Structures of Time in Design Thinking

The significant increase in both the scale through which designers collaborate and in the complexity of the problem-solution space they confront makes design thinking a lengthier and more fragmented process than it used to be, challenging commonly accepted notions of timeframes associated with shaping a well-integrated solution. Part of the challenge is because design thinking activities have a variety of unique structures that optimize concept generation through a combination of timeframes. However, planning and managing time for concept generation through design thinking is based on past experiences and guesswork, because no time structures and principles have been developed so far, leaving designers with no guidelines for planning concept generation activities. Through literature review and analysis of an industry case study, this study proposes a model of how to structure time in design thinking processes in order to optimize time and resource allocation, improving productivity in collaborative and complex projects of concept generation through design thinking.