In today’s fast-paced business environment, innovation is key to staying competitive. Design thinking offers a powerful methodology for business leaders to develop impactful products, services, and processes.

By focusing on human needs, design thinking ensures that solutions are technologically feasible, economically viable, and deeply relevant to the people they serve. Dive in to learn how this human-centered approach can help you lead your organization toward greater innovation and success. 

Skip to Key Points:

• What is Design Thinking?
• The Origins of Design Thinking
• Why Design Thinking Matters
• How Design Thinking Drives Impactful Solutions
• How Does Design Thinking Work?
• The 5 Phases of Design Thinking
• Popular Design Thinking Frameworks
• Transforming Your Organization & Career with Design Thinking
• 4 Practical Ways to Start Using Design Thinking
• Design Thinking in Action: Case Study
• Best Resources for Learning Design Thinking
• Frequently Asked Questions

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Develop the skills to drive innovation and solve complex problems with a human-centered approach. Learn more about our Design Thinking Certificate.

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The Definition of Design Thinking

Design thinking has a human-centered core. It encourages organizations to focus on the people they're creating for, which leads to better products, services, and processes. When you sit down to create a solution for a business need, the first question should always be what's the human need behind it?  

Who Created Design Thinking?

While IDEO is often credited with coining the term design thinking, the idea has been around and evolving for decades. Since its start in 1978, IDEO has practiced human-centered design, focusing on what people really need and want to create breakthrough products and solutions. David Kelley (Founder of IDEO) was the driving force in helping to shape design thinking and create a culture of at IDEO, helping businesses and leaders embrace creativity, collaboration and experimentation to navigate complex problems. Over time, we began using design thinking as a way to share our approach with a wider audience, helping individuals and organizations build the creative capabilities and confidence to tackle their own challenges with human-centered design.

“The main tenet of design thinking is empathy for the people you're trying to design for. Leadership is exactly the same thing - building empathy for the people that you're entrusted to help.” ― David Kelley, Founder of IDEO

Why is Design Thinking Important?

We live in an increasingly complex world where challenges are dynamic, interconnected, and deeply human. Businesses are having to adapt to new and emerging technologies, schools are working to close learning gaps, and healthcare providers are rethinking patient care. At the same time, organizations everywhere are being asked big questions: How do we keep up with rapid change? How do we navigate uncertainty? How do we improve systems while still meeting the needs of individuals? 

Design thinking helps us tackle these challenges and more by always keeping people at the center—creating solutions that are not only innovative but also relevant, responsible and lasting. It helps us cut through the complexity, uncover unmet needs, and create meaningful change.

How Design Thinking Drives Impactful Solutions

What makes design thinking so powerful? For us, it's the balance of big-picture thinking, deep human insight, and a bias toward action—quickly and scrappily prototyping and testing ideas to learn what works and what doesn't. It helps teams approach problems with empathy, looking at problems from many different perspectives to design solutions that truly work for people—not just the end users of a product or service but the many stakeholders around them who may be impacted. It encourages us to experiment, to push beyond small incremental improvements to explore bold new possibilities. 

Plus, it fosters collaboration, bringing together people from different disciplines and backgrounds to develop ideas that wouldn’t be possible on their own. No matter the industry or challenge, design thinking helps turn big, abstract problems into tangible solutions that make a real impact.

How Does Design Thinking Work?

By employing design thinking, we pull together what’s desirable from a human point of view with what is technologically feasible and economically viable. It also allows those who aren't trained as designers to use creative techniques, methods, and mindsets to address a vast range of challenges.

• Desirability: What makes sense to people and for people?
• Feasibility: What is technically possible within the foreseeable future
• Viability: What is likely to become part of a sustainable business model?

The design thinking process starts with taking action and understanding the right questions. It’s about embracing simple mindset shifts and tackling problems from a new direction.

What are the Phases of Design Thinking?

We teach the phases of design thinking as linear steps, but in practice the design thinking process is not always linear. Some of these steps may happen several times, and you may even jump back and forth between them. Moving through the phases of design thinking can take you from a blank slate to a new, innovative solution.

Frame a Question—Identify a driving question that inspires others to search for creative solutions.

Gather Inspiration—Inspire new thinking by discovering what people really need.

Generate Ideas—Push past obvious solutions to get to breakthrough ideas.

Make Ideas Tangible—Build rough prototypes to learn how to make ideas better.

Test to Learn—Refine ideas by gathering feedback and experimenting forward.

Share the Story—Craft a human story to inspire others toward action.

When done right, design thinking will help you understand the mindsets and needs of the people you're creating for, surface opportunities based on these needs, and lead you to innovative new solutions starting with quick, low-fidelity experiments that provide learning and gradually increase in fidelity.

The Design Thinking Phases Broken Down

Phase 1: Frame a Question

Every great design solution starts with a great question. Before jumping to solutions, we need to define the challenge we’re addressing. Take the Polaroid Instant Camera, for example, it was inspired by a four-year-old’s simple question: Why do we have to wait for the picture? That curiosity sparked an innovation that changed photography forever.

To frame a strong question, start with Why? to uncover root challenges, then shift to What if? to open up possibilities. Finally, turn your challenge into a How Might We...? question to invite collaboration and creative problem-solving. "How" suggests that a solution exists, "might" keeps possibilities open, and "we" reinforces that solving problems is a collective effort.

Example: If you're improving hospital experiences, you might ask: How might we ensure patients feel supported and informed during their care journey? A well-framed question is broad enough to inspire creativity yet focused enough to lead to actionable solutions.

Phase 2: Gather Inspiration

Empathy is at the heart of human-centered design—deeply understanding the people you're designing for. This means moving beyond assumptions by observing, listening, and stepping into their world. Interviews, observations, and immersive experiences can all reveal valuable insights.

Example: If you're redesigning a hospital experience, you might observe patients navigating waiting rooms and hallways. How do they feel at different points? Where do they experience stress or confusion? Looking beyond healthcare, you could also explore how theme parks design seamless visitor experiences. Inspiration often comes from unexpected places. Here’s a tip: People don’t always say what they mean or do what they say—so watch for behaviors, emotions, and patterns, not just words.

Phase 3: Generate Ideas

Now the fun begins—brainstorming! This phase is about divergent thinking—going wide, suspending judgment, and embracing wild ideas. The best way to have a great idea is to have lots of them, especially when brainstorming with others.

To spark creativity, follow these principles: defer judgment, encourage wild ideas, build on others' ideas, stay focused, go for quantity, and get visual. At IDEO, we believe creativity thrives on collaboration—bringing together different perspectives often leads to unexpected breakthroughs.

Try This: Set a timer for five minutes and write down as many ideas as possible for a challenge you care about. Push yourself past the obvious!

Phase 4: Make Ideas Tangible

Ideas come to life through prototyping. A prototype can be anything—a sketch, a storyboard, a simple mock-up, or even a role-play exercise. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s learning. The faster you build something tangible, the sooner you can test, refine, and improve it.

Example: When IDEO explored a new medication service, the team set up a fake kiosk in a mall—no real product, just a simulation to gauge reactions. This low-cost, low-risk prototype helped validate the idea before investing in development. Here’s a tip: Don’t overdo it—build just enough of your idea to test and learn.

Phase 5: Test to Learn

Testing isn’t just about validating an idea—it’s about uncovering what doesn’t work so you can improve. In design thinking, we evaluate solutions through four key lenses:

• Desirability – Does this meet a real human need?

• Feasibility – Can we realistically build it?

• Viability – Will it be sustainable over time?

• Responsibility – Is it ethical and does it avoid unintended harm?

Example: If you’re designing a medication management app, you might ask: Does it make tracking medications easier (desirability)? Can users update their lists easily (feasibility)? Will enough people use it to make it sustainable (viability)? Does it protect patient data (responsibility)? Keep an open mind—sometimes the best insights come from what doesn’t work.

Phase 6: Share the Story

A great idea needs a compelling story to bring it to life. Why? Because stories connect people to ideas—they make solutions feel real and inspire action. When sharing your design process, focus on:

• The challenge you set out to solve

• The insights you uncovered

• The impact of your solution

At IDEO, we often say: If you want people to care, tell them a story.

 

3 Design Thinking Frameworks to Keep in Mind

Incorporating the right frameworks can help teams navigate complex challenges and unlock innovative solutions. Here are three design thinking frameworks that can guide your process and lead to more impactful, human-centered outcomes.

1. Strategy Process Map

Strategy can feel abstract and overwhelming, but the Strategy Process Map helps break it down into clear, actionable steps. Rooted in design thinking, this framework guides teams through the process of defining challenges, generating possibilities, testing assumptions, and making informed choices. 

Instead of treating strategy as a rigid plan, this framework keeps it flexible, human-centered, and iterative—allowing teams and organizations to adapt in the face of uncertainty. For example, imagine a retail startup facing new competition from a larger, more established player in their industry. Using the Strategy Process Map, the team could reframe their challenge, explore strategic possibilities—like shifting to a new customer base—and test their ideas in low-fidelity ways before making a final decision. 

2. Iceberg Model

Many of the challenges we face seem to recur again and again, even when we try our best to solve them. That’s because we often focus on surface-level symptoms rather than the deeper root causes. The Iceberg Model helps teams see beyond what’s visible—the tip of the iceberg—to uncover the underlying patterns, structures, and mindsets that shape a system. Instead of reacting to problems as they emerge, this tool encourages us to unpack the layers of a problem, stepping back to spot trends or patterns and then digging deep to investigate what’s really driving them.

For example, imagine you work for a company that is struggling with employee burnout. On the surface, the issue might seem to be long work hours. But using the Iceberg Model, you might uncover deeper structural issues at play, like rigid policies that don't allow flexibility for working parents, and underlying mindsets, such as a culture that equates long hours and late nights in the office with dedication. And once you unearth these deeper layers, you can use design thinking to more deeply explore the problem and design solutions that don’t just provide temporary fixes, but really create lasting change.

If you’re thinking about using the Iceberg Model, start by asking yourself these questions:

• Is the problem complex? Does it involve multiple stakeholders, systems, or moving parts? If so, mapping it out can help you see connections you might otherwise miss or overlook.

• Does this issue keep coming back? If the problem is chronic or recurring despite previous solutions, chances are you’ve been addressing symptoms rather than root causes.

• Has this problem been difficult to solve? If past efforts haven’t worked, it might be time to look deeper, beyond behaviors and isolated incidents, to the underlying structures and mindsets driving them.

3. Systems Map

In complex systems, everything is connected—but those connections aren’t always easy to spot. A systems map helps teams visualize relationships, uncover hidden dynamics, and identify opportunities for change. By mapping out stakeholders and their interactions, you can explore things like who holds decision-making power, how influence flows, where gaps in resources or communication exist.

For example, a school district trying to improve student well-being might map the relationships between students, teachers, parents, administrators, policymakers and other stakeholders. This could reveal that while principals play an important leadership role, they receive very little direct support for themselves—which impacts the entire system, including students. With this insight, teams could design more sustainable, interconnected solutions that address root causes, not just symptoms—like creating peer networks where principals can connect and share resources. A systems map doesn’t just help you see complexity, it helps you act on it, too.

How Design Thinking Can Transform Your Organization and Career

Design thinking is a powerful tool that reshapes how organizations and individuals approach problem-solving, innovation, and career development. This human-centered framework empowers businesses to craft impactful solutions while enabling professionals to become more adaptable, creative, and effective in their roles.

Key Benefits of Design Thinking for Your Organization

• Understand the unmet needs of the people you’re creating for (customers, clients, students, users, etc...).
• Reduce the risk associated with launching new ideas, products, and services.
• Generate solutions that are revolutionary, not just incremental.
• Learn and iterate faster.
• Collaborate better and tap into the creative potential of individuals and teams

How Design Thinking Enhances Career Growth

Mastering design thinking is a never-ending journey, not a destination—it takes time and practice. But the skills and mindsets you learn can make you a more adaptable, creative, and effective problem solver in your career—no matter what your role or field is. In today’s world, challenges are rarely simple and straightforward, and conventional thinking often falls short. Design thinking helps you break out from old patterns, see problems from new angles, experiment with fresh ideas, and make meaningful progress even in complex situations.

The Versatility of Design Thinking Across Industries

Design thinking is applicable no matter your role or industry. Whether you work in business, government, education, or nonprofit, design thinking can help you develop innovative solutions based on the needs of your customers. See case studies showcasing the impact of design thinking across a variety of industries and practices.

“It’s not ‘us versus them’ or even ‘us on behalf of them.’ For a design thinker it has to be ‘us with them'” – Tim Brown, CEO and President of IDEO

4 Ways to Get Started with Design Thinking

1. Gather Insights by Practicing Empathy, Observation, and Interviewing

Getting to know your customers is the first step toward creating products and services they want and need. Don’t assume you know what someone thinks or feels. Gathering information about your target consumer is a critical piece of the design thinking approach. Build your interview skills with these tips.

2. Build Scrappy Prototypes to Learn About Unmet Needs

You don’t need lots of time or resources to prototype. Begin with pen and paper or other accessible resources, like a slide deck, to mock up ideas and get feedback that will help you better understand the needs of your customers before investing in production.

At IDEO, we worked with a large media firm undergoing a big reorganization. The team prototyped possible changes to the organizational structure by using constraints to create 6-week experimental teams. The goal was not for the teams to succeed necessarily, but for the company to gain some learnings that could inform a better structure.

3. Turn Problems into Questions

When presented with a problem, resist the urge to find a solution right away. Shift your mindset to instead ask a question that might get you closer to the root of the challenge or support an incremental improvement.

Take the example of an IDEO team who was working with a company struggling with retention. Instead of focusing on improving retention rates, they asked, How can we make a better employee experience? By refocusing on the real human needs, they uncovered insights that were better able to drive toward a solution.

4. Use Research to Understand the Past, Present, and Future

IDEO typically uses lots of different research techniques to generate insights around the needs of people including, but not limited to, observation, interviewing, immersive empathy, and exploring extreme users.

Generally, the type of research you can do falls into three buckets:

• Generative Research: Used to identify new opportunities and explore needs.
• Evaluative Research: Used to gather feedback on experiments and help you iterate forward.
• Validating Research: Traditional market research intended to help you understand what is currently happening.

Generative and evaluative research are focused on the future and new ideas, while validating research is centered around what is occurring in the present. Balance your research approach to focus on what’s happening now and what could be in the future.

Design Thinking in Action: A Case Study on AI and Gen Z

The Challenge: As AI becomes more integrated into daily life, companies are racing to develop AI-powered products. But are they building what users actually want? IDEO set out to explore how Gen Z—growing up alongside AI—envisions its role in creativity, relationships, and self-expression while prioritizing trust, authenticity, and human agency.

The Approach: To uncover these insights, IDEO combined social listening on TikTok with interactive co-creation sessions. Instead of building full AI prototypes, they used role-playing exercises and scripted dialogues, allowing participants to engage with hypothetical AI personalities in real time. This hands-on approach provided a deeper understanding of how AI could enhance, rather than replace, creativity and social interactions.

The Outcome: This exploration led to the development of the AI Playground—a controlled, opt-in space where AI fosters collaboration without intruding on private conversations. By designing with Gen Z, not just for them, IDEO identified key principles for responsible AI development that align with real user needs.

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Develop the skills to integrate AI into innovation and problem-solving with a human-centered approach. Learn more about our AI x Design Thinking Workshop.

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Design Thinking Tools and Resources

To get started with design thinking, business leaders and managers can leverage various design thinking tools and resources, such as:

• IDEO U’s Courses and Workshops: Practical design thinking courses that teach essential design thinking skills and mindsets. Here are a few of our recommendations:
• Foundations in Design Thinking Certificate
• Human-Centered Service Design Course
• Storytelling for Influence Course
• Advanced Design Thinking
• Empathy Maps and Journey Maps: Use tools such as a journey map to better understand customer needs and experiences.

Design Thinking FAQs

To learn more about design thinking, check out our Design Thinking Overview page and Design Thinking Resources page.

Skip ahead in the episode above for answers to these questions:

• (04:31): How do you convey what design thinking is to non-designers?
• (08:41): How would you describe design thinking's business value?
• (13:57): How can we do virtual design thinking exercises?
• (17:50): What are some tips for idea generation and synthesis with large groups?
• (22:28): How do you introduce design thinking to an organization that's never used it before?
• (25:23): How can we engage stakeholders and sponsors early on in the design of a change management approach?
• (29:34): What are the biggest mistakes you see companies make when trying to implement design thinking?
• (32:32): What if leadership is not interested in the process of design thinking?
• (33:09): In which industries is it more difficult to apply design thinking?
• (34:05): What are the best practices for framing the right question?
• (35:56): How do you create a good design thinking project brief?
• (38:06): How do you use design thinking with auditors or assessors or other fairly linear contexts?
• (40:39): How do I get my start in design thinking?

Key Takeaways

• Design thinking is human-centered. It prioritizes real user needs to drive meaningful innovation.
• Empathy is the foundation. Understanding people’s challenges leads to better solutions.
• Collaboration sparks creativity. Diverse perspectives generate stronger, more innovative ideas.
• Prototyping and testing reduce risk. Iterating quickly helps refine ideas before full implementation.
• It's a powerful tool for any industry. From business to education, design thinking helps solve complex problems.

Unlock the Power of Design Thinking in Your Business

Ready to transform your organization and drive innovation through design thinking? Start by fostering a human-centered culture, leveraging real-world success stories, and integrating this powerful methodology with your existing processes.

Enroll in our Foundations in Design Thinking Certificate Course to gain practical skills and insights that will help you lead your team to success. Take the first step today and unlock the full potential of design thinking in your business.

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