Design Thinking Research

The practice of design thinking has gained in prominence over the past several years, and an increasing number of people and institutions have experienced its innovative power. However, as a result of this success story, the term has also evolved into something of an overused, or even misused, buzzword. The demand for an in-depth, evidence-based understanding of the way design thinking works has grown accordingly. This challenge is addressed by the Hasso Plattner Design Thinking Research Program. Summarizing the outcomes of the program’s 10th year, this book shares the scientific insights gained by researchers at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam and Stanford University in California, in the course of their investigations, experiments and studies.
Special emphasis is placed on exploring new approaches to design thinking education, making headway on the goals of the research program, namely to fuel creativity and establish improved content for the teaching and learning of design thinking. This volume also presents a broad range of findings on effective team interaction. Moreover, researchers present their findings on tools that support design thinking practices, and showcase concrete applications.


The results of this rigorous academic research are not only intended to benefit the scientific community, but will hopefully find their way to many other readers seeking to support innovation through collaboration, be it in businesses or in society.