The origins of design thinking and the relevance in software innovations

Abstract

This paper argues that the methods used in the trending buzzword Design Thinking have deeper roots and bigger application potential, beyond product development IDEO and the Stanford University d.school style. The conscious combination of these Design Thinking methods and rapid iteration sessions is also of value when deploying it to software development. It is a powerful approach for requirement discovery and hence becomes relevant when developing novel solutions. This argument is supported by the case of SAP AppHaus and their experience on implementing the Design Thinking process for HANA related software development. Here Design Thinking forces to holistically explore a solution space with the customer, but also to bring different internal disciplines together early. Hence anybody who is interested in software innovations might want to consider the core ideas behind Design Thinking.