Design Thinking Vocabulary

the creative process of generating and developing new ideas

“The team's ideation session produced dozens of potential solutions.”

Origin: Latin idea 'form, pattern' from Greek idea 'form, notion' + -ation

the process of repeating and refining a design through multiple cycles

“Each iteration brought the product closer to user needs.”

Origin: Latin iteratio 'repetition' from iterare 'to repeat' from iter 'journey'

an early model built to test a concept or process

“The paper prototype revealed fundamental usability issues.”

Origin: Greek prototypon 'first impression' from protos 'first' + typos 'impression, mold'

the ability to understand and share the feelings of users

“Empathy for the end user drove every design decision.”

Origin: Greek empatheia 'passion, affection' from en 'in' + pathos 'feeling'

combining diverse insights into a coherent design direction

“The synthesis of user research revealed three key themes.”

Origin: Greek synthesis 'composition' from syn 'together' + tithenai 'to place'

expanding possibilities by generating many different ideas

“Divergent thinking helped break free from conventional solutions.”

Origin: Latin divergere 'to go in different directions' from dis- 'apart' + vergere 'to turn'

narrowing down options to select the best solution

“Convergent analysis reduced fifty ideas to three finalists.”

Origin: Latin convergere 'to incline together' from con- 'together' + vergere 'to turn'

a limitation that shapes and focuses the design solution

“Working within constraints often sparks creativity.”

Origin: Latin constringere 'to bind together' from con- 'together' + stringere 'to draw tight'

a fundamental change in direction based on new insights

“User feedback prompted a pivot from mobile to desktop.”

Origin: French pivot 'hinge, axis' possibly from Old Provençal pua 'tooth of a comb'

to confirm that a design solves the intended problem

“User testing validated the new navigation approach.”

Origin: Latin validare 'to make strong' from validus 'strong' from valere 'to be strong'