In an era where customer expectations evolve faster than ever and innovation is a key differentiator, businesses are under immense pressure to adapt quickly. Traditional problem-solving methods often fall short in this fast-paced environment. That’s where design thinking leverages a human-centered, iterative approach that’s revolutionizing how companies solve problems, innovate, and grow.

What is Design Thinking?

Design thinking is a mindset that emphasizes empathy with users, rapid prototyping, and creative problem-solving. At its core, design thinking involves five key phases: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test (Brown, 2009). This iterative framework pushes teams to understand the people they’re designing for and challenge assumptions to arrive at innovative solutions.

Unlike linear business models, design thinking embraces ambiguity. It encourages exploration and experimentation, often uncovering new value propositions that traditional processes overlook.

Why Businesses Should Care

Companies that adopt design thinking aren’t just keeping up, they’re setting the pace. A study by the Design Management Institute found that design-led companies outperformed the S&P 500 by 219% over a 10-year period (Design Management Institute, 2015). These companies, include giants like Apple, Nike, and IBM, who have embedded design thinking into their cultures to drive customer-centric innovation and strategic decision-making.

When business leaders embrace design thinking, they unlock benefits that go far beyond aesthetics.

Customer-Centric Innovation

Design thinking starts with empathy and understanding the unmet needs of customers. This approach leads to solutions that people actually want and use. According to Liedtka (2015), companies using design thinking are more likely to uncover latent customer needs and deliver differentiated offerings.

For example, GE Healthcare used design thinking to revamp its MRI machines. Instead of focusing solely on technical specs, designers observed that children were terrified during scans. This insight led to the a themed MRI experience called “Adventure Series” that dramatically improved patient satisfaction and reduced the need for sedation (Brown, 2009).

Faster, Smarter Problem Solving

Traditional business strategies often involve lengthy planning and risk-averse decision-making. Design thinking, by contrast, embraces rapid prototyping and testing. This reduces time-to-market and helps avoid costly missteps by identifying failure points early.

IBM has trained over 100,000 employees in design thinking and reports that projects using the method are twice as fast and deliver results 75% more efficiently than those using traditional approaches (Woods, 2018). The ability to pivot quickly based on real user feedback creates a competitive edge in crowded markets.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Design thinking breaks down silos by encouraging diverse teams to work together from the start. It fosters an inclusive environment where ideas can come from anyone, regardless of title or department. This collaborative energy often leads to more creative and well-rounded solutions (Liedtka, 2018).

When applied correctly, design thinking improves products and transforms organizations. It aligns stakeholders around a shared understanding of the problem and engages them in co-creating the solution.

Strategic Agility

In unpredictable markets, agility is gold. Design thinking supports strategic agility by helping leaders continuously assess challenges from a user’s perspective and iterate solutions. This adaptability allows businesses to respond more effectively to disruptions and changing customer needs.

McKinsey & Company found that companies with strong design capabilities grow their revenues and shareholder returns at nearly twice the rate of their industry peers (McKinsey & Company, 2018). Design thinking plays a central role in enabling this kind of performance by embedding user insights into strategic decision-making.

How to Get Started

Embracing design thinking doesn’t require an enterprise-wide transformation overnight. In fact, the most successful adoptions often begin with small, focused initiatives that create momentum over time. Here’s how business leaders can begin integrating design thinking into their organization:

1. Start Small, but Be Intentional

Begin with a pilot project; ideally one with clear customer impact and a team that’s open to experimentation. This could be anything from redesigning an onboarding process to improving a digital touchpoint. The key is to apply the full design thinking cycle, even on a small scale:

• Empathize Conduct interviews, observations, and shadowing to deeply understand user needs and pain points.
• Define the core problem based on user pain points and needs.
• Ideate through cross-functional brainstorming sessions that encourage quantity and diversity of ideas.
• Prototype quick, low-fidelity versions of your ideas with paper sketches, mockups, or clickable wireframes.
• Test prototypes with real users, gather feedback, and iterate rapidly.

This hands-on application helps teams experience the power of design thinking firsthand, while building credibility and enthusiasm across the organization.

2. Build a Cross-Functional Team

Diverse perspectives fuel innovation. Design thinking thrives when teams include individuals from different departments like marketing, operations, sales, customer service, IT, and beyond. Each team member brings unique insights into user needs and business constraints.

When assembling your first design thinking team, look for:

• Curiosity and open-mindedness
• A bias toward action
• Strong collaboration and communication skills

Leadership should create a psychologically safe space where team members feel comfortable voicing bold ideas, asking questions, and challenging assumptions without fear of judgment.

3. Train Your People

Design thinking is a skill set and mindset that requires practice. Invest in training that helps your teams build empathy, conduct effective user research, ideate creatively, and prototype efficiently. Depending on your budget and goals, this might include:

• Workshops led by internal champions or external facilitators
• Online courses (e.g., IDEO U, Coursera, LinkedIn Learning)
• Certification programs from organizations like Stanford or LUMA Institute

Upskilling not only builds internal capability but also signals to employees that innovation is a priority.

4. Build Empathy into Your Culture

Many businesses skip the empathy phase in favor of jumping straight to solutions, but that’s where traditional approaches fall short. A focus on empathy should extend beyond product design and into strategic planning, customer service, and leadership decision-making. Design thinking is most effective when integrated into the organization’s values and daily behaviors, not just reserved for occasional innovation projects. Leaders should consistently encourage teams to:

• Ask “What does the user need?” before “What do we want to build?”
• Validate ideas with user feedback early and often
• Map the customer journey
• Use storytelling to build empathy across stakeholders
• Celebrate experimentation, no matter the outcome

Embedding this mindset helps shift the company culture from product-first to user-first.

5. Create Space for Experimentation

Innovation requires room to explore without fear of failure. Encourage rapid prototyping and quick, low-cost experiments. Empower teams to test ideas with real users, be it through landing pages, mockups, A/B testing, or paper prototypes.

Companies like Google and Amazon foster this culture of continuous experimentation by allocating “innovation time” and rewarding learning outcomes as much as successful results. Business leaders can mirror this by:

• Allocating dedicated time or budget for innovation sprints
• Recognizing teams for insights and learning, not just wins
• Removing bureaucratic barriers that slow experimentation

6. Measure and Communicate Impact

To sustain momentum and secure executive buy-in, it’s critical to demonstrate the business value of design thinking. Metrics can include:

• Time-to-market reduction
• Increases in customer satisfaction (NPS, CSAT)
• Revenue impact from new product launches
• Operational efficiency gains from improved processes

Capture stories and testimonials that illustrate how human-centered design created meaningful outcomes. Communicating these wins helps drive broader adoption across the organization.

7. Appoint Design Thinking Champions

Internal advocates play a crucial role in scaling design thinking. These champions often include product managers, UX designers, or innovation leaders who can mentor others, share best practices, and lead internal workshops. Over time, they become cultural stewards who help sustain the practice across teams and projects.

Business leaders should identify and support these individuals by:

• Giving them the autonomy to lead initiatives
• Involving them in strategic planning
• Recognizing their contributions in tangible ways

Conclusion

Design thinking isn’t about perfection, it’s about progress.  This transformative approach to problem-solving empowers businesses to innovate with intention. By focusing on real human needs, fostering collaboration, and embracing iteration, companies can create solutions that are not only viable and feasible, but truly desirable.

By starting small, nurturing empathy, fostering collaboration, and supporting experimentation, businesses can create a culture of continuous innovation. When design thinking becomes embedded in your team’s mindset, it has the power to unlock not just better products, but more resilient customer relationships.

If your goal is to future-proof your business, it’s time to stop thinking traditionally and start thinking by design.

Want to learn more about how to adopt design thinking and people-first values that will transform your business? Check out the article: From Profit-First to People-First: Why Customer-Centric Strategies Drive Growth.

References

• Brown, T. (2009). Change by design: How design thinking creates new alternatives for business and society. Harvard Business Press.
• Design Management Institute. (2015). The Design Value Index. Retrieved from https://www.dmi.org/page/DesignValue
• Liedtka, J. (2015). Perspective: Linking design thinking with innovation outcomes through cognitive bias reduction. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 32(6), 925-938. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12163
• Liedtka, J. (2018). Why design thinking works. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2018/09/why-design-thinking-works
• McKinsey & Company. (2018). The business value of design. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-design/our-insights/the-business-value-of-design
• Woods, L. (2018). IBM’s design thinking transformation. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/lauraewoods/2018/03/15/ibms-design-thinking-transformation