Cognition in Design Management. At the Intersection of Conceptual Innovation and Design Thinking

Abstract

Design thinking has been a growing topic over the past years in management literature. The novelty brought by this approach to managing innovation processes is not simply due to an enriched set of phases and principles, but it rests on the way innovation opportunities are framed through design. We suggest that the design thinking approach helps to deal with an inner and deeper level of each innovation process, that is the conceptual one. Counterintuitively, we argue, that this process of conceptual innovation starts much earlier than the “concept generation phase” already enucleated within the design thinking process. Drawing on most recent contributions on the cognitive nature of innovation processes, the paper aims at investigating the conceptual innovation mechanisms that are at play in design thinking dynamics. Through a multiple case study of three iconic design innovations in Italy, that revolutionized the way a scooter, a moka or a shop was conceived, and gave rise to a new generation of products and concept shops, we have identified the three phases of the design thinking in each innovation process and detected the mechanisms of conceptual innovation operating in each of them.