The Evolution of Design Thinking: Past, Present, and Future

Abstract

Design thinking is essentially about how designers think and what methods they employ in order to develop professional values. The aim here is to understand how different thinking methods have emerged through the process of design and how this evolution led to a broader conception of design thinking in other domains. Some key texts about design thinking are qualitatively reviewed to explore how the approach developed from a design discourse to a business discourse. Through inductive analysis, three different themes emerge: 1) design thinking as cognitive style; 2) as a process-based general theory and method; and 3) as a mindset and resource for the business community, merging different design disciplines. In this third and most recent stage managers have adopted design thinking to guide business innovation processes. Across the variety of current design disciplines, this research identifies some recurring features and shared characteristics common to all design thinking. Looking at the development of design thinking as a fashionable trend over the past decade this paper offers a new terminological approach in which design thinking is considered as two separate terms—design and thinking—with application for designers in all domains.