Abstract
The past two decades have seen design become a crucial element of business innovation, largely driven by the popularity of Design Thinking. This user-centered and methods-focused approach, championed by firms like IDEO, has been widely adopted across industries for its ability to generate a multitude of ideas intended to enhance customer experiences. The popularity of Design Thinking has enabled design to earn ‘a seat at the table’ in businesses, including at the Board level, and design firms have flourished. However, despite its success, there is a growing recognition that Design Thinking, with its intense focus on ‘userism’, has often fallen into a rebranded version.