MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive Library



    Design Thinking: Design's Prodigal Son? Iterations, Journal of Design Research and Practice


    Robbins, Peter (2019) Design Thinking: Design's Prodigal Son? Iterations, Journal of Design Research and Practice. Iterations Design Journal. ISSN 2090-9640

    [img]
    Preview
    Download (369kB) | Preview


    Share your research

    Twitter Facebook LinkedIn GooglePlus Email more...



    Add this article to your Mendeley library


    Abstract

    Businesses are increasingly facing complex, even wicked, operating conditions with hyper-competition, digital disruption, faster cycle-times, a shift in power to their consumers and often a race to the bottom in pricing as the internet provides a new (and, at times, unhelpful) level of transparency. The twin forces of globalisation and digitisation are removing the traditional barriers to entry so that established firms can no longer rely on manufacturing capacity, global supply chain or even great distribution channels to stop challengers capsizing their business. Despite such hostile conditions, companies are still tasked with revenue and share growth. Many businesses look to innovation as their saviour and they pile resources into new product development. However, results are generally patchy because innovation is risky, it's messy, it's nonlinear, it carries a high risk of failure and most companies don't have the skilled personnel or the experience to navigate their way through the potential minefield of creating new products, new experiences, new services or new business models. But there is one innovation technique, in particular, to which many businesses are turning. Design Thinking has attracted significant attention in the management journals, in the business press and in business in general. It has been championed by established global brands like Apple and, equally, by disruptors like Hailo and Airbnb. Ironically, the one constituency in which it is still regarded with a degree of suspicion is the design industry itself. Some suggest that this is because the design community are shy of oversimplifying their object of study. This article will examine the rise and rise of Design Thinking and explain precisely what it is and how it has evolved from the theory and practice of design. Finally, we speculate whether the Prodigal Son is, in fact, a relevant metaphor and we conclude that more insight might be found in one of Aesop's fables.

    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: Design Thinking; Design; Business Innovation; Design Theory; Design Research;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Social Sciences > Design Innovation
    Item ID: 16042
    Depositing User: Peter Robbins
    Date Deposited: 01 Jun 2022 10:02
    Journal or Publication Title: Iterations Design Journal
    Publisher: Ulster University
    Refereed: Yes
    URI:
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

    Repository Staff Only(login required)

    View Item Item control page

    Downloads

    Downloads per month over past year

    Origin of downloads