Design Thinking Approach

Therefore, they play a critical role in ensuring that firms and other profitable organization are able to keep with the pace of globalization and innovation which have emanated as the defining factor in today global business environment. According to Wrigley & Straker (2015), the ability of companies to innovate is deeply embedded on whether a firm is able to evolve and adapt with the changes in both the external and in the internal environment. In the light of the above, investing in the education system has emerged as one of the approaches which can be used to meet the ever-increasing demand on technology and innovation. Design thinking has played a critical in inspiring innovation and creativity in the education system as well in the business world. Design Thinking Problems have been part of human experience for a long period.

Empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test are the five stages of this model. Stage one: empathize At this point, an individual try to understand the design thinking process by the gaining an empathic understanding of the problem. In particular, it entails seeking the counsel of an expert to shed light on the problem through observing and empathizing with their experiences (Razzouk & Shute, 2012). Notably, the empathy plays a critical role in this stage by allowing the design thinker to put aside their assumptions and gain insights into the user needs. The stage is impacted by time constraint, therefore, a considerable amount of time allows the gathering of enough information regarding the problem hence improving the chances of coming up with the best solutions. In addition, the nature of the problem has a significant influence on the type of solutions created as well as the manner in which they are created.

Stage four: Prototype The phase primary entails evaluating and testing the solutions created in previous phase. Prototypes are tested in this experimental stage which is aimed to adopt the best solution to the prevailing problem. In particular, the prototypes are tested one by one, at the end of the exercise; the best is selected for the final phase (Thoring & Müller, 2011 ). Henriksen, Richardson, & Mehta (2017), noted that prototype help to come up with tangible solutions to the problem. However, the discussion has changed with time; design thinking has been closely associated with innovation with application cutting across design and management context. A huge portion of firms are using the design management as one of the ways of keeping up with the ever changes business environment. The fact that the concept has inspired creativity and innovation has allowed managers to adopt in various level of management.

As a result, innovations have formed the basis of competition especially in firms offering service related to technology (Wrigley & Straker, 2015). Design thinking in education The concept has been deeply encapsulated in the ability to make individual innovate and creative. Wrigley & Straker (2015), has also noted that short-term course on innovation have been popular since they use design thinking as the main philosophy of dissemination. Importance of design thinking among the young people Benefits of the design thinking model cannot be overlooked with regard to young students. The model has created an impeccable history of promoting innovation and creativity which are essential in the contemporary society. Therefore, it is vital for young people to be exposed to this concept as early as possible due to the immense benefits. First, the approach helps young people acquire the ability to isolates challenges and critically analyze them to come up with solutions.

References Henriksen, D. Richardson, C. Mehta, R. Design thinking: A creative approach to educational problems of practice.  Thinking Skills and Creativity, 26, 140-153. Understanding the creative mechanisms of design thinking.  Procedings of the Second Conference on Creativity and Innovation in Design - DESIRE '11. doi:10. Waidelich, L. Richter, A. doi:10.