Increasing People’s Capabilities by Using Design Thinking in the Decision-Making Process

Abstract

A growing older population is placing new demands on the welfare system. Elder care has been criticised for its lack of resources, competence, or respect for older people. Caregiving needs to be transformed and based on older people’s real needs and what they perceive as important. However, both older people and service organisations have to be capable of participating in new development processes. Design thinking (DT) has emerged as a field of research that provides tools and processes that are helpful for supporting innovations and new ways of thinking about problems. The concept of capability (Nussbaum M. Creating capabilities: the human development approach. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2011), and how design researchers have embraced it, is discussed. The results from two case studies show that DT can support increasing capabilities among both service recipients and service providers when developing new services and digital solutions. The DT process can generate valuable knowledge about users’ needs in a resource-efficient way, as well as balancing the economic and human perspectives when developing new services. By directing more time and attention towards relevant problems, the solution might end up as something other than initially contemplated, which can increase the capability of being innovative when developing new services.