Pasts and Futures of Design Thinking: Implications for Technical Communication

Jason Tham Texas Tech University

Abstract

<bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Introduction:</b> Design thinking has gained popularity over the last few decades due to its promise for social innovation and user-centered solutions for technical communication practices and pedagogy. Yet, our increasingly complex sociotechnical climate calls for the historical examination of the decades-old problem-solving model and re-envisioning of the prospect of design thinking in academia and industry. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research questions:</b> 1. What prominent historical narratives have informed design-thinking values and practices as we know them today? 2. What could be the future of design thinking in the technical communication profession? <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research methodology:</b> This article interrogates the historiography of design thinking by mapping its dominant narratives and constructs antenarrative futures by weaving adjuvant accounts into new trajectories for technical communication purposes and aspirations. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Results:</b> Based on the mapping of historical traces of design-thinking narratives, this article presents two root accounts of design-thinking development—the efficiency narrative and the participatory narrative—with key identifiers and examples. Retracing the stories to highlight stances of nondominant sources, the findings indicate the importance of social advocacy through two main antenarratives—inclusion and social justice. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Conclusion and future research:</b> Taking into account the antenaratives of design thinking, future applications should center inclusion and social justice advocacy in academic as well as industry settings. Future studies may investigate this approach to implementing design thinking and examine the corresponding outcomes.

Journal
IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Published
2022-06-01
DOI
10.1109/tpc.2022.3156226
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
Topics
Export

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (11)

  1. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
  2. Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Show all 11 →
  1. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  2. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Communication Design Quarterly
  5. Communication Design Quarterly
  6. Communication Design Quarterly

References (152) · 24 in this index

  1. 10.1111/caim.12023
  2. 10.4324/9781003036760
  3. 10.4324/9781315231303-13
  4. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Written Communication
Show all 152 →
  1. 10.1016/j.destud.2005.05.001
  2. Written Communication
  3. 10.1002/j.2168-9830.2005.tb00832.x
  4. Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation
  5. The business value of design
  6. 10.2307/1511524
  7. Rhetoric and the Arts of Design
  8. The Psychology of Everyday Things
  9. 10.1016/0142-694X(82)90040-0
  10. Design Thinking
  11. 10.1162/desi.2006.22.3.4
  12. 10.4324/9780080454979
  13. 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199694945.013.006
  14. 10.1177/0269094215578226
  15. 10.1007/978-981-287-444-3
  16. Zero Degrees of Empathy
  17. 10.2307/357774
  18. College Composition and Communication
  19. Computers and Composition
  20. College Composition and Communication
  21. Design thinking methodology: A case study of radical collaboration in the wearables resea…
    Connexions, Int. Prof. Commun. J.
  22. Design thinking via experiential learning: Thinking like an entrepreneur in technical com…
    Programm. Perspectives
  23. College Composition and Communication
  24. Technical Communication Quarterly
  25. Design thinking in first-year composition: Writing social innovation into service-learnin…
    Currents Teach. Learn.
  26. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  27. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  28. Robert J. Connors: The rise of technical writing instruction in America
  29. Dont be a Dilbert: Transmedia storytelling as technical communication during and after Wo…
    Tech. Commun.
  30. Technologies of disenfranchisement: Literacy tests and black voters in the U.S. from 1890…
    Tech. Commun.
  31. Technical Communication Quarterly
  32. Understanding the behaviour of design thinking in complex environments
  33. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  34. Is there a need for a design thinking process
  35. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  36. From theory to practice: Using the information process-maturity model as a tool for strat…
    Tech. Commun.
  37. What is information design
    Tech. Commun
  38. Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content That Works
  39. User and Task Analysis for Interface Design
  40. Quality in document design: Issues and controversies
    Tech. Commun.
  41. Dynamics in Document Design: Creating Texts For Readers
  42. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  43. Writing for human performance: Relating reading research to document design
    Tech. Commun
  44. Design thinking is not design
  45. Design thinking: A quick overview
  46. What is the framework for innovation Design Councils evolved double diamond
  47. The Design of Everyday Things
  48. 10.1007/BF01405730
  49. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  50. 10.1177/0165551504042802
  51. 10.1093/jahist/jar614
  52. 10.1109/IPCC.1999.799106
  53. Technical Communication Quarterly
  54. 10.4135/9781849209496
  55. 10.4324/9780203830642
  56. World design science decade documents
  57. The Principles of Scientific Management
  58. Design Thinking Bootleg, d.Mindsets (archived)
  59. 10.1386/tear.8.1.31/1
  60. Participatory Design: Principles and Practices
  61. Design thinking: A paradigm on its way from dilution to meaninglessness
  62. Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change
  63. 10.2307/41166415
  64. 10.1016/S0142-694X(98)00029-5
  65. Design thinkers can save the world: How understanding their interests, goals, and motivat…
  66. Design thinking
    Harvard Bus. Rev.
  67. 10.1108/10878571011042050
  68. 10.1108/10878571111161480
  69. 10.1080/14606925.2017.1372931
  70. Human-centered, systems-minded design
  71. Design thinking for social innovation
  72. Turning design thinking to design doing
  73. 10.1016/j.sheji.2016.08.001
  74. An essay on meaning in design thinking
  75. Design has an empathy problem: White men cant design for everyone
  76. Introducing the recognize anthology
  77. 10.7551/mitpress/10993.003.0013
  78. Voice recognition still has significant race and gender biases
  79. Code4Rights, Code4All
  80. A white mask worked better: Why algorithms are not colour blind
  81. How white engineers built racist codeand why its dangerous for black people
  82. The deadly truth about a world built for menfrom stab vests to car crashes
  83. CCCC black technical and professional communication position statement with resource guide
  84. The Afrocentric Idea (Revised and Expanded Edition)
  85. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  86. 10.4324/9781410617385
  87. Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code
  88. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  89. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  90. 10.4324/9781315232584
  91. Michelle Obama calls America to action in moving DNC speech
  92. 10.2307/378062
  93. 10.1145/3233756.3233931
  94. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  95. Design thinking origin story plus some of the people who made it all happen
  96. 10.1007/978-3-642-23315-9_20
  97. Design and Feminism: Re-Visioning Spaces, Places, and Everyday Things
  98. 10.28968/cftt.v4i1.29638
  99. Normkreativ
  100. Can a design process rooted in gender theory truly work in practice
  101. 10.1145/3328020.3353919
  102. 10.1016/j.sheji.2019.11.002
  103. 10.1016/j.destud.2011.07.004
  104. 10.1016/j.sheji.2017.10.003
  105. 10.1177/1052562913507571
  106. 10.1162/desi.2008.24.4.38
  107. 10.1057/jcb.2011.25
  108. 10.2307/1511637
  109. The Role of Design Thinking in Firms and Management Education
  110. 10.1108/s0897-301620150000023005
  111. Technical Communication Quarterly
  112. 10.1016/j.destud.2004.06.005
  113. 10.1162/074793601750357196
  114. 10.1007/1-84628-301-9
  115. 10.1016/j.destud.2006.11.004
  116. Research in Design Thinking
  117. Pragmatism and design thinking
    Int. J. Design
  118. From social design to design for social innovation
  119. 10.1016/S0142-694X(99)00023-X
  120. The nature of design thinking
  121. 10.1016/j.destud.2011.07.006
  122. 10.1111/j.1948-7169.2009.00020.x
  123. 10.1016/j.destud.2013.05.001
  124. Understanding design thinking, exploration and exploitation: Implications for design strategy
  125. Design thinking
    Res. Technol. Manage.
  126. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  127. 10.1007/978-81-322-1050-4_3
  128. Participatory design with marginalized people in developing countries: Challenges and opp…
    Int. J. Design
  129. Innovation through design thinking
  130. 10.1080/07370024.2014.896706
  131. 10.2752/175470811X13071166525216
  132. 10.2752/175470812x13281948975413
  133. 10.3916/C42-2014-10
  134. Solving Problems With Design Thinking: Ten Stories of What Works
  135. 10.1016/j.sheji.2017.05.004
  136. Design Thinking: Integrating Innovation, Customer Experience, and Brand Value
  137. 10.1007/978-3-642-13757-0
  138. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  139. Design thinking: Notes on its nature and use
    Design Res. Quart.
  140. 10.3102/0034654312457429
  141. 10.1111/j.1942-5074.2009.00003.x
  142. Transforming constructivist learning into action: Design thinking in education
    Design Technol. Educ., Int. J.
  143. The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action
  144. 10.7551/mitpress/12107.001.0001
  145. 10.1108/02756660910942490
  146. 10.1162/DESI_a_00206
  147. Journal of Business and Technical Communication