Natasha Jen: Design Thinking Is Bullsh*t
Design Thinking is Bullshit? An Expired Argument
Researcher Pelle Ehn describes this bottom-up approach as a democratic process where the gap between designers and users is closed. He offers examples from Scandinavian software, system, and workplace design. Scandinavian countries have a rich history of social engagement, so it's no surprise that it's in these areas where we find examples of what Ehn calls participation (an integration of workers not traditionally trained in design into the process of design) and emancipatory practice (the freeing of workers from normative power structures.) In Ehn's model, "the design process involves as participants all those who can be directly affected by the system, its stakeholders ... The designer is someone that through encouragement and facilitation enables the participants and stakeholders to deal more effectively with their organizational messes"