Design thinking is a process of thinking and ideating on a solution that address a problem or better meet a customer/user need. It is important to immerse into the lives of the users to understand their pain point and unmet needs. Initial ideas inspired by such finding will then be tested quickly as prototype for refinement.

According to d.school of Stanford University, here are the five key steps of design thinking :

5 Key Steps of Design Thinking Process according to d.school of Stanford University:

EMPATHIZE

Work to fully understand the experience of the user for whom you are designing. Do this through observation, interaction, and immersing yourself in their experiences. Make sure to dial up your curiosity and ask lots of open questions (especially WHY) to unearth deeper unmet needs and insights.

DEFINE

Process and synthesize the findings from your empathy work in order to form a user point of view that you will address with your design.

IDEATE

Explore a wide variety of possible solutions through generating a large quantity of diverse possible solutions, allowing you to step beyond the obvious and explore a range of ideas.

PROTOTYPE

Transform your ideas into a physical form so that you can experience and interact with them and, in the process, learn and develop more empathy.

TEST

Try out high-resolution products and use observations and feedback to refine prototypes, learn more about the user, and refine your original point of view.

Design thinking process could be used in various types of problem solving and innovative idea generation, including social innovation. Some successful social innovation ideas came from applying this methodology. Here is an example :

https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/sarah-soule-how-design-thinking-can-help-social-entrepreneurs