Design Thinking

There are 5 stages of Design Thinking:

1. Empathize – Thinking about the problem with an empathetic understanding
2. Define – Correlate all of the information learned so far
3. Ideate – the generation of Ideas to solve the problem
4. Prototype – A basic model of the final product, able to be changed rather easily
5. Test – finalizing the prototypes, producing better and better models

The design Thinking loop, showing how the process is never ending

Design Thinking is a very different way to problem solve. It is a circular way to solve the problem, which is very different from all of the other models that I have previously learned. It gives a new perspective when looking at problems because it helps produce good solutions.

A complete model airplane, not made by my group, but what our prototype plans on looking like. From CameronSS

This seems to be the process that my partners and I are using, as we know our problem, and we are prototyping and testing. We didn’t include the first few steps, however, as we took on this challenge of creating a model airplane to try and increase our understanding of the design program on the computer, rather than solve a problem with model airplanes. The “problem” that we are trying to solve is ways to increase our understanding of the program, Solidworks, and the solution was to design a model airplane. Another problem could have been ways to have more fun, but the plane wasn’t the solution to this, the process of designing it is

The How Might We… design thinking challenge is also very interesting, as it gives a clear definition of what is trying to be accomplished, and how we might accomplish it. It is a very simple way to think about a problem, but it gives a very good guide to finding a solution, because it keeps you on track.