing the problem

Moving your focus away from problem-solving and toward problem identification and problem-framing is a key component of the design thinking method, a popular and sought-after process. While design thinking emerges as an important tool to innovate and be creative in structuring how companies look at problems, it is also important for framing obstacles before developing answers. Thus, master framing the problem has now become an emerging trend in companies that integrate design thinking into their business model. 

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, design thinking emerges as an important tool for innovative solutions to various problems. The more we learn about what needs to be fixed, what is wrong, and what is failing us as people, the closer we are to providing innovation. Thus, these five trends are emerging in those companies that integrate design thinking when making decisions. Thereby, many startups across platforms like EquityMatch.co are exploring these trends in order to gain the best for their companies!