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Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success. It involves a set of cognitive, strategic, and practical processes aimed at developing innovative solutions to complex problems.
The core elements of design thinking include:
- Empathize: Understanding the needs, challenges, and context of the people you’re designing for.
- Define: Clearly articulating the problem you’re aiming to solve based on insights gathered during the empathy phase.
- Ideate: Generating a wide range of ideas and potential solutions without judgment.
- Prototype: Building quick, low-cost versions of potential solutions to test and explore their feasibility.
- Test: Trying out the prototypes with real users, gathering feedback, and refining the solutions based on what you’ve learned.
The process is iterative, meaning it often involves going back to earlier stages as new insights and challenges emerge. This methodology is used in various fields, from product development and business strategy to education and social innovation.
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