Design Thinking Playbook co-author, Patrick Link, and Patrick Bauen introduce a global survey that seeks to determine design thinking’s most popular methods and tools
Design thinking is on everyone’s lips and is used in many fields of application. It is applied in startups and by large enterprises, and increasingly by mid-sized companies. The design thinking mindset and tools applied can help to develop radical innovations, initiate digital transformation or create new business ecosystems.
Design thinking is an approach, which should lead to the systematic solution of complex problems and the development of radically new ideas, which from the user’s point of view are convincing (desirability), economically viable (profitability) and technically feasible (feasibility).
Demographics of the first global design thinking survey
To find out more about the relevance and popularity of design thinking, we conducted our first global survey on design thinking tools and methods in spring 2018.
The aim of the survey was to find out which tools are used in practice. The survey was distributed globally to design thinkers from industry and education via social media, especially LinkedIn. More than 2,500 individuals with different levels of knowledge about design thinking completed the questionnaire. Most of the participants in the survey are highly experienced – 85% have more than two years of experience, and 23% have more than seven years of experience with design thinking.
In terms of affiliation to an industry or sector, the largest proportion of respondents (40%) are from the service and consulting sector. A significant proportion of 15% build digital solutions or belong to the IT industry, 12% said that they are from the education sector, a further 12% are from transport and logistics, 5% are from pharma and biotech, a further 5% represent banks and insurance, 4% indicated they are active in the manufacturing industry, and 14% represent other industries.
With regards to global reach, the survey attracted participants from 44 countries. The majority are from Europe (65%) followed by North America (16%), South America (7%), Asia (7%), Australia (3%) and Africa (2%).
The design thinking process and the tools applied
It is a no-brainer that the right tools should be used at the right time. However, at each phase of the design thinking cycle, there are a variety of tools which can be used. Many of them do not have their origin in design thinking, but are very well suited. The choice of the right tools depends on the phase, the innovation object, the learning objectives, the framing condition (e.g. time, team size) and also on the personal preferences of the facilitator.
Design thinking coaches and facilitators must consider the context, the goals of the whole project and the next iteration as well as the mood, preferences and knowledge of the team members. Good facilitators and design thinking coaches are characterised by the fact that they have a positive energy and can generate this in the team. They reflect on their behaviour and share their methodological knowledge. They can adapt design thinking flexibly to the situation, select the right methods and adapt them. They also have a good gut feeling telling them when they are supposed to initiate the transition from the diverging to the converging phase, the so-called ‘Groan Zone’.
Results: the most popular design thinking methods and tools
In our survey, the micro cycle of the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) in Potsdam was used as a reference model. This was chosen because of its widespread use at universities and in industry. The HPI model contains six phases: ‘Understand’; ‘Observe’; ‘Define point of view’; ‘Ideate’; ‘Prototype’; and ‘Test’. The problem is solved in many iterations.
One might argue that various design thinking process models are used in practice and that there might be irritations about the tools used in the different process models. However, all process models follow a ‘double diamond’. The first diamond deals with the exploration of the problem space – the second with the solution space. The double diamond is also used to place tools in their respective spaces.
In the next part, we look at the individual tools and methods along the micro cycle in more detail, from ‘Understand’ to ‘Test’. We also discuss the results of our global survey in which we asked participants which tools and methods from the micro cycle they are aware of, and how they rate them.
Patrick Link is Professor of Product Innovation at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (LUASA) in the Institute for Innovation and Technology Management (IIT). He is co-author of the bestseller, The Design Thinking Playbook.
Patrick Bauen is studying for an MSc in engineering at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (LUASA). He assists Patrick Link on the realisation of the Design Thinking Toolbook.
