Design Thinking and Concepts Essay Sample

Design is a concept that encompasses almost every single aspect of our lives. It provides the foundation for product creation, use, and accessibility, and it is one of the most significant steps within production. However, the concept of design exists beyond the bounds of engineering and manufacturing. It affects the necessary functions of society, dictates both online and offline user experiences, and enables natural and technological processes to thrive in their most efficient states. With something so ever-present and ever-changing based on its applications, there are numerous definitions that can be attached to the word “design.” In simple terms, though, "[d]esign is the thought process comprising the creation of an entity" (Miller 1). In other words, design is the foundational plan for a product or process.

Design was technically not “invented” by any one individual as it has roots in nearly every aspect of our lives as well as within natural and technological processes. Design is more of an approach or concept relating to how things are created in order to achieve a specific goal in an efficient way. However, there have been arguments within scientific communities over design having a theological source. In one paper written by professors Colin Allen, Marc Bekoff, and George Lauder, this argument is discussed by looking at the natural design of organisms and how it correlates to the process of natural selection: “Following Darwin, rather than interpreting claims about design and function in biological systems as literal or metaphorical references to the supernatural intentions and interventions of a Cosmic Designer, most modern commentators interpret teleological claims to be referring more or less circuitously to various natural processes or properties” (Allen, I-1). While a creator technically cannot be attributed to the concept of design as a whole, there are multiple people linked to varying aspects of modern design. “Graphic design,” a branch of design that covers more aesthetic and artistic applications, was coined by William Dwiggins (Yang, E.). “Design thinking,” which “is a discipline that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods to match people’s needs with what is technologically feasible and what a viable business strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunity” was first defined by Tim Brown (Gobble 59). The versatility and commonality of design means that there are no true creators of the process, but as previously shown, there are subsets of the general topic that can be ascribed to certain individuals throughout history. 

The creation of these subsections of design can be attributed to the many varying applications of design and who they are intended for. “Design thinking,” for instance, specifically reflects the process of businesses and organizations developing their platforms and practices with consumers and users in mind. This corresponds with user-experience design, or design that corresponds to and actively prioritizes consumers’ needs. At the time of Tim Brown’s original 2008 article detailing “design thinking,” had not yet taken off in the way it has today. This in part relates to the explosion of technological usage that has occurred over the past 13 years as well as the digitization of commerce. “Design thinking” was a concept that involved advancing business and commerce by making them more accessible and understandable for consumers, a key aspect of design. As commerce moved online, this shift presented businesses with new opportunities to build consumer relations. By utilizing a form of design that did exactly this, businesses were able to set a new standard for commerce and user experiences (Brown). Now, “design thinking” principles are apparent throughout our daily lives; user-dependant social media apps have exploded in popularity and even use their user-focused interface to market back products through targeted advertising, accommodations for handicapped individuals such as ramps are now commonplace within most buildings, and applications such as Zoom have revolutionized teaching and made education more accessible for students in varying circumstances. In these cases, design within engineered systems has changed the way people interact with others and go about their lives within society by focusing on accessibility. To build upon these examples, social media apps such as Instagram use their platforms’ designs to make user interactions with products and services even easier, wheelchair ramps are designed to allow handicapped individuals to travel with ease, and apps such as Zoom have taken the design of group meetings and has reworked it for an online setting. Each one of these examples correlates to design thinking. In William Dwiggins’ case, “graphic design” as a concept came about as a term for the textile printing process. Dwiggins believed that “the most important topic in graphic design is how to prepare a print design and get it ready for large volume printing” (Yang, E.). This reveals that graphic design was mostly related to printing a large number of papers in an efficient way.

Design as a whole is generally used to make products, services, or processes more efficient and accessible. This generality of this purpose means that design can hold significance in any field or system, including social systems. In “A "Social Model" of Design: Issues of Practice and Research,” design was approached and utilized in a way that would better the lives of others. Specifically, by applying design-intensive concepts to the field of social work, the article’s researchers were able to rework how social workers collaborated with parents and children in need. By using design, the researchers were able to pinpoint specific areas in need of improvement regarding interactions between social workers and their clients. By mapping out how to approach individuals based on their needs and circumstances, the researchers were able to redesign social workers’ client interactions and create a system that better served the clients while establishing a clearer line of understanding between them and their social workers (Margolin 24-30). This experiment is an example of design at work within a social system. The researchers used concepts of design to rework the interactions between social workers and their clients in order to make the process as a whole more beneficial and accessible to those involved. By following this framework of making processes more efficient through the breakdown and reworking of specific aspects within said processes, these principles of design can truly be applied to any issue. 

Design is directly connected to affordances and signifiers. Affordances are the relationships between the properties of an object or service and its users that are made possible through the object or service’s design. For example, a chair’s seat, legs, and back support afford sitting. Affordances are completely based on the design of their object or service. Signifiers are an aspect of a product’s design that communicate how to interact with an object; they are visible indicators that make an object more understandable. For instance, the number markings on elevator buttons indicate which button corresponds to which floor. Signifiers and affordances go hand-in-hand, and they are both integral parts of a readable, comprehensive design.