Design Thinking is a book written by Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris. It is focused around the seven Stages of Thinking when creating a commercial design. This book clearly outlines the stages a designer should go through in order to turn a client’s design brief into a product that the client will want to pay for. This book argues that design is a completely creative process, but the process is controlled by, and requires following the Stages of Thinking.
The book itself is split up into these “stages of thinking” as defined by Ambrose and Harris. The seven stages that the book addresses are: define, research, ideate, prototype, select, implement and learn. It begins by giving a general analysis of all 7 stages. Design Thinking is a great resource for anyone looking at following this design technique, as each of the seven stages has a checklist, and the book recommends that all items are checked before moving on. Failure to do so could lead to a disaster later on Ambrose and Harris tell us. After outlining the seven stages, it shows an example of the design process being used when producing a logo for a company named Sovereign. Then it proceeds to discuss broader stages, in which it goes into depth about research, idea generation, refinement, prototyping, and implementation, giving a chapter to each.
Design Thinking is a great resource for aspiring designers who want to learn more about the seven stages of design. At some points, the book feels like it is saying that this process should be followed 100% of the time, which at times, impedes somewhat on the notion that creative ideas can sometimes just be spontaneous. While the idea of these 7 stages is a great concept, it is not the “be all or end all” of a design, as amazing designs can (and have) been conceived without following these steps.
Liam Sheppard 