One step at a time …
To design is to create and produce a solution to a specified challenge. Design describes both the process (to design) and the product that is the outcome of that process (a design).
Design thinking sets out to describe and explain how design works. It opens up the mechanics of design to scrutiny and challenge. It teases apart the process of design, opening up the black box of what goes on in the mind of the designer. It distills the essence of design. It explains how design manages to be both creative in its processes yet practical in its outcome. It also examines the outcome of design. What other designs could have been produced? Is the proposed solution better than the alternatives?
Deep design thinking goes further.
It questions and challenges assumptions about design. What is the defining essence of design? Where do the boundaries of design lie? How is design distinctive from other human endeavours? Is design, in any way, ‘special’, as it is sometimes made out to be?
It elaborates and refines design thinking. What are the cognitive and conceptual processes inherent in design thinking? How can design thinking add value to business, to society, to the world? Can design thinking increase its value by learning from or integrating with other disciplines (scientific, social, environmental)?
Dimensions of depth in design thinking (work in progress)
So, in what way is deep design thinking deep? Potentially there could be a number of dimensions.
- Deep design thinking might retain its current aspirations and scope but delve into greater intellectual depth in doing so. In graphic design, for example, it might involve a more rigorous exploration of the colour / font / messaging combinations and their symbolic significance. In product design it might involve a more intensive examination of user needs and the enthnographic context in which these needs are articulated. Or perhaps a deeper examination of the different materials that could be used for product manufacture. For interaction design, a deep design thinking approach might involve in-depth research into the technologies that could underpin a new web app.
- Deep design thinking could be deeper in a specific direction, thereby giving designers new perspectives, new ways to apply their skills and new types of design solutions. Victor Papanek’ notion of design as political activism is a great example. At a design activist meeting in 1968, Papanek warned that industrial design has put murder on a mass-production basis by designing criminally unsafe automobiles that kill or maim
- Deep design thinking might traverse system boundaries. Whilst design thinking might ensure a product has user appeal and is a commercial success, deep design thinking might also explore whether or not the product meets an genuinely unmet user need or is it just encouraging unnecessary consumption. This would require an exploration of the product within its social and environmental context, not merely its retail context.
Dig deeper:
What is design?
The importance of design thinking
What are designers?
Design thinking and systems thinking
Diamond models of design thinking
The Design Ladder
Dennett’s Intelligent Design
Narratives for our story
Interesting ideas with no current home