Design thinking: Notes on its nature and use

Adapted from a keynote address given at the International Conference on Design Research and Education for the Future (held alongside the Gwangju Design Biennale 2005), this article by Charles Owen, published in Design Research Quarterly, sets out the nature and value of "design thinking" as a mode of problem solving distinct from scientific or analytical thinking. Owen argues that problems arising from population growth and pressure on resources and the environment have reached a point where the decision-making processes used by institutional and governmental leaders need serious scrutiny, and that design thinking, well suited to complex, ambiguous problems, is largely absent from that decision making even as scientific thinking often goes unheeded too. The piece makes the case for design thinking's flexibility and its applicability well beyond traditional design fields, including technology and education. Credits: Owen, C. (2007). Design thinking: Notes on its nature and use. Design Research Quarterly, 2(1), 16-27.