Useful further reading

1. Design
Thinking for projects
Integrating Design Thinking on Your Projects
Supplemental Reference Materials
Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
New product development and project managers have come to recognize and value the power of Design
Thinking. Design Thinking helps project teams to view the customer’s perspective with empathy to
generate better solutions to market problems. Moreover, Design Thinking integrates cross-functional
work processes into a series of collaborative conversations that improve project outcomes.
Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, professors at Stanford, share their experiences in design thinking in their
book, “Designing Your Life.” The book focuses on how you as an individual can create a balanced,
productive life through the use of Design Thinking concepts and tools.
In the first few chapters of “Designing Your Life,” the authors define design thinking and provide rich
examples of their students who have found their purpose through the concepts and activities presented.
Just as in product development, it is important to take inventory of the current state. In the following
chapters, the reader is lead through several exercises to examine current state and life-balance goals,
and then how to apply Design Thinking tools to find the next steps in life. This may be a new job or
career, a recommitment to family and friends, or a greater focus on health and well-being.
The principles of Design Thinking are: Curiosity, Bias to action, Reframing, and Radical collaboration.
To design your life, just as in designing a new product or service, the authors encourage prototyping.
Instead of investing in and operating a new restaurant, a person can limit his/her risk and create a trial
environment for a new career with a food truck. The lessons from prototyping help us to frame, and
reframe, the next experiment.
The very concept of applying design thinking principles to living a joy-enhanced life is intriguing and the
authors share a lot of personal stories that are truly engaging and joy-filled. Furthermore, anyone
working in product development or project management can reinforce the key ideas of design thinking
through empathy, curiosity, and prototyping.

2. Design
Thinking for projects
Additional Design Thinking Resources
IDEO
• IDEO Resources
• Design Kit Methods
Frog Design
• Frog Collective Action Toolkit
Stanford d.school
• d.school Resources
Luma Institute
• Luma Resources
Google
• Google Design Sprint
IBM
• IBM Design Thinking
Interaction Design Institute
• Design Thinking Videos & Methods
Canva
• Design Elements & Principles
Design Council UK
• Design Thinking Model
Hasso Plattner Institute
• NHPI Resources