Professor Bao Yongjian from Fudan University School of Management introduced the methodology of design thinking as a problem solving approach to tackle with social crisis, which can’t be solved by applying a tried-and-tested logic.
Herbert Simon, the American psychologist and sociologist who laid the foundation for design thinking, described “design” as the ‘changing existing circumstances into preferred ones’. Therefore, design thinking is always linked to improving the future.
A better future state cannot be derived from experience, but must be reimagined. Design thinking starts from the “prototype” and is open to results. Unlike decision-making choices, there is no established problems in the design thinking process. Rather, it is a process of repeatedly redefining problems. The "empathy" approach of design thinking is suitable for unveiling hidden needs and understanding the priority of different appeals. Design thinking usually involves the organically integration of 4E: experimentation, empathy, experience and emancipation.
