Reblogged from Team cognition: Since R. Martin and others hijacked the term ‘designthinking’, there is an ongoing dispute. Two thought worlds exist and possibly these can be united by laying bare the essential characteristics of a ‘design thinker’. Thought worlds Design thinking frames the verb ‘design’ as a specific cognitive activity in order to solve […]
How to recognize Design Thinkers
by Cameron D. Norman • October 31st, 2012
Design Thinking: Thinkers, Science and Practice
by Cameron D. Norman • September 6th, 2012
If to think and be aware of those thoughts (to think about thinking) is a defining feature of what it means to be human, why is it such a challenge to think about types of thinking? An answer to that question might help explain why design thinking is so difficult to translate into action and […]
The Ideology of Scaling Social Innovations
by Cameron D. Norman • August 24th, 2012
Without best evidence (which is almost always lacking in social innovation by its very nature), setting performance targets related to scale a priori is foolish. For innovators themselves, equally foolish is not gathering the kind of information about the systems they are operating in to know if they are the human or the ant and whether a shower is on the way. 
Designing a Social Innovation Wonderwall
by Cameron D. Norman • July 22nd, 2012
Paying attention to the social, technological, economic and environmental stresses and challenges we face isn’t always conducive to positive thinking and sometimes its useful to look at where problems are being addressed rather than created. Where to go for such inspiration is question is where this post begins. And all the roads that lead you […]
Marketing Metaphors of Meaning in Complexity
by Cameron D. Norman • July 17th, 2012
Marketing is largely about identity and stories about identity. Marketers want to influence what you do (choose, use, purchase, etc..) and how you experience what you do when you do it. To do this, they know the importance of design and the stories to accompany that design. Design, when done well, is partly about creating empathy with those who are to benefit from the products of design and the best products out there are ones that apply empathy and guide behaviour at the same time. Storytelling is the vehicle that links them together. 
Empathy: The Ultimate Design + Systems Challenge
by Cameron D. Norman • July 1st, 2012
Empathy is a central feature of good human-centred design, yet is often practiced narrowly. Visualization with systems thinking and mindfulness are three additional features that can transform empathy from a simple tool to a vehicle for transformation by connecting us less to absolute problems and more to relative ones. In today’s Globe and Mail newspaper […]
The Hyberbole and Exaggerated Demise of Design Thinking
by Cameron D. Norman • June 14th, 2012
It is time to pull design thinking from the embers of hyperbole and placed under the microscope and macroscope of reflective practice and research. Once there, we might better comment on what this idea means for business, social innovation, human services and our overall wellbeing by pointing to something other than an exclamation mark to make our point. 
Design Thinking’s Timely Death
by Cameron D. Norman • June 13th, 2012
Reblogged from The Multidisciplinarian: William Storage 11 Jun 2012 Visiting Scholar, UC Berkeley Center for Science, Technology, Medicine & Society Design Thinking is getting a new life. We should bury it instead. Here’s why. Its Humble Origins In 1979 Bruce Archer, the great mechanical engineer and professor at the Royal College of Art, wrote […]
Evaluation and Design For Changing Conditions
by Cameron D. Norman • June 5th, 2012
If we are serious about addressing the social, political, health and environmental challenges posed to us in this age of global complexity we need to launch from these start points into something more sophisticated that brings these areas further together. The cross training of designers and evaluators and innovators of all stripes is a next step. So, too, is building the scholarship and research base for this emergent field of inquiry and practice. Better theories, evidence and examples will make it easier for all of us to lift the many boats needed to traverse these seas.
Contemplating Better Public Health: Perspective is Everything
by Cameron D. Norman • May 31st, 2012
How might we apply the lessons from cigarette use to mental health promotion? How might we design programs, spaces, places, and social conventions that promote the quiet contemplative acts that come from taking that cigarette break and offer potentially great value to tobacco users without creating harmful effects for others?
Engaging design, complexity and imagining the systems that influence them both might yield considerable insight into how we manage other public health problems and how we might better promote mental health in the protection of physical well-being. 
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