UNITE Glossary · Product & Service Design / Discovery

Design Thinking

Design thinking is a human-centred problem-solving approach that moves through understanding people, defining the real problem, generating ideas, prototyping, and testing, so solutions are grounded in genuine user needs rather than assumptions.

Design thinking organises creative work into stages that keep people at the centre. Teams first build empathy with the people they serve, then frame the problem precisely, then explore many possible solutions before committing to one. Prototyping and testing turn ideas into evidence early and cheaply.

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The approach deliberately separates exploring the problem from choosing a solution. This rhythm of opening up and narrowing down keeps teams from locking onto the first idea. It suits ambiguous challenges where the real problem is unclear at the start.

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