Design Thinking: How it all began
Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2025 8:05 am
“I'm going to be a design thinking coach.” That's a sentence that's likely to cause questioning looks and raised eyebrows at many a family dinner. “Design thinking coach? I've never heard of that.”
The question is certainly justified. After all, the job profile of a design thinking coach is relatively new and sounds a bit abstract at first. So let's start with the question: What is design thinking and where does it come from?
In German-speaking countries, the term "design thinking" is initially somewhat canadian colleges universities email list misleading. When we hear the term "design," we tend to think of aesthetic things, such as fashion, graphics, or product design. In English, however, "design" does not just mean aesthetic design, but also functional design. Architects, engineers, and software developers are therefore also considered designers. Consequently, design thinking has less to do with aesthetic thinking than with functional, conceptual thinking.
To understand design thinking in its entirety, we need to turn back the clock a little: to the golden 1920s, the decade of cabaret, extravagance and Charleston dancing. During this time, the architect Walter Gropius set himself the goal of creating a place to bring together different disciplines, such as art, architecture, theater, music and design, in order to solve complex issues of his time together.
Almost 70 years later, this approach was a source of inspiration for Professor David Kelley, who coined the term “Design Thinking” at Stanford by founding the international design and innovation consulting company IDEO (and subsequently co-founding the d.school – the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design).
The question is certainly justified. After all, the job profile of a design thinking coach is relatively new and sounds a bit abstract at first. So let's start with the question: What is design thinking and where does it come from?
In German-speaking countries, the term "design thinking" is initially somewhat canadian colleges universities email list misleading. When we hear the term "design," we tend to think of aesthetic things, such as fashion, graphics, or product design. In English, however, "design" does not just mean aesthetic design, but also functional design. Architects, engineers, and software developers are therefore also considered designers. Consequently, design thinking has less to do with aesthetic thinking than with functional, conceptual thinking.
To understand design thinking in its entirety, we need to turn back the clock a little: to the golden 1920s, the decade of cabaret, extravagance and Charleston dancing. During this time, the architect Walter Gropius set himself the goal of creating a place to bring together different disciplines, such as art, architecture, theater, music and design, in order to solve complex issues of his time together.
Almost 70 years later, this approach was a source of inspiration for Professor David Kelley, who coined the term “Design Thinking” at Stanford by founding the international design and innovation consulting company IDEO (and subsequently co-founding the d.school – the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design).