Key Points

• Design thinking is a human-first approach to product development.
• Companies that use design thinking are seeing massive returns on their efforts.
• Design thinking can positively impact corporate culture.

Which companies do design thinking the best? Design thinking is a relatively new approach to the likes of product delivery. While products are often drummed up with the customer in mind, few approaches consider the customer’s needs before even analyzing the problem and developing a solution. That said, some companies are embracing design thinking with massive success.

So, with that in mind, we’re looking at some of the companies leading the way to demonstrate this approach’s power and efficacy. Some of these companies are familiar sites for most of you, but some come as a complete surprise.

What Is Design Thinking?

At its core, design thinking is a non-linear, empathetic approach to product design. The best implementations of the approach are iterative, meaning you keep drilling down. This has some massive benefits, namely in that you are listening directly to customer needs. Since the approach’s introduction over a decade ago, there has been a surge of interest and intrigue surrounding it.

It isn’t hard to see why either. Companies that are designing products to directly fit the wants and needs of their customers make for good business. Further, designing products with direct customer feedback can better inform the direction of a design before it gets put into action.

As such, it is quite easy to see how the five phases of design thinking are being put to good use in organizations all around the world. It would be easier at the time of this writing to point to major corporations that aren’t using at least some aspects of design thinking when drafting new products.

How Companies That Do Design Thinking Use It

Since design thinking’s introduction, there have been some major players using it. One of the core concepts behind this is the end goal of the entire process. Companies want products that are technologically feasible, desirable, and viable.

Further, there have been a few different approaches codified in how companies are implementing design thinking. The Inspire, Ideate, Implement approach by IDEO has proven quite successful, adopted by teams like General Electric and Oral B.

There is also the Double Diamond, a wholly different approach developed by the Design Council. No matter the way the approach is taken, companies are implementing it to develop lasting, reliable, and user-friendly products. That has always been the end goal for most businesses, and design thinking is enabling this to be done even more efficiently.

The Top Companies That Do Design Thinking

Design thinking isn’t relegated to graphic designers, software engineers, and so forth. It applies to all industries, as you’ll see through the smattering of companies I’ve selected today. These firms and organizations are some of the top companies that do design thinking at the time of this writing. Further, they don’t look to be abandoning the approach anytime soon.

Where this approach excels is that it takes a human-centric focus on the development, refinement, and ultimate delivery of a product. Since it focuses on people, it goes beyond just a simple mindset or approach, impacting corporate culture along the way.

The companies that do design thinking the best are seeing transformative properties behind it. This is an approach that very much invites collaboration, teamwork, and open communication. In many ways, it isn’t too dissimilar to some of the ways we utilize tools seen in Lean Six Sigma. It might just make the perfect compliment depending on your organization’s needs and goals.

General Electric

How do you make a child excited to climb into a CT scanner? These loud, noisy, and cumbersome machines are vital for imaging in medical technology. However, they have quite the reputation when you get right down to it. Kids and adults alike approach climbing into these machines for scans with a degree of fear and uncertainty.

This same fear and uncertainty can lead to sedation, which can be unnecessary for children. As such, the folks at GE’s Medical Imaging department got to work on developing a lasting solution. Enlisting the help of the likes of IDEO and other design-thinking pioneers, ended up paying off in the long run.

General Electric debuted themed CT scanners, with pirates, underwater exploration, and outdoor camping being among some of the themes. CT scanners used to require sedation for the lion’s share of children, but since GE has joined the ranks of companies that do design thinking, that has shrunk considerably in the decade or so since their machines’ debut.

Apple

Apple is an interesting company, historically speaking. For every smart and informed decision, there are equally baffling ones relegated to the annals of history. As the second most profitable company in the world, there is quite a bit riding on Apple’s continued success in business. To this end, it has become one of the companies that do design thinking the best.

New Apple products are prototyped, tested, and refined ad nauseam until they are ready for release. This can be seen in the likes of the iOS operating system for mobile phones, MacOS, and the computers, phones, and tablets that have made the company a household name.

With such explosive financial growth seen since 2019, it seems design thinking is benefiting Apple for the better. While the tech giant has remained a fixture in the industry for decades, it has become synonymous with quality and ease of use.

Microsoft

Apple’s long-time historical rival is another one of the companies that do design thinking. If you use Windows daily for business work, you’ve no doubt seen the changes made to the operating system over the last decade. This is thanks in part to design thinking. Microsoft Insiders are regular folks for the most part, not seasoned developers and programmers.

Changes to the Windows operating system are launched in a pre-release state where they are torn apart by end users. The result is a more stable and viable operating system that remains the defacto standard when it comes to business operations.

This comes as quite a surprise from Microsoft. With my own time in the tech industry, Microsoft has always been a technology-first company. This pivot toward the end user might see massive gains in the public perception and use of Windows in the coming decade, however.

Samsung

When it comes to companies that do design thinking, Samsung is arguably at the top of the heap. The South Korean conglomerate has been a long-time collaborator with design thinking pioneers IDEO since the 1990s. With over 50 design-thinking-driven projects in its portfolio, this is a company that has been built with design thinking as its backbone.

As such, it is one of a few companies that do design thinking that has its in-house team of specialists. We know the power of having subject matter experts in-house, and Samsung continues to be a force to be reckoned with.

PepsiCo

At first glance, you wouldn’t think a beverage giant like PepsiCo could benefit from design thinking. However, at the end of the day, what is more human-focused than food and drink? Design thinking has been a part of the core workflow at PepsiCo since the early 2010s, and it continues to see massive success annually.

Design thinking isn’t just part of the process at PepsiCo, as it might be with some companies that do design thinking. Instead, it is in the fabric of the corporate culture, driving decisions and products as they move forward.

Nike

Nike has always been a trailblazer of sorts when it comes to the development of athletic wear. It has been a trailblazer since the 1980s when its game-changing sponsorship of athletes changed the NBA. As such, it only stands to reason that they are one of the top companies that do design thinking.

Clothes and shoes are human-focused by their very nature. Nike’s embrace of design thinking is seeing continued success, as the company remains almost synonymous with athletic wear.

Toyota

That’s right, the pioneers of Lean, Toyota, are also one of the top companies that do design thinking. Toyota has been at the forefront of automotive technology for decades, developing affordable, viable, and reliable automobiles for all price points.

Its in-house design thinking department tests and refines products until they are ready for the end user, something the company has been actively embracing since the late 2010s.

Tesla

The debut of the Roadster sent the automotive industry reeling. The old ways of developing automobiles fell by the wayside when compared to how EV pioneers Tesla did things. Tesla is one of the top companies that do design thinking, focusing on user experience and comfort when developing automobiles.

It certainly has paid off, looking at its current valuation. Compared to many of the legacy automotive manufacturers, Tesla is head and shoulders above the rest. Tesla’s design-thinking approach to automobiles has made it the most valuable automotive manufacturer on the planet today.

Oral B

Sometimes, the input of senior leadership can backfire. It can’t be helped, sometimes the top executives in a business lack the perspective needed to see where a proposed product might be a lead balloon. Oral B found itself in this position when new proposals for child-friendly toothbrushes were being bandied about.

However, they approached IDEO to help spearhead some new initiatives. They certainly paid attention to the input given by IDEO, dominating the children’s toothbrush market for nearly two years before the other manufacturers caught on.

Uber

When you consider software and apps, design thinking is one of the key places where a user-friendly approach is a win. Uber has largely replaced taxis in most major metropolitan areas, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. Design thinking has been the key to its success.

With an easy-to-use app, users can see exactly what they’re in for when ordering an Uber. Further, it takes extra steps to be immediately transparent, showing fees and extra charges for each order.

Other Useful Tools and Concepts

Looking for some extra tools and tips to get your business running? You might want to take a closer look at the digital tools driving business agility in the modern market. These tools are a fantastic way to take your business to the next level with increased adaptability for whatever challenges come your way.

Additionally, you might want to also take a closer look at the tools behind data-driven businesses. Data is the lifeblood of the modern organization, and collecting and interpreting data is one way you can maintain a constant edge against your competitors.

Conclusion

Companies that do design thinking are seeing the benefits of a customer-first approach to product development. Don’t get left in the dust, your organization can only benefit from putting humans first when developing new products. Further, it might positively impact your corporate culture, too.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©Ground Picture/Shutterstock.com.