Can we skip to the making stage?

Why the process of design thinking is important in the classroom

Design Thinking:

Design thinking is a method of creative problem solving, best applied when there is a high level of analysis involved in a task (Barrett, 2021). The design thinking process was developed by a variety of scientists and is best applied for people centred creative problem solving (IDEO, 2021). The process features five phases. Phase one being empathy, phase two being defining the problem, phase three is Ideation, phase four is prototyping a solution, and phase five is implementing the idea beyond just a prototype and making it work. the making stage, to be specific, is the final two phases (Barrett, 2021). The phase prototyping and the final product is created. so, can we skip straight to the making stage?

Why is design thinking relevant?

Creative processing is about carefully planning and testing creative solutions (Barrett, 2021). Creative processing is therefore important to achieve before the making stage, as sometimes the problems solvers have wrong problem, or are making solutions for the wrong audience. The design process ensures that not only is the solution effective but also makes sure that the recipients of the problem have their voice heard. In a study conducted in 2010 by The Design Society, the found that the process of design thinking used in classrooms empowers students to gain a sense of "creative confidence” (Rauth, 2010) . The slow step-by-step process of design thinking actually makes students engaged in the task and gives them life long skills. The Design Society study concluded that design thinking empowers students "creative confidence, which assures the students of their own ability of acting and thinking creatively" (Rauth, 2010) Therefore design thinking is relevant not only to the learning and creativity of students, but also their confidence and self efficacy.

The benefits and limitations of design thinking:

As discussed above, design thinking has many benefits that students will learn that they can then apply in their everyday lives and especially in future jobs. Many companies around the world are "reaping the benefits of design thinking" (Liedtka, 2014). Design thinking creates effective problem solving by provoking empathy within the problem solver so the solution is relevant to the audience. Some limitations of design thinking lie where the problem solver makes errors during the process. This is because the problem solver has not fully understood the audiences needs, or gained empathy. This could lead to solving the wrong problem or creating more problems. Another limitation is that design thinking was created for detailed and complex issues that require brainstorming different solutions. This means that design thinking is not suitable for all problem solving, and other methods of problem solving will need to be used.

So, can we skip to the making stage?

No, the process of design thinking is important for understanding the root cause to a problem, and skipping to the making stage could result in solving the wrong problem, or creating other problems along the way. the making stage is undoubtably a very important phase of design thinking, but it is shaped and founded by the processes that come before. it. These processes being empathy, defining the problem, ideation, and prototyping. If we skip straight to the making stage the importance of all of these phases may be lost, and the solution will be ineffective.

References:

Barrett, T. (2021). ACU Design Thinking. Youtube. https://youtu.be/ejQ0FbfJk1w

IDEO Design thinking, (2021). History. IDEO Design Thinking. https://designthinking.ideo.com/history#:~:text=IDEO%20is%20often%20credited%20with,has%20been%20unfolding%20for%20decades.

Rauth, I., Koppën, E., Jobst, B., Melinel, C. (2010). Design Thinking: An Educational Model towards Creative Confidence. The Design Society. https://www.designsociety.org/publication/30267/Design+Thinking%3A+An+Educational+Model+towards+Creative+Confidence

Liedtka, J. (2014). Innovative ways companies are using design thinking. emerald insight.

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/sl-01-2014-0004/full/html