PERSPECTIVE:
LINKINGDESIGN THINKINGWITH
INNOVATION
OUTCOMESTHROUGH COGNITIVE
BIAS REDUCTION
Akansha Singh

QUESTIONS:
1. How has the definition of Design Thinking been developed?
2. What are the cognitive biases that influence decision making when innovation
is the goal?
3. How does Design Thinking reduce cognitive bias?

DESIGN THINKING
◦ Peter Rowe, a professor of architecture and urban planning at Harvard School of Design, coined the phrase "design thinking" in
a book of the same title.
◦ Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, an innovation consulting firm, has defined design thinking as “bringing designers’ principles,
approaches, methods, and too
◦ Former president of the Design Management Institute, a leading group of business-oriented designers, Thomas Lockwood has
given a more comprehensive definition of design thinking. “a human-centred innovation process that emphasizes observation,
collaboration, fast learning, visualization of ideas, rapid concept prototyping, and concurrent business analysis”
◦ In today’s business world, design thinking is a hypothesis-driven process that is problem, as well as solution, focused. It relies on
abduction and experimentation involving multiple alternative solutions that actively mediate a variety of tensions between
possibilities and constraints, and is best suited to decision contexts in which uncertainty and ambiguity are high

There are three noteworthy developments and additions that reflect vital elements of market design theory
that were not common in these earlier design theorists' writings.
D E S I G N
T H I N K I N G
WHO DES IGN S ? ROLE OF E MPAT HY
ROLE OF
V ISUALISATION &
PROTOT YPIN G
the question of whose values matter and
who ought to participate in the design
process has changed evolving from
including only experts to now including
even users in design thinking process
empathy goes beyond simply
acknowledging the subjectivity of the
design domain; almost all existing
definitions of the method stress design
thinking as a core principle that is
human-centered and user-driven
the function of prototyping is to drive
real world experimentation in service to
learning rather than to display, persuade,
or test;
these prototypes act as “playgrounds”
for conversation rather than “dress
rehearsals” for new products

COGNITIVE BIASES THAT INFLUENCE
DECISION MAKING

REDUCTION OF COGNITIVE BIASES BY
DECISION MAKING