Design Thinking for Innovation Management
Summary
Design thinking is a structured yet flexible approach to innovation management that places human needs at its core. By integrating empathy, problem framing, creative ideation and rapid prototyping, it enables organisations to address complex challenges, adapt to changing markets and foster a culture of continuous learning. As an iterative process, it encourages cross-functional collaboration, bringing together diverse expertise to co-create solutions that balance desirability, feasibility and viability. Managers leverage design thinking to build dynamic capabilities—such as user-centred design and meaning innovation—align strategic intent with creative practices and accelerate time-to-market. Globally, firms in sectors from technology and healthcare to public policy employ these methods to enhance customer experience, streamline service delivery and tackle “wicked” societal problems. In practice, design thinking underpins agile product development, encourages leadership as sensemaking and supports sustainability-oriented innovation by engaging stakeholders in defining real-world requirements.
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Design Thinking for Innovation Management publication trend
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Technical terms
Human-centred design: An approach that begins by empathising with users to define genuine needs and shapes solutions around their experiences.
Iteration: Cyclic repetition of prototyping, testing and refinement to progressively improve a solution.
Prototyping: The creation of early, tangible representations of ideas to explore functionality and gather stakeholder feedback.
Sensemaking: The process by which individuals and teams interpret complex information to construct shared understanding and guide action.
Systems mapping: A visual method for representing elements, relationships and feedback loops within a system to reveal leverage points and boundary conditions.
Wicked problems: Complex issues characterised by interdependencies, ambiguous goals and evolving requirements, resistant to straightforward solutions.
References
- Innovation and Design in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Journal of Product Innovation Management (2020).
- The origin and evolution of Stanford University’s design thinking: From product design to design thinking in innovation management. Journal of Product Innovation Management (2021).
- Design thinking as sensemaking: Developing a pragmatist theory of practice to (re)introduce sensibility. Journal of Product Innovation Management (2021).
- Design thinking as an effective method for problem-setting and needfinding for entrepreneurial teams addressing wicked problems. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2023).
- Sustainability-oriented innovation: Improving problem definition through combined design thinking and systems mapping approaches. Thinking Skills and Creativity (2021).
- Microfoundations of dynamic design capabilities: An empirical analysis of “excellent” Italian design firms. Journal of Product Innovation Management (2021).
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