Design thinking in practice: understanding manifestations of design thinking in software engineering

Abstract

This industry case study explores where and how Design Thinking supports software development teams in their endeavour to create innovative software solutions. Design Thinking has found its way into software companies ranging from startups to SMEs and multinationals. It is mostly seen as a human centered innovation approach or a way to elicit requirements in a more agile fashion. However, research in Design Thinking suggests that being exposed to DT changes the mindset of employees. Thus this article aims to explore the wider use of DT within software companies through a case study in a multinational organization. Our results indicate, that once trained in DT, employees find various ways to implement it not only as a pre-phase to software development but throughout their projects even applying it to aspects of their surroundings such as the development process, team spaces and team work. Specifically we present a model of how DT manifests itself in a software development company.