Design Thinking has now also become firmly established in fostering start-ups and in start-ups, which often become acquainted with the method as a consulting service during the start-up process and then make frequent use of it later on. In the meantime, there are also a large number of university or college Design Thinking offerings worldwide, including here at the University of Koblenz-Landau. About ten years ago, I founded the School of Entrepreneurial Design Thinking® at the Koblenz campus.

But where does design thinking come from? And what is the story behind this exciting method? Design thinking guides us to approach problem solving like designers. Design encompasses a variety of perspectives on the process and outcome of design. It is about external design but also about the (internal) expectations of functionality and usability, both of manufactured products and of services. Basically, design always consists of two phases: an analytical phase, which has its focus on searching and understanding, finding and discovering, and a synthesizing phase, which essentially consists of experimenting, inventing, innovating as well as making and producing.

In terms of a lowest common denominator, three essential building blocks of Design Thinking can be identified: action guiding principles; the Design Thinking process; the physical work environment.

The action guiding principles initially focus on the users or customers. The focus here is on approaching them as unprejudicedly and empathically as possible, for example by using empathy maps or personas, or by experiencing and questioning the target group in their working or living environment. Questioning expressed problems is a second important principle guiding action. This is because a need must first be identified in order to be able to work on the right problem in a solution-oriented way. Changes in perspective help to identify and capture the real problem. A third principle is multidisciplinary collaboration. This requires openness to different expertise, languages and approaches, the ability to disclose and clarify ambiguities, and to find constructive, integrative solutions to conflicts. A fourth principle is that of experimentation. The playful approach to new ideas and solutions, a step-by-step approach as well as trying out, checking, adapting or discarding stand for the special knowledge and learning culture behind this principle. The fifth and last principle emphasizes the necessity of illustration or visualization. Making things visible and/or tangible goes hand in hand with a corresponding explication of implicit knowledge, which is necessary in order to be able to communicate ideas and concepts.

The design thinking process, despite all the differences in the number and designations of process steps in the various models, is always multi-phase, iterative, and allows for jumps back and loops. The classic phases are understanding, observing, defining the perspective, finding ideas, developing prototypes and testing. While the first three phases are based more on the thinking and working method of diverging, the remaining three phases focus on converging. In Entrepreneurial Design Thinking®, which we practice at the ED School of the University of Koblenz-Landau, the phase of business modeling is explicitly added at the end. The questioning of developed solutions with a view to customer segments, added values, relationships, sales potentials, costs, processes and partnerships is deliberately carried out at the end in order not to impair the creativity necessary for innovations too early. Nevertheless, the result of the business modeling phase can lead to the entire process being run through again.

The third generic building block of Design Thinking is the physical working environment. This should be open and flexible, yet versatile and stimulating. This can promote creativity in teamwork in particular, as our own research studies from the ED School (see above) at the Koblenz Campus of the University of Koblenz-Landau have shown.

At the ED-School, we have chosen the term “Entrepreneurial Design Thinking®” to reflect the relevance of design thinking for entrepreneurship (and vice versa) in science and practice. This involves the conscious and explicit consideration of business opportunities for design solutions (see above). Entrepreneurs thus also become designers and vice versa. The best prerequisite on the way to innovative design-oriented goal achievement.

The application of the Entrepreneurial Design Thinking® method has the advantage of guided progress on the way to founding a company: The process is run through systematically, often several times, and the (interim) results should stand up to the reality check, especially at the interface with future customers. After all, it is precisely they who contribute the reality of needs and value-added solutions as co-designers for innovative business models. At the University of Koblenz-Landau, Koblenz Campus, Entrepreneurial Design Thinking® can be learned as part of the management-oriented degree programs offered by the Department of Computer Science, as well as in a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree program offered by our Center for Distance Learning and University Continuing Education (ZFUW).