If you only remember a few things…

The best way to deepen your understanding and comfort with design thinking is through tackling new challenges. Every time you complete the process, you will learn something new.

You are a designer.

Become more intentional about your design process.

Be confident in your creative abilities.

Be strategic about what needs attention first.

Listen to your users and be inspired to design for them.

Embrace your beginner’s mind.

Approach problems as a novice even if you already know a lot about them.

Let yourself learn.

Ask more questions, and be more curious.

Be willing to experiment.

Be ok with not having the “right” answer. Trust that you’ll find one.

Stepping out of your zone of comfort = learning.

Get unstuck.

Break your routine.

Build to think.

Use the world outside to invigorate your work.

Analogous inspiration is your best friend.

Collaborate with others.

Always be testing.

Problems are just opportunities for design in disguise.

Start with “What if?” and “Why not?” questions.

Fall in love with your user’s problems (not your solutions).

Be optimistic. Believe the future will be better.

Attribution: material in this conclusion adapted from:

“Design Thinking for Educators” IDEO. Circa 2013. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 https://designthinkingforeducators.com/toolkit/