The design thinking leading to different levels of change: Example of the togo village in Southern Taiwan

Abstract

This article explores the design thinking of a design team that forges social innovation for a rural community through the in-depth case study of the Togo village in Southern Taiwan. The research method is based on the analysis of interviews, field observation notes and documents. In this article, I first review the shift of design thinking focus, the search for innovation in rural areas and Brown’s perspective of design thinking. Then, from the perspective of Scharmer’s Theory U, I describe the transformative process of Togo in terms of four levels of design thinking and change. Their design thinking involves a personal and collective inquiry from the outer world to the inner world, tapping into the source of their purposes and crystallizing their vision in the prototype. The study reveals the importance of exploring inwardly the source of purpose and the highest potential instead of focusing on the surface of the problems, proposing strategies or methods to foster creative solutions.