WHAT DOES "Design Thinking" MEAN TO YOU?

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I'm asking because I'm wondering if this is still too much an insider term, that only those of us with design education or experience will grasp.

When I was preparing a calendar of blog post topics, and reviving my efforts to be more present online and through social media, I made an assumption — that the general public already knew what Designers actually do. But several conversations I've had over the past year have had me justifying the type of design practice I engage in, and what the world of Design has actually evolved to be.

During a getting-to-know-you chat with someone who I'd easily identify among my ideal client base — we had an introductory conversation about our respective businesses. We offered to help one another network among our own contacts. We concluded by summarising what we understood about the services offered by the other person. 

Perhaps it was the way I positioned myself. But it was interesting to hear, at the end of this meeting, how my practice was distilled into something to do with "branding". This is also not a diss against "branding".

So, I'm taking this recent encounter as an opportunity to clarify.

Design Thinking is a technique applied to the objects and systems created by humans — from our political and legal systems, our healthcare and education, our organizational and business models and financial institutions — to urban planning, engineering, transportation, architecture and community development — to technologies, biomedical research, agriculture, environmental stewardship and space exploration — and of course, to products, culture, media, and entertainment. Yes, corporate identity — commonly referred to as "branding" — is part of this mix. There's a long list and I'm bound to be missing a few items here. But hopefully these examples illustrate my point. 

You can think of it as a creative endeavour, but anything that has a goal-oriented outcome needs to be designed. Research, design and methodologies are tools to help all involved understand and work with that end in mind. This is where Design Thinking comes in.

And User-Centred Design (also called User Experience or UX) is a key principle informing this research, planning and methodology. Some in the community like to call it Human-Centred Design. (I don't know what the shortened version of that term is, but I digress.) User-Centred Design helps us focus on the experience of the end user of a system or product. And those end users can include our target audience or direct consumers, but also staff, volunteers, administrators, boards, investors, other types of stakeholders and the public at large. I don't want to make this post any longer than it already is, so if you are interested in finding out more, you can get in touch, or search online for the many articles that describe UX.

Even though Design Thinking as a term has been around at least since the mid-1960s, around 2015, there was an upsurge in writing about the topic, from sources as diverse as management consultants, and ... well, mainly management consultants. So I take it, progressive business leaders understand the purpose of Design Thinking.

At this point, four years after the seeming re-popularisation of the term, I am interested to hear what you think. Having considered a few of the areas that benefit from Design Thinking as a tool or technique, how does it affect the type of industry you are in? The work that you perform? The people you help?

And can you tell me, if you are not a designer, what does this term, "Design Thinking", ultimately mean to you? For those of you who are life coaches, business mentors or professional facilitators — if I include the terms Design Thinking, or User Experience in my bio, LinkedIn headline or profile, will this seem too jargon-y, or will you understand what these words mean?