Measuring the Impact of Design Thinking

Abstract

This article focuses on how organizations measure the impact of design thinking. The results are based on a quantitative survey that is complemented by qualitative interviews with experienced design thinkers. Even though a majority of respondents perceive some kind of impact, only a minority has tried to determine the impact in some way. Those who do not evaluate the impact, often do not know how or lack the necessary resources. The metrics of those who do measure design thinking’s impact vary considerably, but customer feedback and satisfaction is a recurring theme. We propose that the traditional means of performance measurements are often ill-suited for evaluating the impact of design thinking. We conclude with a promising industry example of how traditional measures can be used to gauge overall performance and how a story-based approach can capture the role of design thinking.