From Empathising to Letting Go: Progressing Through the Design Thinking Maturity Curve

From Empathising to Letting Go: Progressing Through the Design Thinking Maturity Curve

Over the years Design Thinking has evolved from a niche specialism, appealing primarily to start-ups and entrepreneurs, and is now firmly on the agenda of large multinational companies, as well as the MBA curriculum. It offers enormous potential for innovation and competitive advantage. Firms synonymous with success including Google, Apple, Uber, Netflix and SalesForce.com have embraced design thinking at the core of their business models. Traditionally Design Thinking is carried out through a series of iterating stages. These stages; Empathise, Design, Ideate, Prototype and Test follow the Design Thinking model proposed by the HassoPlattner Institute of Design at Stanford; the leading university when it comes to teaching Design Thinking. How, though, do these steps align with the development of Design Thinking maturity? And is there maybe a sixth step that is equally important in the development of UX, service design and product?

Over the years Design Thinking has evolved from a niche specialism, appealing primarily to start-ups and entrepreneurs, and is now firmly on the agenda of large multinational companies, as well as the MBA curriculum. It offers enormous potential for innovation and competitive advantage. Firms synonymous with success including Google, Apple, Uber, Netflix and SalesForce.com have embraced design thinking at the core of their business models. Traditionally Design Thinking is carried out through a series of iterating stages. These stages; Empathise, Design, Ideate, Prototype and Test follow the Design Thinking model proposed by the HassoPlattner Institute of Design at Stanford; the leading university when it comes to teaching Design Thinking. How, though, do these steps align with the development of Design Thinking maturity? And is there maybe a sixth step that is equally important in the development of UX, service design and product?


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