Design Thinking from an architect's point of view

Design Thinking is a way of solving problems innovatively and is already used in all kinds of fields all over the globe. But yet, a lot of people have never heard of it. And that’s okay because the process somewhat feels intuitive anyway.

Design Thinking has become one of the most effective ways to address the human, technological and strategic innovation needs of our time.

What is Design Thinking?

Design Thinking is a way of solving big, sticky colossal problems (wicked problems). When looking at the problem in Design Thinking, you don’t just look at it from one point of view. You look at the issue in different perspectives, this could be: social point of view, technical, environmental, financial,.. Crucial here is that you always centre the human behavior/ needs and that you try to solve the problem in a creative kind of way.

Design Thinking = Multidimensional problem + Human centered + Creativity

There are 5 phases of Design Thinking

1. Empathize

   Get to know your client. What do they like and don’t like? Especially ask questions such as How and Why questions because those questions make you dig deeper than the superficial answer.

   This way you can see if there are any (behavioral) patterns you need to pay attention to.

2. Define
   Define the main problem you’re going to focus on. What is the biggest need for your client? Define your problem and turn it into a ‘How Might We’ question. Reframing the problem into such a question turns something negative into something positive and makes the process ready to start ideating solutions.

3. Ideate
   Probably the most fun part of the whole process. You get to be creative and find all kinds of solutions to the defined problem. Keep in mind that in this process it is Quanitity over Quality. Produce as many ideas as possible, the least good ones you will filter out later anyway.

4. Prototype
   Ones you picked your favorite solution it’s time to start building a prototype. It’s important that the main idea is visual and understandable.

5. Test
   Test your prototype with your client and ask for feedback. There are numerous ways to ask feedback. Important is that when you have this feedback you can iterate and either start the process all over again or start wherever you need to improve your product/ service.

Architecture and Design Thinking

We can go back to the 1950s and 60s to find the roots of Design Thinking but more in the fields of architecture and engineering. During this time the environment was changing drastically and there needed to be solutions fast. Design Thinking has always been part of architecture, but was never named like that. It has always been an iterative process where you have to look at it from different perspectives: human behavior, engineering, lightning, weather, location, building regulations,..

As an architect Design Thinking feels a very natural, it’s a given. When being in architecture school we often used this guide by Neufert. It explains the dimensions of our body and thus how big furniture should be, how big/ small rooms should be, what dimensions are needed to park our car,..

The human body is centered and this is just the rigid part of designing a house. You need certain measurements otherwise it is just not able to be used. I’m sure you’ve come across tons of internet memes where it states ‘Trust me, I’m an architect’ followed by a very poorly designed something. Of course there are many reasons why some of these problems can root, but that’s not what we’re trying to discuss here.

When (re)designing a building in the city, we look at the surroundings of that building (Genius Loci). What materials are being used, what is the traffic like, how is the environment/ building being used and what does that tell us about what is needed in this place? Can we design something based on those needs/ assumptions?

By sketching, making models and doing testing we adjust our concept until we think it is finished. As an architect/ artist/ musician / writer you know that designing is never finished. You can iterate for years and it still doesn’t feel finished, and that’s okay. People’s needs aren’t static either.

What I mean to say is that even when you went through the whole iterative steps of Design Thinking it doesn’t necessarily mean that the outcome is 100% accurate and will be appreciated by everyone.
When a building is being built and when the first users move in, they will gradually find errors in the design.

That is also the reason why I always give advice to my friends to first move into their new home without wanting to adjust anything yet. Over time you will start to feel where there needs to be improvements in the house, based on how you personally used the space already. There’s no way you can predict how you will use the space because you haven’t experienced yet where the most light is, what the hottest area is in your garden and where you would like to plant a tree just to make sure you have shade on that exact space for that exact moment when you sip your coffee or drink your tea.

So remember these 5 phases. It doesn’t matter where you start and what order you go through the phases, the most important thing is to get started. The rest will follow.

Good luck!

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More information:

https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/design-thinking-get-a-quick-overview-of-the-history

https://www.workshopper.com/post/guide-to-design-thinking