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Before reading Design Thinking from the Harvard Business Review, I would define design as something that is created to fulfill one’s needs and wants. After I have read this informative article, my new definition of design would be creating innovative ideas rather than focusing on aesthetics. Design is like a process and an end goal, rather than a material thing.  

One example of design thinking in a product I use, and many others as well, are vehicles. Of course a car would be part of design because of all the different qualities, seat cover options, and electronic features, but the basis of a vehicle being able to transport is what people want and need in their lives. Thomas Edison’s electric lightbulb invention was an example of design thinking because of peoples favored way of receiving light, and the need for light. My car that I use every day is also an example because I need it to get to certain places at required times. If I did not have my car, I would also be able to use other transportation systems that came from design thinking. This was explained towards the end of the article when patients were requiring surgery, but access to transportation was a problem. The India Aravind Eye Care System stated that they “screened more than 5000,000 patients” and “113,000 required surgery” (Brown, 2008, pg. 91). Their end goal was to help their patients receive the surgery that they need, and they observed what needed to be done and provided it. The thought processing behind vehicles is super apparent to design thinking with the way they are made and provided to be accessible for all. 

Another example of design thinking that stood out to me was the techniques Kaiser Permanente were teaching hospital staff. Kaiser Permanente’s goal was to not only teach “design thinking techniques to nurses, doctors, and administrators” to improve the quality of experiences for patients and providers, but also to “inspire its practitioners to contribute new ideas” (Brown, 2008, pg. 86). This shows a perfect example of how design thinking can also be a career. Although we do not realize it, design is everywhere, even in my future profession in the health field. I will always be trying to help my patient understand what they experience during their visit, provide them the care that they prefer based on religion or age or gender, while also innovating new ideas with my coworkers. 

After watching videos on the lecture of design, and reading Design Thinking, and 5 New Design Careers, I now know that design can be a range of things including a profession, an experience, or even a form of communication. Many people relate design to an easy and straight-forward task, just like the 5 New Design Career text explained in the first paragraph. However, when we dive deeper into the topic we realize that design can be anything with a goal, which is always advancing in order to satisfy the intended audience’s desires. 

Cited Sources:

Brown, T. (2008, June). Design thinking. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved February 3, 2022, from https://hbr.org/2008/06/design-thinking