What is design thinking?

Design thinking is a way of imagining how to solve problems that have not been considered prior, a thinking outside of the box style of contemplating. The process looks at different considerations, such as what are the needs of the user, context of the product, and how it can be connected to the current culture. The process provides the freedom to look, question and think about how to solve a problem without having a set of rules or regulations to hamper this process. Design thinking uses research, brainstorming, and direct observation to help make the idea come to life.

How has design thinking influenced a product I use?

The electric toothbrush is a product that I use every day. When looking at this product you can see this product has been around for a while but not with the advancements they have made currently. For instance, electric toothbrushes now have sensors that let you know if you are brushing with too much force, they beep to let you know when to switch to brushing to another area, and it automatically stops when the two minutes have expired. With design thinking, they took the recommended brushing system recommendations provided by the American Dental Association and made a brushing mechanism that follows the recommendations. Now the customer does not have to watch the clock to make sure that you brushed an area for the recommended 30 seconds. In addition, the toothbrush sensors will instantly let you know if you are brushing too hard by how the brush vibrates. These updates make it easy to use and appealing to the customer because it builds confidence that the brushing instrument will help keep your teeth clean.

What are the connections between opportunities and planning?

The connections between opportunities and planning clearly support one another. For instance, if I see an opportunity to make a product that I think will be good for the community, then I can begin the planning stages to validate the opportunity. By planning thoroughly, the results would better illustrate the legitimacy of the opportunity, show additional predictions and scenarios you did not know existed, or could disprove the prospect altogether because it already exists, cannot be made or other negative reasons.

What opportunities have I missed?

I am sure that I have missed opportunities due to life circumstances or the lack of knowing they existed. However, I don’t think I have missed any opportunities worth agonizing over. I think that all the opportunities that I have been given were because of how my life path has panned out. Thinking about how you should have taken this path instead of another is negative and will keep you from moving forward.

Can a successful venture be unethical?

Money sometimes makes people perform outrageous things. So yes, I do believe that a successful venture can be unethical. One example I can think of is going into a business knowing that the product you are offering is not unethical but how you are producing them and who you sell them to is. For instance, producing and selling 3D printed weapon parts through mail order services. This is unethical because first the producer is not serializing the parts (which is a federal standard to track guns) and there is no accountability for who is purchasing these gun parts (which could be anybody from law abiding citizens or legal gunsmiths to criminal enterprise elements or lone criminal actors that will use them for some heinous crime). I am sure there is a client out there that would purchase these items; however, I think it would be immoral to produce and sell the parts blindly. Another example I want to point out is an example of a company that did not start out unethical but ended up doing unethical measures to market and profit. The pharmaceutical companies sold their opioid drugs (oxycontin or oxycodone) knowing that physicians and pharmacies were pushing them to addicts. In addition, big pharmacy provided financial kickback incentives to the providers on the number of opioids they sold to their patients. The pharmaceutical companies were culpable knowing the negative human cost (addiction and death) but thought more about the positive profits gained. The Pharmaceutical companies might not have started being unethical, but it turned immoral when they saw the enormous profits obtained from their manufactured drugs. It makes me think of a question, “how do you trust a business after a scandal like this?” How are they still in business when they have shown unethical business practices?