Why “design
thinking” works?
Or
“Design Thinking Unpacked: An
Evolutionary Algorithm”
J. M. Korhonen & L. Hassi

in this presentation
- why design thinking works
- when does it work
- what does it mean in practice

“Design thinking”-like approach
in practice is defined here as:
- multidisciplinary teams
- human-centred exploration
- fast and iterative prototyping
(process perspective; Jahnke 2009)

“what designers do”

Design is defined here as a
knowledge-generating activity

Product development =

Product development =
search for best possible designs

Imagine an (almost) infinite
library of all designs...
(cf. “The Library of Babel” by Jorge
Luis Borges)

Trinity College, Dublin

If we visualize what’s in the
library:
(mobile phones section)

Differences in design

Differences in design

Differences in design

Differences in design

Differences in design
Utility (fitness for purpose)

EXAMPLE CASE: Janne’s choice, 2004
Utility (fitness for purpose)
Differences in design

EXAMPLE CASE: Janne’s choice, 2004
Utility (fitness for purpose)
X
Differences in design

X
Differences in design
Utility (fitness for purpose)

Differences in design
Utility (fitness for purpose)

FITNESS LANDSCAPE
Utility (fitness for purpose)
Differences in design

PERFECTLY ORDERED (NON-RANDOM)
Utility (fitness for purpose)
Problem type: Defined, quantitative
Differences in design

ROUGH-CORRELATED (REAL LIFE)
Utility (fitness for purpose)
Problem type: Wicked, qualitative
Differences in design

What does rough-correlated
fitness landscape mean in
practice?

Usually, small changes have
small effects on fitness for
purpose...

Mirra Chair (c) Herman Miller

But sometimes, small changes
can have large effects on
fitness...

Mirra Chair (c) Herman Miller

Mirra Chair (c) Herman Miller

?? ?
Mirra Chair (c) Herman Miller

[x] Metric
[x] Imperial

On the other hand, some large
changes may have only small
effects on the fitness for
purpose...

Mirra Chair (c) Herman Miller, Office Chair (c) vcf.com

ROUGH-CORRELATED (REAL LIFE)
Utility (fitness for purpose)
Differences in design

How to reach the highest
possible peaks?

The optimum strategy for getting
to the top in rough-correlated
landscapes:
evolutionary algorithms

Informal definition:
Algorithm is a process that
performs some sequence of
operations

EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHM
Utility (fitness for purpose)
X
Differences in design

EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHM
Utility (fitness for purpose)
X X
X
X
X
X
Differences in design

EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHM
Utility (fitness for purpose)
X X
X
X
X
X
Differences in design

evolutionary algorithm =
- radical experimentation
- incremental improvement
- test, eliminate, retain

evolutionary algorithm =
- diversity of ideas
- iterative prototyping
- rapid real-life testing

evolutionary algorithm...?
- multidisciplinary teams
- human-centred exploration
- fast and iterative prototyping
≈ evolutionary algorithm...?

Evolutionary algorithm “Design thinking”
Radical experimen-
Multidisciplinary teams
tation (lots of ideas)
Incremental Human-centred
improvement exploration
Fast and iterative
Test, eliminate, retain
prototyping

Some implications:
- Explaining “design thinking”
- When to use design thinking
(- NPD process modeling)
(- Technology S-curves)

Provisional theoretical
explanation: why design
thinking works

Provisional theoretical
explanation: why design
thinking works
(and where it works best)

In short, design thinking-like
approaches may be
theoretically near-optimum
strategies when the fitness
landscape is rough-correlated

In short, design thinking-like
approaches may be
theoretically near-optimum
strategies when the fitness
landscape is rough-correlated
(that is, in most cases)

Could we estimate the proper
exploratory/exploitative
(inductive/deductive) mix in
actual projects?

Could we estimate the proper
exploratory/exploitative
(inductive/deductive) mix in
actual projects?
Could this affect resource
planning?

When to use design thinking

PERFECTLY ORDERED (NON-RANDOM)
Utility (fitness for purpose)
NOT GOOD
Problem type: Defined, quantitative
Differences in design

ROUGH-CORRELATED (REAL LIFE)
Utility (fitness for purpose)
GOOD
Problem type: Wicked, qualitative
Differences in design

HOWEVER, when “zooming in”
by defining the problem better,
qualitative can become quantitative

Problem type: Defined, quantitative

Well-defined problems are best
solved through formal,
analytical approaches

...of course, getting to “well-
defined” is the trick: engineers
are really good at finding
answers, but how to ask the
questions?

FI(n)NISH
janne.korhonen@seos.fi
lotta.hassi@tkk.fi
www.seos.fi
www.aaltodesignfactory.fi