“Design Thinking” Perspective

The chapter for design thinking allows an insight into the procedures of the designer brain, which I found to be both delightfully geared towards the individual yet scrupulously stretched out to accommodate the needs of larger groups worldwide. I found it very interesting that designers can take the ways individuals use objects and apply that to how a group might need it; for a while it made no sense to me that the actions of an individual can become a deeper understanding towards what the entire group needs (precisely because everyone is their own individual), until the personality is overlooked for the “activity-centered design.” I love the insight needed to take a step back from the problem you’re trying to tackle and look at how the general actions performed in everyday tasks can be seen as things to improve upon, quite literally changing the flow of our everyday lives. This designer process is exactly why things today are so drastically changed from the lifestyles of a century ago. Someone looked at the way they were living and thought, “I can improve this,” regardless of the fact that their everyday lives were what they were comfortable with. Going through the everyday actions of someone from the 1910’s, we can see all the ways their lives could be improved, because we already benefit from those improvements. I’m sure in another century, people will be looking back at our lifestyles and noting all the things we could have changed. To me, design thinking is the way we hurtle towards that future, by asking, “How can I make this better so that everyone can benefit from it?”