developing design thinking practice in
complex organisationszaana howardqueensland university of technology

backgroundresearch questionmethodology casesdesign thinking practicedeveloping
design thinking capabilityintegrating design thinking in organisatons outline

background

design thinking is…a human centred
and collaborative approachto problem solving using a designerly mindsetto solve complex problems background

design thinking practice incomplex organisations§
for driving innovation and organisational transformation§ little empirical research, much bias background

design thinking practiceand capability§ how
to build design thinking capability?§ how to integrate design thinking practice? background

research question

how is design thinking practiced
incomplex organisations? research question

in complex organisations:what constitutes the
meanings and practicesof design thinking?how is design thinking capability developed?what is the role of the design thinkingprofessional in leading complex designprojects? research question

methodology

a pragmatic approachcase study methodologyethnographic
methodsconstant comparative method for analysis methodology

cases

three cases:retrospective case study of
Second Roadparticipatory case study of Deloitte Australiaexpert interview study cases

case: Second Road§ practicing design
thinking for more than a decade§ 12 semi structured interviews + retrospective project audit cases

case: Deloitte Australia§ introduced design
thinking in early 2011§ 250 hours of participant observation + 30 semi structured interviews cases

study: expert interviews§ academics and
practitioners who identify themselves with design thinking§ 13 semi structured interviews spread across Australia, USA, UK and Europe cases

design thinking practice

design thinking practice = design
led professional process & environment methodsdesign thinkingpractice

culture environment ‘safe’ physical spacedesign
thinkingpractice

breadth & depth of toolkit
process & methods conversation structure & & sequence visualisationdesign thinkingpractice

skills & knowledge design led
professional personal experiences attributes & worldviewdesign thinkingpractice

design lead composer & educator
director design led facilitator professional ‘cool kid’ as role takerdesign thinkingpractice

developing design thinking capability

design thinking is… easily understood
yet complex in execution design thinkingcapability

design thinking capability requires mentoring,
experience and skill training alone is insufficient design thinkingcapability

developing design thinking requires a
sustained learning program supported by design led professionals design thinkingcapability

integrating design thinking in organisations

levels of capability aware participant
capable specialistintegratingdesign thinking

integrating design thinking individual to
organisational design thinking professional design thinking professional process & environment methods process & environment methodsintegratingdesign thinking

integrating design thinking requires long
term commitment integratingdesign thinking

zaana howardassociate lecturer | information
systems schoolqueensland university of technologyphd candidate | faculty of designswinburne university of technologyzaanahoward@gmail.com | zaanahoward.com | @zaana