Design thinking— the fast track to growth

In a world of flux, where an authentic connection with the consumer is more vital than ever, businesses need to identify a worthy mission and address it in an intuitive, human way. And no better way to achieve this than through innovation and design.

- Kaiwan Mehta, Managing Editor, Domus India

Work shapes thoughts

Design and Design Thinking have become much-used terms and concepts, but do we really know what Design means as an idea as well as the act of making something. Design travels between experience and innovation; no thinking can come from vacuum and innovation has to be geared toward production of knowledge. But Design is also the intensity of labour and work as much as it is about ideating and process development. Then what is the idea of work, experience, and labour in Design Thinking?

Design is a process oriented activity. It is a process that develops a journey taking existing knowledge and working towards the production of new knowledge. What is this process that transforms existing knowledge and resources (energy, raw material, skill, labour, etc.) into new knowledge and new forms of being in the existing world and environment? ‘Design’ is the generic term used (often more as a noun) to name or describe this ‘process’ as well as this ‘transformation’; and ‘creativity’ is considered the soul and spirit of Design. Often these days, ‘creativity’ is replaced or redefined through the word ‘innovation’— but what do we mean by any of these words and terms? Design is the continuous process of innovation—often in minuscule quantities— but it is a constant production of the design process.