The design thinking collection
Browse all resources.
Find a way into the challenge. Explore practical guides by stage and topic, or search for the method you need.
84 resources found
Build creative confidence
Foundations and mindset
Develop the ways of thinking that support every stage of design.
Human-centred Design
An approach that places people’s needs, experiences and perspectives at the centre of the design process.
Explore guide →Wicked Problems
Complex, multi-faceted social or environmental challenges that are difficult to define and cannot be resolved with a single straightforward answer.
Explore guide →Designers Mindset
A curious, empathetic and adaptable way of thinking that supports creative and effective responses to complex challenges.
Explore guide →Creative Confidence
The belief that you can generate ideas, explore alternatives and contribute creatively to complex problem-solving.
Explore guide →Encouraging Creativity
The deliberate creation of conditions in which people can imagine, experiment, contribute ideas and develop original responses together.
Explore guide →Designerly Thinking
A way of thinking that combines imagination, inquiry, synthesis and judgement to explore and shape possible responses.
Explore guide →Critical Thinking
The disciplined examination of information, evidence and arguments in order to form a reasoned judgement.
Explore guide →Dealing with Ambiguity
The capacity to remain curious, flexible and productive when meaning, evidence or the path forward is unclear.
Explore guide →Storytelling
A way to turn evidence, experience and possibility into a meaningful narrative that people can understand and act upon.
Explore guide →Teamwork
The collaborative effort of people combining their strengths, perspectives and skills in pursuit of a shared purpose.
Explore guide →Research and understand people
Engage with Empathy
Gather evidence and explore people’s experiences, needs and context.
Research
Ethnographic research develops a deep understanding of people, behaviour and culture through observation, interaction and participation in real contexts.
Explore guide →Primary Research
The direct collection of original, current data for a specific research purpose or project.
Explore guide →Interviews
Direct conversations used to gather detailed information, personal experience and the meanings people attach to a situation.
Explore guide →Observation
The careful study of people and phenomena in their natural environment, interpreted within the surrounding social, cultural and historical context.
Explore guide →Secondary Research
The purposeful use of existing information to build background knowledge, answer questions and inform further investigation.
Explore guide →Porter’s Five Forces
Michael Porter’s structured framework for examining the competitive forces that influence an industry and its potential profitability.
Explore guide →SWOT Analysis
A strategic planning tool for examining internal strengths and weaknesses alongside external opportunities and threats.
Explore guide →Empathy Maps
A visual tool for turning observations and interview evidence into a shared understanding of people’s needs, feelings and experiences.
Explore guide →Journey Maps
A visual representation of the stages, touchpoints, actions and emotions that shape an experience over time.
Explore guide →Personas
Evidence-based fictional characters that represent meaningful patterns within a customer segment or user group.
Explore guide →Make sense of the evidence
Evaluate and Define
Find patterns, map the wider context and frame opportunities for action.
Affinity Diagrams
A visual method for organising large amounts of qualitative information into related groups, themes and patterns.
Explore guide →Thematic Analysis
A research synthesis method for identifying patterns, themes and meaning across qualitative data.
Explore guide →Stakeholders
A mapping tool for identifying the people, groups and organisations that influence or are affected by a challenge, opportunity or solution.
Explore guide →Competitive Analysis
A research method for understanding existing solutions, identifying gaps and uncovering opportunities for innovation.
Explore guide →Problem Statements (How Might We)
A collaborative framing tool for turning research insights into actionable design opportunities.
Explore guide →Generate and develop ideas
Explore and Ideate
Expand possibilities, challenge familiar thinking and find promising directions.
Brainstorming
A creative thinking technique used to generate a large number of ideas within a short period of time.
Explore guide →Brainwriting
A structured ideation technique where participants write ideas independently before sharing them with the group.
Explore guide →SCAMPER
A structured creativity method for improving existing products, services and experiences.
Explore guide →Crazy 8s
A rapid sketching activity designed to generate multiple solution concepts within a limited timeframe.
Explore guide →Opportunity Mapping
A visual method for identifying and organising areas where innovation and value creation may occur.
Explore guide →Trend Analysis
A strategic method for identifying patterns and changes that may influence future opportunities.
Explore guide →Future Scenarios
A foresight tool used to imagine and explore alternative futures.
Explore guide →Systems Mapping
A visual method for understanding relationships, influences and interactions within a complex system.
Explore guide →Collaborative Ideation
A group-based approach for generating, sharing and developing ideas through collective creativity and diverse perspectives.
Explore guide →Participatory Design
A collaborative design approach that involves users and stakeholders directly in the creation of solutions.
Explore guide →Concept Mapping
A visual thinking method for exploring relationships, organising knowledge and understanding complex systems.
Explore guide →ESG Opportunity Analysis
A strategic assessment tool for identifying innovation opportunities that contribute to environmental, social and governance outcomes.
Explore guide →SDG Alignment Mapping
A framework for exploring how ideas and innovations align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Explore guide →Ethical Innovation Review
A reflective framework for evaluating the ethical implications, responsibilities and consequences of innovation.
Explore guide →Emerging Technology Exploration
A future-focused method for investigating technologies that may create new opportunities, challenges and possibilities.
Explore guide →Assumption Mapping
A strategic tool for identifying and prioritising the assumptions that influence the success of an idea or innovation.
Explore guide →Impact vs Effort Matrix
A prioritisation framework for comparing opportunities based on their potential value and implementation effort.
Explore guide →Desirability, Feasibility and Viability Analysis
A decision-making framework for assessing whether an idea is valuable to people, achievable in practice and sustainable over time.
Explore guide →Storyboarding
A visual storytelling technique used to illustrate how people may experience a product, service or solution over time.
Explore guide →Concept Posters
A visual communication tool used to present, explain and evaluate proposed ideas and solutions.
Explore guide →Value Proposition Design
A strategic framework for aligning products, services and experiences with stakeholder needs and desired outcomes.
Explore guide →Ideation
The collaborative process of generating, developing and communicating many possible ideas in response to a challenge or opportunity.
Explore guide →Divergent Thinking
An exploratory thinking process focused on generating a wide range of ideas, possibilities and potential solutions.
Explore guide →Convergent Thinking
A logical and analytical process for evaluating possibilities and focusing attention on the strongest response.
Explore guide →Lateral Thinking
A creative problem-solving approach that deliberately explores a challenge from unexpected angles and perspectives.
Explore guide →Systems Thinking
A holistic way of understanding complex situations by examining relationships, feedback loops and interdependencies within a larger system.
Explore guide →Fear of Failure
A common barrier that can prevent people from sharing ideas, taking responsible risks and learning through experimentation.
Explore guide →Visualisation
The collaborative use of visual representations to make ideas, concepts, information and relationships easier to understand and discuss.
Explore guide →Mind Mapping
A visual brainstorming technique for exploring ideas, themes and connections.
Explore guide →Make ideas tangible
Expand and Prototype
Choose a prototype form and create something people can experience and discuss.
What is Prototyping?
A practical approach to making ideas tangible so they can be explored, tested, discussed and improved before implementation.
Explore guide →Prototype Fidelity
A way of describing how closely a prototype represents a proposed solution, ranging from simple concepts and sketches to highly realistic experiences.
Explore guide →Visual Prototypes
A simple and accessible way to represent ideas through sketches, diagrams, storyboards and visual concepts before investing in detailed development.
Explore guide →Physical Prototypes
A tangible representation of a product, object, environment or experience that people can touch, use and evaluate.
Explore guide →Digital Prototypes
Interactive representations of digital products, services and experiences that enable testing before full development.
Explore guide →Assumptions
Beliefs we accept as true about people, problems or solutions before sufficient evidence has been gathered.
Explore guide →Hypotheses
Testable statements that describe what is expected to happen when a proposed solution is introduced.
Explore guide →Minimum Viable Products (MVPs)
The simplest version of a product, service or solution that allows meaningful learning to occur.
Explore guide →Lean Experiments
Structured tests designed to generate evidence quickly and reduce uncertainty through learning.
Explore guide →Validation Techniques
Methods used to gather evidence and determine whether an idea, assumption or solution is supported by real-world insights.
Explore guide →Service Prototypes
Representations of services, interactions and experiences that allow people to explore how a service may function before implementation.
Explore guide →Journey Prototypes
Representations of an end-to-end experience that allow teams to explore how people move through a product, service or system over time.
Explore guide →Role Play
A prototyping method where people act out situations, interactions or experiences to explore how a solution may work in practice.
Explore guide →Bodystorming
An experiential prototyping method that uses physical movement and real-world contexts to explore ideas, behaviours and interactions.
Explore guide →Experience Simulations
Structured recreations of future situations that allow people to explore, test and evaluate experiences before implementation.
Explore guide →User Testing
A structured approach to observing how people interact with a prototype, product, service or experience in order to generate evidence and identify opportunities for improvement.
Explore guide →Interviews
A qualitative research method used to explore people's experiences, needs, perspectives and behaviours through purposeful conversation.
Explore guide →Observation
A research and testing method that focuses on studying people's behaviours, actions and interactions within real or simulated environments.
Explore guide →Usability Testing
A structured method for evaluating how easily people can use a product, service, system or prototype to achieve their goals.
Explore guide →Feedback Analysis
A structured process for reviewing, interpreting and synthesising information gathered through testing, observation and stakeholder engagement.
Explore guide →Iteration
A continuous process of making, testing, learning and improving that strengthens ideas over time.
Explore guide →Refinement
The process of improving specific aspects of a solution to increase its effectiveness, usability and overall quality.
Explore guide →Feedback Loops
A continuous process of gathering, interpreting and applying information to improve ideas, decisions and outcomes over time.
Explore guide →Pivoting
A deliberate change in direction based on evidence, learning or emerging opportunities discovered during development.
Explore guide →Preparing for Execution
The process of translating validated ideas into actionable plans that support implementation, delivery and long-term success.
Explore guide →Fidelity vs Resolution
Two independent choices that determine how a prototype behaves and how much detail it communicates.
Explore guide →Storyboarding
A visual storytelling technique used to illustrate how people may experience a product, service or solution over time.
Explore guide →Prototype Pathways
A practical guide to selecting prototype forms that match the idea, question, audience and available resources.
Explore guide →Lego Prototyping
A hands-on method that uses modular bricks and objects to model ideas, relationships, environments and systems collaboratively.
Explore guide →Systems and Process Prototypes
Representations used to test how connected roles, decisions, information and activities operate across a wider service or system.
Explore guide →Visual Sketchnoting
A visual note-making practice that combines concise words, simple drawings, containers and connections to capture and communicate thinking.
Explore guide →Evaluate and refine a response
Execute and Test
Use these shared methods to assess an idea’s value and test it through making. Methods can support more than one stage.
Desirability, Feasibility and Viability Analysis
A decision-making framework for assessing whether an idea is valuable to people, achievable in practice and sustainable over time.
Explore guide →What is Prototyping?
A practical approach to making ideas tangible so they can be explored, tested, discussed and improved before implementation.
Explore guide →Systems and Process Prototypes
Representations used to test how connected roles, decisions, information and activities operate across a wider service or system.
Explore guide →