50+ Design Thinking Case Study Examples
Design Thinking Case Studies demonstrate the value of the Design Thinking methodology. They show how this Design Thinking methodology helps creatively solve problems and improve the success rate of innovation and increase collaboration in corporations, education, social impact work and the public sector by focusing on the needs of humans.
There are many Design Thinking Case Study examples on the web, but few meet the criteria for a robust case study: a clear description of the methodology, steps undertaken, experimentation through rapid prototypes and testing with people and finally documented results from the process. In this section, we have been selective about the design thinking case study examples that we highlight. We look for Design Thinking Case Studies that demonstrate how a problem was tackled and wherever possible the results or effect that the project produced. Our goal in curating this section of Design Thinking Case Study examples is quality over quantity.
Browse this page to view all Design Thinking Case Study examples, or if you are looking for Design Thinking Case Studies in a specific industry or marketing vertical, then rather start with the Design Thinking Case Studies Index.
If you have an interesting application of Design Thinking that you have a case study for, we would be happy to publish it.
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Fjord - The Strategic Importance of Design
Most Management Consultancies have bought Design Firms in the past few years as they realize the importance of Design in creating customer value. Accenture bought Fjord about 7 years ago. This case study covers how Fjord and Accenture operate and the impact of the two on each other.
Design Thinking - Improving School Experiences and Helping Teachers
This video showcases three projects during this year’s Design Thinking Club. Each group of students used the design thinking method to help improve a school experience or help a teacher in need.
David Lee walks us through three Design Thinking projects. It's a great example of how the process works and the type of results that it produced.
Watch the kids go through the process and produce really great solutions. It is inspiring.
Project X: Creating a Digital Product
Often the first questions that come up when an idea is put on the table for consideration during the development of a project are "how long will it take to develop?" and "how much will it cost?"
However, the most important question to ask first is: “What value can I create for my users?”
Better Service, Faster: A Design Thinking Case Study
he case study covers the work of two Stanford d.school students who applied a design thinking approach to problem solving on a project with the Golden Gate Regional Center (GGRC), an organization that provides services and financial support to people with developmental disabilities in San Francisco.
How the UberEATS Team uses Design Thinking
To Uber Eats Design Thinking has been a powerful tool to create higher customer satisfaction. Creating the future of food delivery takes empathy, innovation, and an appetite for complex logistical challenges. Using Design Thinking, UberEATS is on a mission to make eating well effortless for everyone, everywhere. The UberEats service connects customers to Uber-speed delivery from restaurants in over 80 cities around the world. UberEats give people more options when choosing how to eat.
Clean Team In-Home Toilets for Ghana’s Urban Poor
For the millions of Ghanaians without in-home toilets, there are few good options when it comes to our bodies' most basic functions. Working with Unilever and Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), IDEO.org developed Clean Team, a comprehensive sanitation system that delivers and maintains toilets in the homes of subscribers. Clean Team now serves 5,000 people in Kumasi, Ghana, making lives cleaner, healthier, and more dignified.
Reinventing Solar Energy Supply for Rural Africa
Being part of an ever-connected society, many people in the Global North can barely fathom that still more than 1.5 billion people live off the grid. Instead of simply plugging in, they use kerosene lanterns that only illuminate spots in their home, walk miles to charge their mobile phones, or run a diesel generator to power their business.
With just a simple technology ideas as their starting point, the Mobisol team started to engage in field research without having a final product in mind. Design thinking experience guided them: This meant that researching user needs first would likely spark an idea that could hit a sweet spot in the market.
Journalism Case Studies That Apply Design Thinking
Design thinking has become a popular method among journalists who are interested in boosting creativity and better engaging their audiences. Stanford University’s d.school offers a five-step process to kick start design thinking that you can use in your newsrooms. Those steps are empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test, which I laid out in another Poynter.org piece.
Here are two case studies to illustrate how journalists are using design thinking in their stories and projects.
Failure to Launch: Learning About Design the Hard Way
In 2004, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) decided to design and build an enterprise content management system to streamline its publishing process. The first attempt revealed the technology of the day was inadequate for the design of this complicated project. However, 12 years later the ATO now has a world class website which is shaped by daily user feedback and longitudinal unmoderated usability benchmarking.
How SwipeSense Makes Hand Cleaning In Hospitals As Easy As Wiping Them On Pants
We go to hospitals expecting to get better. But in many cases, they only make you sicker. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 2 million Americans contract Hospital acquired infections, resulting in 100,000 deaths and over $30 billion in costs to the health care system per year.
For a full index of all The Design Thinking Association articles on Design Thinking in Healthcare, visit our vertical markets - Healthcare page.
This Startup Revolutionized an Industry Through Design
A case study by IDEO. The challenge: Help PillPack, an IDEO startup-in-residence, build a venturing strategy for its prescription home-delivery system.
Read the Harvard Business Case Study
For a full index of all The Design Thinking Association articles on Design Thinking in Healthcare, visit our vertical markets - Healthcare page.