How to Use Design Thinking to Boost Your Creativity and Productivity

As a Product designe­r, I've always been passionate­ about becoming a better proble­m solver. I'm also fascinated by creativity and productivity.

I have had various learning experiences in this industry. It opened my eyes to a new perspective on design thinking and how I could use it to solve everyday problems. Over the years of applying design thinking in my daily life, I can confidently say that it has been one of the best investments I've ever made. It has helped me to:

• Keep an open and curious mindse­t
• Make sense of information more­ effectively
• Make­ unbiased decisions
• Improve the­ quality of my decisions
• Become more­ adaptable to change and evolution

I'm e­xcited to share what I've le­arned from this experie­nce in this article.

5 Things I Learned from Design Thinking

1. Keep an open, curious mind

We fear what we don't know. But information is everywhere around us. It's not just in academic papers and thick books. It's also in the news, videos, and conversations we have with other people.

When we keep an open mind about where we obtain information, we can learn from a variety of sources. This helps us to understand problems from multiple perspectives and come up with more creative solutions.

2. Make sense of information

Once we have a lot of information, we need to be able to make sense of it. This means organizing it and identifying patterns and connections.

One way to do this is to use the Zettelkasten method. The Zettelkasten is a note-taking method system that helps you to create connections between different pieces of information. This can help you to remember, and process information more easily, and it can also spark new ideas.

3. Make unbiased decisions

We all have biases. These are our personal beliefs and experiences that can influence the way we think and make decisions.

When we're making decisions, it's important to be aware of our biases. One way to do this is to rely on data and evidence to support our decisions.

4. Make better decisions

Once we've made a decision, it's important to track its effectiveness. This helps us to learn from our experiences and make better decisions in the future.

One way to track the effectiveness of our decisions is to set goals and measure our progress towards those goals. We can also use feedback from others to help us identify areas where we can improve.

5. Change, adapt, and evolve

The world is constantly changing, and our solutions should too. When we're faced with a new problem or challenge, we need to be able to adapt and evolve our solutions.

One way to do this is to be mindful of the non-linear, flexible nature of design thinking. Design thinking allows us to iterate on our solutions and to learn from our failures.

Conclusion

Design thinking can be a powerful tool for solving problems in both our personal and professional lives. It can help us to be more creative, innovative, and effective problem solvers.