Design Thinking

Design Thinking is the Product Development and Management Association's (PDMA) guide to better problem solving and decision-making in product development and beyond. The second in the New Product Development Essentials series, this book shows you how to bridge the gap between the strategic importance of design and the tactical approach of design thinking. You'll learn how to approach new product development from a fresh perspective, with a focus on systematic, targeted thinking that results in a repeatable, human-centered problem-solving process. Integrating high-level discussion with practical, actionable strategy, this book helps you re-tool your thought processes in a way that translates well beyond product development, giving you a new way to approach business strategy and more.

Design is a process of systematic creativity that yields the most appropriate solution to a properly identified problem. Design thinking disrupts stalemates and brings logic to the forefront of the conversation. This book shows you how to adopt these techniques and train your brain to see the answer to any question, at any level, in any stage of the development process.

• Become a better problem-solver in every aspect of business
• Connect strategy with practice in the context of product development
• Systematically map out your new product, service, or business
• Experiment with new thought processes and decision making strategies

You can't rely on old ways of thinking to produce the newest, most cutting-edge solutions. Product development is the bedrock of business ―whether your "product" is a tangible object, a service, or the business itself ― and your approach must be consistently and reliably productive. Design Thinking helps you internalize this essential process so you can bring value to innovation and merge strategy with reality.

MICHAEL G. LUCHS is a former executive and industry consultant, is an Associate Professor at the College of William & Mary and Founding Director of the Jim & Bobbie Ukrop Innovation & Design Studio.

K. SCOTT SWAN is a Professor of International Business, Design, and Marketing at the College of William and Mary Mason School of Business, and a Fulbright Scholar serving as the Hall Distinguished Chair for Entrepreneurship in Central Europe at WU Vienna, Austria (2015–2016).

ABBIE GRIFFIN holds the Royal L. Garff Presidential Chair in Marketing at the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah, and the former editor of the Journal of Product Innovation Management.