Design thinking

Abstract

Design thinking is a human-centred theory of practice which enables non-design practitioners to access the ostensive (the idea) and performative (the enactment) components of expert design practice in order to generate [enhanced] value for end users. The concept arose in management in 2008 and gained popularity as a means of understanding and potentially solving so-called wicked problems. Studies of design thinking in sport management discovered alignment with design thinking themes in sport for development organisations and within a professional cricket club. The cricket club's subsequent use of a design thinking technique improved their ability to reflect, assisted their navigation of competing institutional demands, and enhanced their own perceptions of their organisational performance. Sport scholars have also outlined how design thinking models and practices might be usefully employed in sport management pedagogy, further highlighting the potential of design thinking for the field of sport management.