| name | design-thinking |
| description | The technology design process from needs assessment through iteration, covering empathy mapping, design briefs, concept development, prototyping, user testing, and iterative refinement. Integrates design thinking methodology (Stanford d.school) with engineering design process (ITEEA) and Don Norman's human-centered design principles. Use when designing technology solutions, evaluating existing designs, running design sprints, or teaching the design cycle. Distinct from art/aesthetics -- this skill focuses on functional design that solves real problems for real people. |
| type | skill |
| category | technology |
| status | stable |
| origin | tibsfox |
| modified | false |
| first_seen | "2026-04-12T00:00:00.000Z" |
| first_path | examples/skills/technology/design-thinking/SKILL.md |
| superseded_by | null |
Design Thinking
Design thinking is a structured approach to solving problems by understanding people, challenging assumptions, redefining problems, and creating solutions to prototype and test. It is not a linear process but a set of overlapping phases that designers move between as understanding deepens. This skill covers the full design cycle from empathy through iteration, grounded in both the Stanford d.school framework and the ITEEA engineering design process.
Agent affinity: norman (human-centered design, affordances, usability), berners-lee (information architecture, systems design), resnick (creative learning, low floors/wide walls)
Concept IDs: tech-design-brief, tech-concept-development, tech-prototyping-testing-tech, tech-design-iteration
The Design Cycle
Phase 1 -- Empathize
Before designing anything, understand who you are designing for and what they actually need (which may differ from what they say they want).
Methods:
- Observation: Watch people use existing solutions. Note workarounds, frustrations, and moments of delight.
- Interviews: Ask open-ended questions. "Tell me about the last time you..." is more revealing than "Do you like feature X?"
- Empathy maps: Four quadrants -- Says, Thinks, Does, Feels -- to organize observations about a user.
- Journey maps: Step-by-step visualization of a user's experience, highlighting pain points and opportunities.
Common mistake: Skipping empathy and jumping to solutions. The most frequent cause of design failure is solving the wrong problem.
Phase 2 -- Define
Synthesize empathy findings into a clear problem statement (design brief).
A good design brief contains:
| Element | Purpose | Example |
|---|
| Problem statement | What needs solving | "Parents of young children cannot find safe, local playground information when traveling" |
| User description | Who the design serves | "Traveling families with children ages 2-8" |
| Constraints | Non-negotiable boundaries | "Must work offline, must be free, must not require account creation" |
| Success criteria | How to measure success | "User finds a playground within 3 taps and 10 seconds" |
| Scope | What is and is not included |
