As part of Illuminate Opportunity’s efforts to inspire growth within your organization, we like to bring in principles of design thinking and systems thinking into everything that we do – commonly coined together as human-centered systems thinking. We have seen the benefits first-hand, combining experiences in corporate, small business, and nonprofit innovation across industries. We help you stay focused on the people you are serving while also factoring in variables within your community or ecosystem that may impact or be affected by your solutions.
What is design thinking vs. systems thinking and how can both help you?
Design Thinking
Design thinking is a problem-solving process that focuses on user needs – it encourages us to focus on who we are solving for first, what their needs are, and then how to solve them. The process helps us embrace experimentation and creativity while overcoming fear of failure. It is efficient and solution-oriented, commonly focused on product development. IDEO has a helpful chart organizing the design thinking process.
Systems Thinking
Systems thinking is a problem-solving process that gives a holistic perspective, considering all factors involved. When large problems seem daunting, systems thinking helps us break them down into component parts and determining how each part affects the whole. It helps us identify patterns of behavior over time, unveiling structures that drive those events and patterns. As The System Thinker eloquently describes, “understanding and changing structures that are not serving us well (including our mental models and perceptions), we can expand the choices available to us and create more satisfying, long-term solutions to chronic problems.”
Rural Opportunity helps us compare design thinking and systems thinking as follows:
Human-Centered Systems Thinking
Organizations can benefit from applying both design thinking and systems thinking – considering multiple angles, including those directly and indirectly affected by or utilizing the solutions that we are developing. Consider both the users and the system, we can have a more holistic approach to identify and solve problems more efficiently and effectively.