Design Thinking Isn’t Just a Buzzword
What Even Is Design Thinking—And Why Should We Care?
Design Thinking has become one of those terms that pops up everywhere; business books, tech blogs, even in conversations outside of design. But it isn’t just slang. At its core, Design Thinking is about solving problems by keeping real people at the center. When applied thoughtfully, it surfaces overlooked needs and produces solutions that actually stick.
According to the Interaction-Design Foundation, the methodology consists of five key stages: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. But don’t get them confused, these aren’t rigid steps. Teams often jump back and forth between them, because user needs evolve, and solutions rarely work perfectly on the first try. This flexibility is why organizations from schools to global tech companies use Design Thinking to tackle real-world challenges.
The Five Phases
1. Empathize: Start with People
Empathy is the cornerstone of Design Thinking. Instead of assuming what users want, designers observe, interview, and immerse themselves in their users’ world. For example, imagine you are designing a fitness as for beginners. Instead of surmising what your target audience may want, conduct interviews and take note of how they interact with preexisting workout apps. Come to find out that users weren’t looking for dozens of tracking features—they wanted simplicity and encouragement (Justinmind). This understanding shapes how you approach your design in addressing real issues, rather than assumed ones.
Tools like empathy maps help capture what users say, think, feel, and do. Making invisible frustrations or needs more visible. An empathy map is a digestible and quick way to illustrate user attitudes and behaviors. Once created, it should act as a source of truth throughout a project and protect it from bias or unfounded assumptions.
2. Define: Develop a Problem Statement
Research alone isn’t enough though; it has to be distilled into a clear problem worth solving. In the Define phase, teams look for patterns.
For instance, after conducting interviews, look for a common pain point: “New users feel overwhelmed during onboarding.” And framing that as a real, actionable need – a problem statement -- gives the project a direction: How might we simplify onboarding to reduce confusion? (Nielsen Norman Group, Stanford University).
3. Ideate: Think Big, Then Narrow Down
This is the fun phase: brainstorming wild ideas without judgment. The goal is to conceptualize ideas widely, before narrowing down to the most promising concepts
As Bryan Kitch from Mural notes, ideation works best when both divergent thinking (expanding possibilities) and convergent thinking (focusing on feasible solutions) are combined. Post-it note walls, digital whiteboards, and even quick sketch sessions all thrive here.
4. Prototype: Make Ideas Tangible
Rather than debating ideas endlessly, teams create low-cost, quick prototypes. These could be wireframes, clickable mockups, or even paper sketches. The key is tangibility; users can interact with something, not just imagine it.
Prototyping is powerful because it shifts the conversation from “what if” to “how does this actually work?”
Stage 4 in the Design Thinking Process: Prototype - Interactive Design Foundation
5. Test: Learn and Refine
Testing puts prototypes in the hands of real users. Feedback might confirm that an idea is on the right track, or it might reveal blind spots. Either way, testing isn’t the end of the process, it loops back into redefining or ideating again. (See, I told you).
Real-World Wins
Here’s a couple of cases that show how impactful Design Thinking can be:
Nintendo Wii & Extreme Users: Nintendo studied non-gamers (so-called “extreme users”) who found gaming systems too complex. This insight led to the Wii’s motion-based controller—a game changer that made gaming accessible and wildly popular.
IDEO & School Lunches: IDEO worked with San Francisco schools to reimagine cafeteria experiences. By listening to students, they discovered the problem wasn’t just the food itself, but the environment in which meals were eaten. Small shifts, like redesigning cafeteria layouts, had big impacts.
Why This Matters for UX & Us
Design Thinking isn’t just for “traditional” design projects. It’s becoming widely used—even in legal services, where lawyers are applying it to make their communication more accessible and user-friendly, especially for neurodiverse clients (Financial Times). At its heart, Design Thinking prioritizes people over assumptions. Whether you’re designing an app or rewriting a contract, it’s about focusing on the end user and iterating thoughtfully.
Design Thinking isn’t a rigid process, it’s a mindset. By centering users, encouraging creative exploration, and treating failure as a learning tool, it helps create solutions that genuinely improve lives.
Whether it’s a redesigned cafeteria, a motion-based controller, or a new way of writing contracts, the value comes from never losing sight of the people we’re designing for.
