We explored the design thinking process and introduced various models, including the Double Diamond Design process, which reflected several characteristics of design thinking, although it still shows some linearity in its flow through the four stages: Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver. As you may notice when looking at the Double Diamond model, the centricity around the problem definition is located at the exact intersection point before the problem space, and the solution space reflects design thinking theories that I shared previously in the updated Design Thining Books list, especially ..read more

Design research is a core practice in design and when applying the design thinking process professionally. However, in some situations, we seek agreement from experts around one question, decision, or strategy while exploring problems before jumping to prototyping solutions. While there are several tools to explore problems from the user perspective, I would like to share with you the Delphi Method, which looks at the situation from the expert perspective. I used this method in my recent paper, Implementing Evidence-Based Design to Improve Adherence in Self-Administered Treatment Technolo ..read more

Managing the design process is always a challenging task. Have you ever wondered the reason behind the lack of designers’ ability to understand how to manage the creative process and the similar lack of managers’ knowledge of the creative process presents one of the significant barriers that stand against driving innovation and building design culture as an integrated part of the strategic thinking inside the organisation as I highlighted in my paper for the Design Management Review, Barriers Facing Design and Creativity in Middle East SMEs. However, the study findings were applied to other co ..read more

While teaching design classes at several universities, I got to explore the design thinking process with the students and highlight the role of design and creativity during the different process stages. For example, the Double Diamond design thinking process helps us to explore the problem/solution space of the problem to identify innovative solutions (check Why Design Thinking Doesn’t Work). However, we still see the design through a process level when strategic design can extend the role of creativity and innovative problem solving inside the organisation to more design management level invo ..read more

For many, design thinking reflects several outcomes of the design value, and creativity and innovation are among them. When we dig deeper into design thinking examples, we see the applications of design characteristics in solving different problems creatively and innovatively.  We face increasingly challenging obstacles like climate change, pollution, poverty, lack of resources and other difficulties that have yet to manifest. Problems predicted years ago have become a reality we can now observe on daily newscasts. Can design and the different types of innovation save the world among thes ..read more

The user experience is the core of the design process, and we, as designers, apply existing design processes such as the Double Diamond Design Thinking to improve our user’s experience and achieve the so-called empathic design. But the process is not that straightforward as we need to consider several human and non-human factors during the design process, and part of these factors relate to the context of use and how the product or service is used, which is known as the ergonomics, a widely known set of considerations that design to apply to different designs and services to achieve user satis ..read more

The SCAMPER technique is one of the brainstorming tools that allows us to explore solutions to problems by altering the current product through seven different approaches: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put in Another Use, Eliminate, and Rearrange. My previous article, A Guide to the SCAMPER Technique for Creative Thinking, explored these seven approaches and the questions we must ask ourselves to solve a design problem. In this article, we will examine examples of the SCAMPER technique and how it is applied in the real world by different companies. To build a holistic approach that ..read more

Let’s have a think of the design practice and how design research contribute to the development of different design solutions, products, services, and systems. Both design and research are human activities and in his book, the Craftsmanship, Richard Sennett describes design as a craftsman practice that involves using different materials and elements to provide a final design solution. Over the years of working in design industry, before moving to the academia, research was integrated part of our practice as a design team.  With a closer look to the design thinking process, we can observe ..read more

When we have a new product idea, it is always surrounded by uncertainty regarding its future success and market acceptability. During the design processes, such as the Double Diamond Design Thinking, we could collect user feedback and use it to iterate our product prototype. Still, this limited cycle doesn’t give us the chance to have enough validation for the ideas as a holistic business model. This is where the minimum viable product comes as an opportunity to release the idea to the market and test its success. Making the minimum viable product is one of the most effective ways to envisage ..read more

When I teach design to my students, I usually tell them to look for the “value” and acknowledge it is the most important connection between you and your user. The core point is to address their needs, solve their problems and achieve innovation. If we apply tools such as the Double Diamond Design Thinking or solve a problem using root cause tools such as 5 Whys, Fishbone Diagram, TRIZ and 8D Problem Solving, we are looking for the value our solution can provide the user. To this goal, one of the tools that can significantly help identify this value is the Value Proposition Canvas, which we can ..read more