Iterating the Literature: An Early Annotated Bibliography of Design-Thinking Resources

Abstract

As discussed throughout this special issue, interest in design thinking as a process, a set of mind-sets and practices, and also a potential addition to writing studies and technical and professional communication (TPC) program curricula has increased recently, opening discussions about the rhetorical nature of design-thinking practices. Does design thinking align with the already rhetoric scholarship on design in TPC? In this working bibliography, we pull together literative from across disciplines, popular media, and higher education media to examine design thinking from a variety of angles and to offer a starting point for peers interested in learning more.

Promoting User Advocacy through Design Thinking in the Age of Automated Writing

“…Scholars and practitioners in various fields agree that design thinking is a solution to wicked problems [21,23,27]. Originated in the working process of designers, architects, and engineers, design thinking is developed as "a step-by-step recursive process for addressing complex problems" [22]. The process of design thinking is popularized by the Stanford University's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (more commonly known as "the d.school" or "Design School") in academia and the design and consulting firm, IDEO, among corporates [22].…”

“…In the past decade, there has been an increasing interest in design thinking from scholars in technical communication and writing studies [20,23,24,26,28,30]. As Pope-Ruark puts it, "[r]hetoric and design have always been inextricably connected in that both address human needs and social problems" [22]. Design thinking's emphasis on solving wicked problems, human-centeredness, collaboration, and participation echoes technical communication's move "toward integration of social justice into technical communication theory and pedagogy" [16].…”

“…In what follows, I will discuss how wicked problems in designing and using AW technologies harm individual experiences and make the power shift further to tech giants, causing inequal power distribution between tech giants and users. I argue design thinking as "a process for addressing complex, messy problems in the world" [22] can help bring the design and use of AW technologies back to human-centeredness by valuing diversity, individual insights, co-creation, and open innovation [25].…”

“…The most prevalent design thinking process is developed by the d.school at Stanford University and popularized by IDEO, the leading design firm. The d.school-IDEO model includes six steps: understand, observe, define, ideate, prototype, and test [21][22][23]. In the article "What Can Design Thinking Offer Writing Studies", Purdy [23] explained the procedures in detail: firstly, designers conduct research on existing materials to understand the problem; second, designers observe users' behaviors and learn users' stories to "develop a sense of empathy" with users; third, designers define users' needs and propose solutions to meet users' needs; fourth, designers ideate as many solutions as possible with the purpose of diversifying the ideas; fifth, designers prototype quick and rough representations of some of the ideas; lastly, designers test the prototypes, collect feedbacks, revise prototypes or move to an alternative solution in the ideate stage.…”

“…In this article, I will take a wicked problem approach [19,20] in design thinking [1,[21][22][23]. I argue that the design and use of AW technologies constitute wicked problems -problems that are difficult to define, "lack a single, knowable solution", and are "ambiguous, contingent, and recursive" [23].…”