Michael Roller

Design Thinking vs. Design Making

As DAAP defines it, design is made up of two basic components: design thinking and design making. Design thinking requires sharp observation skills, a willingness to learn (and unlearn), sympathetic attitudes, and the ability to work collaboratively. When it comes to design making, one excels by having a strong aesthetic sense, attention to detail, and visualization skills.

(Some designers are great at only one, others are okay at both, and just a few are great at both. Each of these combinations can have value to an organization if leaders know how to use them. But that’s beside the point…)

Historically, design is rooted in the more tactical design making, but design thinking is currently helping designers communicate their strategic value to businesses. Which has more lasting value? In 500 years, will the most valued designers be design thinkers, design makers, or both?

Here’s some food for thought from Dan Saffer, Bruce Nussbaum, Nick Leon, and Tim Leberecht.

Tags: definitions, design making, design thinking

1 Comment to Design Thinking vs. Design Making

1. 

   Damn, this is a difficult question! Not least because so many egos may get trampled in the response.

   Putting, as much as possible, my personal bias aside I think now is the time for design thinkers to really shine (For the record I work as a design thinker with a shot of serviceable design maker in my make-up).

   Before the crunch businesses were starting to get the gist of strategic thinking in relation to design. It hadn’t reached a tipping point of acceptance (well, certainly not in the automotive industry where often supremely skilled, and supremely ego-centric, design makers rule the roost) but leading auto design figures were certainly interested in what strategic design had to offer. Needless to say their management was too.

   The crisis, however, is causing many to fall back on old design maker habits. There is the same old “make it hot and they will buy” mentality re-emerging which might bolster sales in the long term but will almost guarantee the long-term decline of the industry.

   I see design thinkers having a vitally important role in the current context to help the design community at large to shift towards more sustainable practice. If, as design thinkers, we can achieve this we will have helped design makers to have a bit more of the design thinker in them.

   At the end of the day, or in 500 years, successful collaboration between thinkers and makers will make the two inseparable and therefore of equal value.
Drew Smith on March 11th, 2009

Leave a comment