Aspects Of Design Thinking Research Articles

Integrating knowledge-building principles into design thinking: Scaffolding innovative ideation: A systematic literature review

This systematic literature review explores the intersection of knowledge-building principles and design-thinking methodologies in the context of education. Design thinking, a cognitive approach to problem-solving, often encounters challenges in generating innovative ideas during its implementation in educational settings. This review examines how integrating knowledge-building principles into design thinking can address these challenges. Knowledge-building, centred on collaborative knowledge enhancement and community responsibility, offers a framework that aligns well with the iterative, creative and collaborative aspects of design thinking. The review analyses studies that discuss obstacles in idea generation, compares knowledge-building and design-thinking methodologies and explores the potential of knowledge-building to enhance design-thinking outcomes. The findings suggest that intertwining knowledge-building principles with design-thinking practices can empower students to develop and refine ideas more effectively. The review contributes to modern pedagogy by offering insights into leveraging knowledge-building principles to enrich the design-thinking process and facilitate more productive ideation. It provides a comprehensive understanding of how these two approaches can be combined to enhance students’ problem-solving and creative-thinking abilities.

Design thinking for innovation: context factors, process, and outcomes

PurposeDesign thinking has become an omnipresent process to foster innovativeness in various fields. Due to its popularity in both practice and theory, the number of publications has been growing rapidly. The authors aim to develop a research framework that reflects the current state of research and allows for the identification of research gaps.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conduct a systematic literature review based on 164 scholarly articles on design thinking.FindingsThis study proposes a framework, which identifies individual and organizational context factors, the stages of a typical design thinking process with its underlying principles and tools, and the individual as well as organizational outcomes of a design thinking project.Originality/valueWhereas previous reviews focused on particular aspects of design thinking, such as its characteristics, the organizational culture as a context factor or its role on new product development, the authors provide a holistic overview of the current state of research.

Ninth-grade students’ perceptions on the design-thinking mindset in the context of reverse engineering

Recently, design thinking has become recognized as a necessity for every student, especially when they engage in design-based learning, as a pedagogical approach to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. However, design-based learning is mostly based on forward engineering, in which students’ design thinking can be nurtured by designing unknown solutions. Little is known about whether design thinking can be facilitated in the context of reverse engineering, when students learn from already designed products. This study therefore seeks to explore the perceptions of 38 ninth-grade students on the characteristics of design thinking before and after a four-week reverse engineering project, using Likert scales to measure six aspects of design thinking, namely (a) being comfortable with uncertainty and risks, (b) human-centeredness, (c) mindfulness to the process and impacts on others, (d) collaboratively working with diversity, (e) orientation to learning by making and testing, and (f) being confident and optimistic to use creativity. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including means, standard deviations, paired-samples t-tests, and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. The results indicate that two aspects, human-centeredness and being confident and optimistic to use creativity, were significant (p = 0.008 and p = 0.043, respectively), with size effects of 0.43 and 0.34, respectively. Based on this potential, reverse engineering can be a design-based learning approach to facilitate students’ design thinking. It is recommended that instructional activities involving reverse engineering maintain some degree of ambiguity and risk to prevent design fixation among students.

Editorial

Our new issue of Inmaterial, design, art, and society, proposes a territory open to contemporary forms and practices carried out in the context academic institutions, giving space to address the methodological, formal, and technical aspects involved in design and art research. We see this formal and pragmatical format as a line of flight. We see this issue as an open arena, including a multiplicity of exploratory territories based on practices, on experiences, on livings. In this issue you will find a series of articles that explore different aspects of design thinking and practice in the present. This is our attempt. These contributions invite us to a slow reading, a reading that should move us “beyond calculation to thought” (Boulous, 2017: 16). We hope that our intentions will be sustained by this new line of thought, and we invite you to “wait for the dust of reading to settle” (Woolf: 1925, 266).

РОЗВИТОК ЦИФРОВИХ КОМПЕТЕНЦІЙ ЯК ПІДПРОЦЕС ДЛЯ РОЗРОБКИ БІЗНЕС-СТРАТЕГІЙ МЕТОДОМ ДИЗАЙН-МИСЛЕННЯ

The paper presents the peculiarities of the processes of digital transformation of business structures on the basis of the use of modern methods of organization. Based on a deep analysis, it is determined that the use of design thinking as a modern method allows creating viable business models, in particular digital, on the request of the target audience, with understanding that teams of organizations are not the target audience. Development of digital competencies for the organization of works related to the development of business strategies by design thinking proposed as the mandatory subprocess. In general, it is expedient to substantiate the need to develop and improve theoretical positions, methodological approaches and practical recommendations for digital transformation processes in business structures, highlighting the main features. Main factors that are directly related to the digital transformation of innovation processes are highlighted. In addition, special role is given to digital competencies development; specific features of aspects of design thinking are highlighted. The tasks solved is to research, analysis, substantiation and development of theoretical and methodological provisions, scientific and methodological approaches and practical recommendations for the rational organization of the process of digital transformation of business structures, so the concept of digital transformation in this article is highlihted. The digital skills framework for citizens, which is adapted to the national, cultural, educational and economic characteristics of Ukraine “Framework of digital competencies for EU citizens (DigComp 2.1.)”, and for business by levels of ownership (basic, medium and high) analyzed. It is proved that the introduction of digital technologies and aspects of design thinking affects the performance of the enterprise as a whole and the transformation of individual business models. It is proved that the spread and acceleration of digital transformation of business structures will have a positive impact on the digitalization of society as a whole and increase its efficiency through the use of digital technologies and digital competencies development in the digitalization of the economy.

Mobilizing cross-disciplinary teams to advance translational research using design thinking methods.

Funding agencies are increasingly seeking team-based approaches to tackling complex research questions, but there is a need to mobilize translational teams and create shared visions and strategic action plans long before specific funding opportunities are considered or even released. This is particularly evident for teams who want to pursue large-scale grants, where cross-disciplinary synergy is often required. In response, we created Research Jams, which are engaging yet structured brainstorming sessions that bring together groups for the first time to collectively generate novel research ideas, critically map the future of initiatives, prioritize opportunities and next steps, and build community. Research Jams leveraged various aspects of design thinking, including divergence and convergence, visual thinking, and amplifying diversity. We piloted seven Research Jams for a collective 129 researchers, staff, and partners across 50 University of Michigan units and external organizations. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with the vast majority of survey respondents indicating that the sessions were helpful for surfacing shared ideas or visions and that opportunities emerged they would like to pursue. Research Jams were ideal for cross-disciplinary groups who wanted to collaboratively ideate and strategize around complex problems in translational research. Importantly, these models have the potential for implementation with groups in any disciplinary domain who want to spur collaborations to address challenging problems. Our ultimate goal is for Research Jams to be the first intervention within a comprehensive support pathway that extends from early brainstorming all the way to grant submission.

MEF Innovation Team (MIT): Discovering and Solving the MEFs Complex Problems

Adversaries use cost-effective and timely technologies to counter expensive military acquisitions that undermine the United States’ military capabilities. With the private sector outpacing defense innovation, the speed of technology and business drives future warfare considerations. If technology corporations drive the speed of the future of warfare, then appreciating design thinking’s business model applicability to military strategy shapes how the Marine Corps responds to uncertain operating environments during the next several decades. This article incorporates aspects of design thinking for the Marine Corps to provide variables aiding in future warfare innovation to solve complex problems inherent to the future operating environment.

How Is Design Thinking Applied at R & D Stage in the Japanese Electronics Industry?

This paper clarifies how design thinking is applied at the research and development stage in the Japanese electronics industry through the Survey on Research Activities of Private Firms by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Specifically, three questions are explored. Firstly, to what extent are the companies utilizing design thinking at the research and development stage? Secondly, which aspects of design thinking are they focusing on? Thirdly, is there a difference in how design thinking is used in different product fields? The paper concludes that the utilization degree of design thinking is generally not so high. Especially, designer’s role of opinion adjustment by taking advantage of their visualization ability is hardly utilized. In addition, there is a difference in the usage of design thinking based on different product field. Especially, in the electronic parts and devices industry, consciousness to utilize design thinking is relatively high. On the contrary, in precision machinery industry, the priority of design thinking in the use of designers is relatively low.

Design Thinking: Interior Architecture and Interior Design in Thailand

This research aims to explore the aspects of design thinking of students from two different curricula: Interior Architecture (five years) and Interior Design (four years) to see what different aspects of design thinking. The research method is a survey based on quantitative approach. A questionnaire is developed from Perry scheme of intellectual development and Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) model. Then, both aspects were compared to see the difference. The findings indicate that the pattern of design thinking and learning style from two curricula are different and can be improved the thinking and learning styles of design students in Thailand.

Temporality and Innovation in Digital Humanities: The Case of Papyri from Tebtunis

Temporal aspects of Design Thinking (DT) innovation processes have not yet received enough attention. This paper discusses their importance in complex design situations involving non-collocated, multi-disciplinary design teams. We focus on three aspects: 1) awareness of temporal trajectories in the process and how to bring continuity to an otherwise fragmented workflow, 2) temporality of learning through such processes and 3) discussing opportunities for DT concerning temporal aspects of the process. As a research case, we use a project from digital humanities that aims to develop an innovative proposal for Virtual Tebtunis, a digital research platform enabling effective cooperation across organizations in possession of papyri and other articles from the ancient city of Tebtunis. Four workshops were organized in three locations, with varied groups of participants to carry out the Design Thinking process. The timeline of orientation, incorporation, and identification phases was used as an initial time framework. In the aftermath of the project, we were able to identify a richer framework for engaging with temporal aspects of DT processes.

Agile Design: A Combined Model Based on Design Thinking and Agile Methodologies for Digital Games Projects

Traditional approaches to project management seek to discipline the execution and to organize different activities to be performed in order to reach the project goals. However, that focus may not be suitable for the beginning of projects that require creativity, as in the case of digital games. This article aims to develop a project management model that covers the whole process of digital games development, by combining two approaches, Design Thinking and Agile Methodology. The proposed model was constructed based on the theoretical framework of both methodologies, and has three parts: the Design Thinking phase, the Connection phase and the SCRUM phase. In order to evaluate the pertinence of the model, a qualitative exploratory study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with game developers of the Brazilian market. It was observed that many aspects of Design Thinking are used in the game development, that agile development is fully diffused in this process, and that association of both methodologies, besides being possible, can contribute to the efficiency of this process. The main contribution of this work is the presentation of an integrated model of project management that fully attends the process of the digital games development.

The Design Thinking Approach to Projects

Project success is one of the most studied topics in project management. Notwithstanding this vast literature base, project results continue to disappoint stakeholders. Turner and Cochrane (1993) argued that the traditional measure of success, completing the project on time and within budget, is based on the assumption that in projects both the goals and the method of achieving them are well understood at the start of the project. For some projects however, the objectives and/or the methods are not clearly defined. These projects are only successful if they achieve a unitary, beneficial change with value for users. A domain that has great experience in dealing with these type of problems, where only the aspired end value is known, not the goals and methods, is Design Thinking. The study reported in this paper explored the question What aspects of the Design Thinking approach should be integrated into Project Management in order to contribute to the successful management of projects? Based on an analysis of the literature, we developed a conceptual framework that characterizes the differences between the Rational Analytic approach and the Design Thinking approach to projects. We deployed an experimental research strategy to empirically explore what new insights a design thinking approach gives to project managers. Our findings indicate that with the aid of a Design Thinking tool, the project managers were able to adopt a design thinking approach. In applying this approach, they played an active role both in the problem definition phase of the project and in synthesizing new solutions that create value for users. Based on the insights gathered from the experiment, we propose that the following three aspects of Design Thinking should be integrated into Project Management: 1. Framing and reframing, 2. Focus on the wants and needs of users and 3. Use of visual aids.

Applying “Design Thinking” in the context of media management education

"Design Thinking" – a cross-disciplinary and user centered method – is an approach towards the discovery of solutions and sparks innovative thinking in many ways. It also can be argued, that designers put themselves in the place of the user rather than co-creating with the consumer. Innovation is one of the current keywords across many industries, and many attempt to find new solutions to daily problems. Design Thinking as method allows to understand user needs and understand their principle problems in daily life. The design process uses intensive collaboration in cross-disciplinary settings and is divided into the exploration of the problem space and the solution space to achieve new ways of solving existing problems. Design Thinking has to integrate into the innovation process and into organizational structures right from the beginning. It constitutes a complement to classical analytical processes for problems that require lateral, not linear thinking. This article reviews the practical application of this energetic methodology in the academic context and presents some hands-on examples. The course series has been established by the Entertainment and Media Management Lab. (EMMi Lab.) at the Tampere University of Technology (TUT) and was held in cooperation with students from the University of Tampere (UTA), and the Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK). One course has been held in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences Magdeburg-Stendal, Germany. This article describes how to train students especially with strong technical background and analytical mind-sets in the development of innovations in the field of media, foster creative thinking, and achieve problem solutions beyond the current state of the art. We present the basic curriculum, course structure, goals & objectives, applied methods, settings, and theoretical aspects of Design Thinking. Our experience and reflections on conducting the courses concludes this article. The article shall be an introductory guide for anyone who intends to organize a similar course in the university context.