Narrow Results

Context: The use of Creativity and Design Thinking (C&DT) techniques favor the generation of new ideas based on the needs of users and stakeholders, and can support software developers during the process of requirements elicitation. Objectives: In this work, we aim to identify C&DT techniques to perform requirements elicitation proposed in the literature and in the industry and investigate the perception of software developers about using these techniques. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify the C&DT techniques in the literature and a regional survey with software development teams from several companies in Brazil to identify which techniques found in the literature are currently being used by organizations. The survey also investigated the level of knowledge that software developers have regarding the C&DT techniques, and whether they agree that the use of these techniques can help to achieve a more effective process of requirements elicitation. Results: In the SLR, we identified 86 C&DT techniques that support requirement elicitation activities. In the survey, most developers outlined that C&DT techniques facilitate requirements elicitation and stated that they have more knowledge and usage experience with DT techniques than creativity techniques. The most used DT techniques mentioned by survey participants were: interview, brainstorming, uses cases, activity analysis, user story, and rapid prototyping, whereas for creativity techniques were: analogies, creativity workshops, focus group, questions list, clarification, none and combining ideas. Conclusions: The results showed that despite the existence of a large number of techniques in the literature, the developers’ lack of knowledge about these techniques makes them not used in the industry. However, the developers’ responses showed that the use of C&DT techniques helps to make requirements elicitation more effective.

Recent advances in technology have accelerated the Fourth Industrial Revolution. With the emergence of artificial intelligence, not only the manufacturing sector but also all sectors of society are expected to undergo changes in the future. In this age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it is going to be more important for learners to improve their creativity than to acquire knowledge. So scholars are exploring new ways of teaching to cultivate suitable talent for the future society. Among these various methods of education, Maker Education at Micro Manufacturing Space is recognized as the optimal method for the AI era. This study, in light of this, analyzed the operation of Micro Manufacturing Space, which is located in a university, and further suggested the direction of development of Micro Manufacturing Space in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The results of this study are as follows. At the university’s Micro Manufacturing Space, students can be trained to think innovatively and improve creativity. In addition, this space can also be used as an open learning and meeting space for university students to visit freely. Moreover, the place can be built for the purpose of a start-up space. Therefore, future Micro Manufacturing Space in universities, as it were, will definitely prove to be a multifunctional space providing support to foster and improve creativity of the main force of the future of society. The findings can be used as theoretical basic data in the creation of a Micro Manufacturing Space for design thingking.

It can be challenging for people in an innovation project to develop a shared understanding of the project's overall vision and of what they need to do practically—especially if the project is organized as networked innovation and follows a designerly approach. Yet shared understanding is critical for success. Based on an explorative study of one innovation project, in which ICT applications are developed, we discuss the ways in which the development and evaluation of scenarios and demonstrators can help the people involved to develop a shared understanding. Furthermore, we propose several recommendations for managers of innovation projects for effectively organizing the development and evaluation of scenarios and demonstrators.

Innovation, especially digital innovation, is indispensable for organizations that want to remain competitive. Employees play a crucial role in developing innovations, but the use of digital technologies for innovation methods that foster employee-driven innovation has rarely been researched. Using a sample of 215 participants and two innovation methods (i.e. digital, non-digital), we show that employees value a digital innovation more if they are involved in the digital innovation, the involvement follows a structured process, and the digital innovation process uses digital technologies. These results have implications for both practice and the innovation and information systems literatures.

In recent years, there has been growing interest in studying design thinking from a capability perspective, given the need for deep implementation at the organizational mindset level. However, the impact of the cognitivist paradigm on design thinking has led to a narrow conceptualization of it as a problem-solving process, which overlooks some of its essential capacities. As a result, the ability of design thinking to extract the real capabilities of designers has been weakened. To address this shortcoming, this study focused on extracting designerly capabilities from the original resource by engaging with designers themselves. In-depth interviews were conducted, and the results were thematically analyzed. The findings reveal that designerly capabilities are significantly different in depth and scope from those derived from the conventional academic view of design thinking. The study identifies some key features of design thinking as practiced by real designers, as follows: Engaging with multiple layers of a problem, Skipping and releasing ideas, Adjusting iteratively, Recognizing patterns, Translating concepts, Incorporating and extending existing solutions, and Balancing ambiguity and clarity, as well as Envisioning and imagining possibilities, Expanding the scope of inquiry and Facilitating confrontation and feedback. These features can be grouped into four dimensions: (1) reflection, (2) generation, (3) inspiration and (4) engagement, which show the dynamic capability of design thinking. This complements previous research and suggests ways to improve the innovation potential of design thinking in organizations.

During Design Thinking (DT) processes, team flow is a vital indicator and driving force behind feeling and performing at peak. In a quasi-experimental, segmented time series study, we examined team flow levels over time using high-resolution, real-time measurements during two multi-day DT workshops with flow-inducing exercises (in short: flow inducers). Two key insights emerged: (1) a second wind effect, where teams naturally increased flow after the initial engagement phase; and (2) a preservation capacity, where teams with greater creative outputs maintained higher flow levels despite interruptions (in short: flow reducers). The careful management of flow-inducing exercises and workshop duration should give teams the flexibility needed to dynamically adjust and stay in the zone. These findings inform the development of a framework for sustaining team flow in multi-day workshops, the core contribution of this study. The framework offers practical recommendations to manage team flow in stages, emphasizing key points of intervention and optimal timing of flow inducers. It is adaptable for various co-creative settings, guiding facilitators in maximizing creative persistence and output.

Design thinking has gained popularity in the corporate context. It has already proven to be a valuable approach to problem-solving within an organisation, but research has neglected its impact on external partnerships. Since most researchers use qualitative research designs, there is little quantitative empirical evidence on design thinking. This study applies a multi-informant survey design that considers the project and the organisational level. Based on 212 projects in 78 companies, we examine the relationship between design thinking and the external collaboration quality and overall project success. Further, we evaluate structural, cultural, and task-related contingencies. Our results suggest that design thinking as a collaborative and empathic problem-solving approach strengthens external collaboration quality enhancing overall project success. Team continuity positively moderates this relationship. This study contributes to the existing literature in design thinking and open innovation by proposing the design thinking methodology as a valuable approach in inter-organisational relationships.

Previous empirical research on the industrial use and usability of methodologies and tools for product innovation is often based on national samples, and generally focuses on a few select industry sectors and typically lacks a perspective on methodologies as supportive instruments for the product innovation work process. Moreover, even if some studies recognise the problems with low company methodology awareness and use, the underlying causes remain unexplained. In a survey mode of inquiry involving informants in 19 global manufacturing companies in six sectors of the process industries, this study explores use and usability of methodologies in the development of non-assembled products in the process industries. While the findings demonstrate a rather scarce use of innovation methodologies, when they are used case-company informants not only report a high degree of usability but also recommend that all introduced methodologies should be included in an enhanced product innovation work process. The discussion advocates that an overarching strategy for methodology use should be institutionalised by company R&D management, including a “methodology tool-box” of select methodologies, and further facilitated by trained methodology experts as “ambassadors”.

Teaching and learning is still the core and key of cultivating innovative talents in the research and practice of new engineering design teaching. To effectively cultivate students’ innovation and creativity in the teaching practice in the new engineering era, this paper conducts an exploratory research on the design teaching, project teaching and collaborative design mode in colleges and universities combining with the maker project cases of Tongji university and Shanghai university of engineering and technology. This paper focuses on the training of design thinking in iterative innovation and the design management of design projects and maker platforms and emphasizes the renewal of knowledge system and the cultivation of students’ ability of design innovation thinking. The application and practice of the maker platform is undoubtedly a beneficial exploration and attempt of the new engineering design education in the new era.

This paper studies the teaching consideration and implementation methods of the basic course of service design in teaching practice. Through the analysis of the reasons for the formation of service design and the high-speed development trend of Internet technology, it is indicated that the teaching characteristics, teaching design principles, feasible teaching methods and teaching research contents of service design should be studied according to the characteristics of the new era. It shows that service design, as a system of design thinking and as a necessity of design method, should be taken seriously in the teaching design of service design.

This research explores the introduction of design thinking in general university courses as a way of helping non-design students discover creative self-confidence, think outside the box, and solve practical problems. Two groups of Business Management and Hospitality students were introduced to the IDEO style of design thinking was over the course of fifteen weeks, followed by an interim and final exam. By the end of the initial fifteen weeks, the students’ ability to grasp the “3I” – Inspiration, Ideation, and Implementation – was demonstrated when they were able to express their ideas confidently, conceptualize them via diagrams and drawings, then create a prototype using various materials.

The problems faced by social design are different from those of conventional designs that show more macroscopic, comprehensive, systematic, trans-disciplinary, and complicated features, which challenges the agility and capacity of existing design methodology. This study aims to analyze the challenges encountered by design methods in dealing with public issues and to provide references for improving social design methodology. Therefore, the Design Council’s Framework for Innovation model and the tools commonly used in the conventional design was applied to a case of public interest. By reflecting and investigating this process and results, this study suggests the implementation of current practical design methods to accommodate coherently the many volatile aspects of social design.

The creativity with which Mahatma Gandhi approached human development was unique and in later years it developed as a role model for many great people to adopt. This is one of the many facets of Gandhi which has not been exposed sufficiently and is a research puzzle that this chapter seeks to explore. It is common knowledge that Gandhi’s way was fundamentally a human-centric way based essentially on empathy. Design thinking which has more recently caught the imagination of the academic world is just this. The key ability required in design is empathy. Gandhi’s life and work demonstrate that he possessed this ability amply. Gandhi intuitively designed and adopted innovative products from simple garden sprinkler to choosing his own costume and accessories that became not just his symbols but rose to become the symbols of India’s freedom struggle. He adopted the most efficient way of communication to the illiterate masses with these symbols. He turned the whole democratic world to his side by his well-designed strategy of non-violent exposure of the truth about the colonial rule. He most successfully designed and carried out innovative strategies such as the Dandi March, Satyagraha and Quit India Movement. He elevated the struggle for freedom of a country to a universal level by acknowledging it as his experiments with truth. He was acutely aware of the three crucial attributes of design — elegance, simplicity and function. This awareness resulted in his insisting on the portable Ambar Charkha (spinning wheel) to be not only more efficient but also simple and good looking. He chose to travel only in the third-class compartment in trains, because he knew that credibility is important in communication and “medium is the message”. Decades later, communication design expert Marshall McLuhan made this into a path breaking principle of communication and a cult in Design. This chapter is an attempt to focus on these innovative, “designerly” ways of Gandhi in addressing the issues of human development.

Design thinking combines contextualized knowledge and empirical evidence through reflection and experimentation to generate feasible solutions to the so-called “wicked problems”. Therefore, design thinking has been repeatedly called to inform the development of educational programs in higher education and organizations. This chapter describes the experiences related to the development of an online MBA program that has implemented design thinking as a teaching method. We review the literature on design thinking in management, particularly how scholars have advocated the use of design thinking in higher education. We derive three principles that guided the selection of courses and the organization of curricular activities in the online MBA. These principles provide directions for future educators and practitioners that aim to educate their staff and students on design thinking. We use insights from interviews with lecturers and students to reflect on the experiences with design thinking in the development of the online MBA and we report these findings in a case study format. We conclude by summarizing several suggestions derived from the case analysis that can guide future educational programs to integrate design thinking as a teaching method.

Innovation, especially digital innovation, is indispensable for organizations that want to remain competitive. Employees play a crucial role in developing innovations, but the use of digital technologies for innovation methods that foster employee-driven innovation has rarely been researched. Using a sample of 215 participants and two innovation methods (i.e. digital, non-digital), we show that employees value a digital innovation more if they are involved in the digital innovation, the involvement follows a structured process, and the digital innovation process uses digital technologies. These results have implications for both practice and the innovation and information systems literatures.

Advances in mobile technology and the shift from product-based economies to service-based economies are forcing companies to create new value propositions which inevitably impact the design of their business model. In response, companies are seeking new approaches to adapt to this ever changing complex environment. Design thinking is increasingly being viewed as a new approach to dealing with complex challenges in business, most notably when applied to areas such as product and service innovation, strategy development and ultimately to achieving competitive advantage. This chapter explains what design thinking is and explores how it complements the practice of management by providing empirical evidence on the benefits that practitioners have from a wide range of industries in Ireland and Luxembourg experienced when they adopted a positive design attitude when using visualisation tools to approach a complex business challenge.