Design thinking is a systematic process of thinking that allows the designer to develop innovative solutions by exploring various concepts. It allows the designer to approach the solution more creatively and broadly than to focus on just one idea, which may not be the best option for the client. There are different approaches and methods that can be used to achieve this conceptual result. The three most common across all studies are the “key strategic aspects of systems approach, framing, and firsts principles.” This allows the designer to develop a solution concept that meets the framework and meets the criteria leading to more originality.
In the book ‘Design Thinking” by Nigel Cross, he mentions how “everyone can be creative and design”. Design is all around us and we use design to do a lot of things in our everyday life. So how is it that design is still complex? Well because we can design something that has been done before but the goal is how can we create something that hasn’t been made before, that communicates the message and satisfies the fundamental criteria that the client has set. As a designer starts on a new project it may be an unconscious habit to immediately jump right into our first idea. Yet, Cross states how “designing is difficult to conduct by the purely internal mental process, there is a cognitive limit as it is best to interact with an external representation.”
In order to successfully reach the design’s full potential, it is important to put different responses down on paper than working from your head. One should “develop ideas through sketches, drawings, and models in order to explore and understand around the building up of ideas.” Even a completely new design can be achieved through this process by taking different details from each piece to create a new solution together. With this purpose in mind, the three strategic approaches allow the designer’s final concept reach its full potential. First, it is the systems approach which was implemented by innovative designers themselves. It is important to think about the solution as a system and “how they relate to one another.” If not so, there will be a spotlight in a certain piece that may create an unbalanced presentation. I agree the challenge is finding a visual relationship between the components. This unity can be achieved through a similar style, fonts, interaction and so on. Next, the framing approach is how the concept can be explored from a certain perspective. Cross mentions how in this situation the problem arises from the design requirements but influenced by their personal motivations. A great example he gave was how “creativity is often stimulated when there is a conflict to solve” and I couldn’t agree more. I feel as if I am best at designing when I have been given or gave myself a task to meet than when just doing it for fun. Lastly the approach of first principles. Where you create a solution out of the functionality of the ideas you have and have created in the past. What, how and would it work at all are questions you can ask beforehand. With this being said, everybody can reach their creative potential by following these approaches good designers undertake.
Design Thinking: Undertanding HOw Designers Think and Work by Nigel Cross
