How is Design Thinking Applied in Practice?

Design thinking is a problem-solving methodology and human centered innovation process which continues to enjoy increasing popularity with practitioners, business leaders, scholars, and educators for its potential to foster innovative activity across a wide array of business and organizational challenges. While vaulting to popularity in the wake of Tim Brown and IDEO's emergence in 2008 with a simplified and commercialized methodology, where everyone can be a designer, it also has its share of problems making it a challenging subject. First, there is no agreed upon definition for design thinking, and the term itself is a subject of controversy among its practitioners and advocates. Second, while design thinking has gained in popularity with its mass appeal, it has a rich history rooted in design theory which has allowed for the emergence of both managerial and "designerly" discourses resulting in a "dual discourse" problem. Third, design thinking cannot seem to shake its perception of being a management fad. This research studies how design thinking is applied in the field by practitioners by asking: Are all practitioners using design thinking in the same way? Are design thinking methodologies producing the expected outcomes? Are there new insights that may improve upon the current model(s) to better serve the end user, which are not captured in the literature? While this study does not attempt to arrive at a unified definition for design thinking, it does contextualize design thinking from the perspective of design thinking practitioners while developing a processual model describing how it is practiced. This model proposes four separate process pathways combining substantive, symbolic, choreographic, and educational actions. These actions all happen simultaneously, are seemingly interrelated and are all choreographed by the lead practitioner as if it were a theatrical production with numerous moving parts, interdependent on each other. Moreover, this study reveals additional outcomes beyond problem solving that practitioners arrive at which serve to improve business objectives and drive cultural change. Keywords: Design thinking, process model, process pathways, design thinking outcomes, symbolic actions, design thinking practice, design thinking application, business transformation, cultural change, grounded theory