Design thinking has been around for more than four decades, but IT leaders are using it to solve new problems every day. Recently, IT leaders have taken to design thinking principles to complement other process changes related to agile and DevOps in order to improve outcomes.
If you want to keep up with what some leaders in the design thinking field (inside and outside of technology) are doing, thinking, and reading, follow these influential folks on Twitter.
Tim Brown aka @tceb62
Bio: author of Change By Design / CEO of @IDEO
Why to follow: The CEO of Palo Alto-based consulting firm IDEO, one of the first firms to help companies apply the concept of design thinking to product and service development, Brown is a primary evangelist for the power of the approach. Big ideas, he argues, should not be the exclusive domain of “creative” types. He doesn’t tweet regularly, but he (and IDEO itself) are must-follows for would-be design thinkers.
John Maeda aka @johnmaeda
Bio: Head of Computational Design & Inclusion @Automattic http://remotedesignteam.com | Board Sonos, W+K | Former KPCB, RISD, MIT | STEM to STEAM #DesignInTech AGI
Why to follow: Bestselling author of the “Laws of Simplicity,” John Maeda made his mark blending the worlds of business, design, and tech to forge what he calls the “human technologist.” He spent 12 years at the MIT Media Lab supporting a community of designers who code and coders who design in the Aesthetics + Computation Group. As Design Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, he advised startups on the business value of design. These days he’s at WordPress parent Automattic. A recent Twitter focus has been ideation within remote teams.
Travis Bogard aka @TravisBogard
Bio: SVP, Head of Product @SamsungNext Ex @Uber, @Jawbone, Tellme, @AOL. Measure twice. Cut once.
Why to follow: Bogard has worked in product design and development roles at some of the biggest names in disruptive tech over the years, from AOL and Netscape to Uber, and now Samsung NEXT. His focus on users and the use of empathy and design thinking to solve big problems is evident in his feed.
Jay DuBois aka @jaydubois
Bio: Design Leader. Storyteller. Leader of the Capital Markets Design Team, Customer Experience Design (CXD) @FannieMae. Views expressed are my own.
Why to follow: DuBois, a design thinking true believer, currently practices his art in the capital markets division of Fannie Mae. Recent shares include a facilitator’s guide for user experience leaders, a video on the “learning loop” of the product cycle (observe-test-iterate-learn), and updates from design thinking and customer experience events and conferences.
Kelly Olson aka @kellyolson
Bio: Leadership, Strategy, Tech Transformation, Digital Experience, Innovation, CX, UX – Public Sector
Why to follow: Olson spent a couple of decades in the government sector, most recently as acting director of the General Services Administration’s Technology Transformation Service, where she sought to incorporate design thinking into the solutions being designed for federal agencies. This year, she became head of industry strategy & marketing for the public sector at Adobe, where she continues her efforts to improve the digital experience offered by government entities. Follow her for tweets on user-centered design through the public sector lens.
Sara Armbruster aka @saraarmbruster
Bio: VP of Strategy, Research and New Business Innovation at @Steelcase. Interested in disruptive business models, organizational innovation and the future of work.
Why to follow: Armbruster applies the design thinking approach to how we operate in our physical workspaces. The vice president of strategy, research and new business innovation for Steelcase, the world’s largest manufacturer of office furniture and specialists in commercial architecture and design, she is helping organizations consider the work process, space, and cultural aspects of digital transformation. Follow her to check out some of the innovative products and services that have resulted as well as a survey of user-centered design and development in the work-life space.
UX Collective aka uxdesigncc
Bio: Curated stories on user experience, usability, and product design. By @fabriciot and @caioab.
Why to follow: You get two design thinkers for the price of one with this very active Twitter account curated by user experience designer Fabricio Teixeira and product designer Caio Braga. Recent gems include articles on designing your day-to-day experience, how product designers can help mom-and-pop retailers survive Amazon, the three rules of effective touch design, and the best UX and design conferences for 2019.
Stanford d.school aka stanforddschool
Bio: Everyone has the capacity to be creative. At the http://d.school, people use design to develop their creative potential and apply it to the world.
Why to follow: Stanford is arguably the birthplace of modern design thinking. Its design school is a innovation finishing school of sorts for business leaders who want to tap into their creative side, studying design thinking, empathy, and iterative prototyping. The d.school feed provides frequent updates on classes and events and showcases some of the products, processes, and experiences its alumni have gone on to develop. (Faculty member @tseelig , author of Creativity Rules, is also worth a follow.)
Dean of Big Data aka schmarzo
Bio: Love teaching! Author, Hitachi Vantara CTO, @USFSOM Executive Fellow #BigData + #DataScience + #DesignThinking + #DigitalEconomics drives #DigitalTransformation
Why to follow: Bill Schmarzo, CTO of the IoT and Analytics for Hitachi Vantara, calls himself the “dean of big data”, but he’s also a vocal proponent of design thinking principles. His twitter feed sits at the convergence of data science, digital transformation, and design.
Steve Faktor aka ideafaktory
Bio: CEO IdeaFaktory #Innovation; http://itunes.TheMcFuture.com podcast; Econovation, Forbes, HarvardBiz, LinkedIn Influencer; ex-Amex, Citi, MasterCard
Why to follow: Former head of the American Express Chairman’s Innovation Fund and senior strategy and innovation executive Citi, MasterCard and Andersen, Steve Faktor is all about what’s next. The founder of consultancy and incubator IdeaFaktory, which helps companies identify, develop, and commercialize new products, services, and businesses, he is a frequent tweeter on all things innovation.
