Unit 1: Basics of Design Thinking
Design Thinking and Innovation notes · PTU syllabus (UGSEC2509)
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Unit summary
Innovation is how businesses grow and stay relevant. Design thinking is a human-centred approach to innovation that starts with understanding people's real needs. This unit introduces innovation, creative problem-solving, the design thinking approach, customer centricity and product experience, global success stories, and the five-stage process.
After this unit you can
- Explain innovation and its significance in business
- Describe creative thinking and problem-solving approaches
- Explain design thinking, its objective and customer centricity
- Describe the five stages of design thinking with success stories
PTU syllabus topics
- Concept and significance of innovation in business
- creative thinking and problem-solving approaches
- the Design Thinking approach and its objective
- customer centricity and product experience
- global success stories (Airbnb, Apple, IDEO, Netflix)
- the four/five-stage Design Thinking process
- 1Empathize
Understand users
- 2Define
Frame the problem
- 3Ideate
Generate many ideas
- 4Prototype
Build a quick version
- 5Test
Learn from users
Topic 1
Innovation and creative thinking
Innovation is turning a new idea into value — a new or improved product, service, process or business model. Types: incremental (small improvements) and disruptive/radical (transforming a market). Creative thinking generates new ideas: divergent thinking (many ideas), lateral thinking (new angles), and convergent thinking (choosing the best).
Topic 2
The design thinking approach
Design thinking is a human-centred, iterative problem-solving approach that balances what is desirable for people, feasible with technology and viable for business.
Desirability
What people need and want
Feasibility
What technology can do
Viability
What makes business sense
Innovation
The overlap of all three
Customer centricity means designing around the user's experience, not the product's features. Product experience covers every interaction a customer has with the product.
Topic 3
Global success stories
| Company | Design thinking in action |
|---|---|
| Airbnb | Founders visited hosts, saw poor listing photos, and improved them — bookings rose |
| Apple | Obsessive focus on simple, intuitive user experience |
| IDEO | Popularised design thinking; designed Apple's first mouse |
| Netflix | Constant user testing and personalisation of recommendations |
Topic 4
The five-stage process
- 1Empathise
Understand users deeply
- 2Define
Frame the real problem
- 3Ideate
Generate many solutions
- 4Prototype
Build quick, cheap versions
- 5Test
Get user feedback and refine
The process is non-linear — teams loop back as they learn.
Key terms
- Innovation
- Turning ideas into value
- Design thinking
- A human-centred, iterative approach to problem-solving
- Customer centricity
- Putting the customer's needs at the centre of design
- Disruptive innovation
- An innovation that transforms a market
- Prototype
- A quick, early version of a solution
Quick revision
- Incremental vs disruptive innovation.
- Desirable + feasible + viable.
- Empathise → define → ideate → prototype → test.
- Airbnb, Apple, IDEO and Netflix are classic examples.
Important exam questions
Practice questions written to the PTU exam pattern for this unit's syllabus: short answers (Section A style) and long answers (Sections B and C style).
Short-answer questions
- Q1.Define innovation and give its types.
- Q2.What is design thinking?
- Q3.What is customer centricity?
- Q4.List the five stages of design thinking.
- Q5.How did Airbnb use design thinking?
Long-answer questions
- Q1.Explain the significance of innovation and creative thinking in business.
- Q2.Explain the design thinking approach and its five stages.
- Q3.Discuss global success stories of design thinking.
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