12


Summer 2020


FEATURE


Design Thinking for Marketers


By Kate L. Harrison M


odern-day marketing is overflowing with data and analysis aimed at shedding light on customer insight as the role


of marketers, creatives, and graphic designers expands. In fact, in one recent survey of CMOs, a full third listed “disruptive innovation” as a top priority. In other words, marketing is no longer viewed by organizations as the final step in a product’s life cycle, with marketing departments tasked with communicating a


product’s or service’s key features to potential clients. Instead, modern marketers understand that their work can actively change a business by building a two-way bridge between an organization and its potential customers. They speak to consumer needs while building value for their organization. For many, the key to doing this well and efficiently in order to understand what will move the dial is adopting the practice of design thinking.


What Is Design Thinking? The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) defines design thinking as “a human- centered design process that approaches problem-solving with understanding the user needs.” It brings together the concepts of development, applied creativity, prototyping, and experimentation. Most of the talk we hear about design thinking in today’s marketplace is aimed at the organizational level—trying


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