"Professional training becomes a lens through which we see the world." In many cases this is true, even with just 4 years of industrial design training, ID thinking has influenced my life in conscious and unconscious ways. I constantly look for clues (before I use an object) as to how objects are made and fit together for a function making. My education causes me to sit and finish fixing a broken bike, even if I am late to class. This new "lens" also spurs students into improving various random household projects (such as making a dog house out of leftover cardboard from moving or making canvas walls to create more rooms) that they wouldn't have started without the years of ID thinking embedded in them.
Prestero goes on to describe a more specific design approach "in terms of a problem-solving methodology that uses empathy to identify and contextualize needs, and then translates those needs into a set of specifications to guide the development of new products and services." He describes a design thinking very much like social entrepreneurs should, by finding a problem as it relates to people and communities and executing solutions with "empathy".
The author also differentiates two approaches that can solve problems. He states that design is "an alternative approach to invention." Where invention is usually a technology looking for a need to fill, design starts from the need and work up to the technology or solution. It is apparent that the invention approach has some flaws in fulfilling the goal of executing solutions with "empathy." Because it's not specified for a user, the user must carry the burden of adapting and changing their own lives to use the technology. "Another common failure is that many inventors attempt to create a 'one-size-fits-all' solution to a general global problem." "One-size-fits-all" rarely actually "fits-all" and with such a generalized solution, it creates excess "help" that may not be needed and could further burden the user. Also, in a global perspective, there are too many variables such as local resources, accessibility, climate, and even cultures that can hinder the solution.
Prestero further focusses on "empathy in design, or why kids hate getting clothes for their birthday." Often times what we think a user needs is not what they think they want and to design with empathy we must know what the user truly wants. Firstly, "there are no 'dumb users,' only dumb products." If the user can't figure out how or struggles to use a product, it fails to cater for their needs with empathy.
In addition, "many products are developed with embedded cultural assumptions that prove to be crippling liabilities in the context of a developing country." A cell phone that isn't water proof may be fine for people who can stay sheltered from the rain, but in a country where many people can't keep their phones dry water-proofing is a huge issue.
"Design Thinking for Social Innovation : IDEO" by Tim Brown and Jocelyn Wyatt
The authors describe how IDEO began to use design thinking for helping social innovations. They said, "Nobody wants to run an organization on feeling, intuition, and inspiration, but an over-reliance on the rational and the analytical can be just as risky." Helping others in the community always benefit somebody. In regards to design thinking, they divided it into "three spaces." Processes rotate around these spaces of inspiration, ideation, and implementation. Inspiration comes from observing problems and experiencing people's needs. In ideation, the data is analyzed to find insights for concept sketches. Finally, in implementation, prototypes are tested and iterated. To further implement, ways of communicating these ideas to others must also be considered. They conclude by describing the importance of design thinking in social innovations. "Design thinking can lead to hundreds of ideas and, ultimately, real-world solutions that create better outcomes for organizations and the people they serve." I also agree that design thinking not only benefits communities but also individual people's lives.
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