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Design Thinking

Design Thinking is a human-centered methodology for solving complex problems in a creative and structured way. It emphasizes understanding the needs of users, generating ideas, prototyping, and testing. For example, if you are tasked with improving the experience of public transport, Design Thinking would start with empathizing with passengers before moving to solution ideas.

Why is this relevant to you? Because many projects in Creative Technology involve human interaction. Design Thinking helps you design solutions that are meaningful, usable, and innovative. By involving users throughout the process, you reduce the risk of building something that does not meet real needs.

Starting Points

  • Follow the five phases: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test.
    Example: interviewing students about their study habits before designing a productivity app.
  • Use interviews, observations, and empathy maps to understand users.
    Example: shadowing cyclists in the city to observe challenges in traffic flow.
  • Build quick prototypes to test assumptions early and often.
    Example: paper sketches of a mobile app interface tested with a small group of users.

Key Points

  • You keep the user perspective central in every step of the process.
  • You work iteratively: prototypes and tests guide your next steps.
  • You document not only solutions but also the reasoning behind choices.
  • You reflect on user feedback and adapt your design accordingly.