Gram defines “design thinking” as using a particular set of design methods to solve problems that traditionally have fallen outside the purview of design. Perhaps a shorter phrase is just – thinking outside of the box.
The pros of design thinking is of course the ability to complete revamp a situation/product. It allows you to think not only at how to solve a problem but what are the root causes, how can we evaluate the situation on x-many factors, and how to ensure all parties are taken care of. It is a very useful framework for approaching problems and have shown to be quite useful in many corporate envrionments.
However the perils of design thinking, as we saw in the Gainesville, FL, is that it is unable to solve large societal structural issues. Many of these issues are deeply rooted in history and these firms that attempt to enact changes often fails to understand the culture roots and have enough empathy to understand these people’s current economic conditions. Another peril is that design thinking lacks in technical portions. So may be hard to students who are learning to feel like adequate amount of skills are being absorbed.
The highland is an example of urban development failure. This walk way was build like a skywalk, through an initially poor community. The hopes was that by bringing more structure and greens to the community, the area would clean up and become more developed and thus wealthier. However, again the designers did not think throughly about the people who lived there. The kids there often skated and the adults were so busy maintaining life, taking an evening stroll may be the last thing on their mind. Unfortunately, the highland became so touristy and associated with wealth that the area has since became highly gentrified with some of the most expensive clothing stores opening right at the entrance to serve all the tourists.
