@phdthesis{Traifeh2023,
  author    = {Traifeh, Hanadi},
  title     = {Design Thinking in the Arab world},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-59891},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-598911},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {ix, 196},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that has become increasingly popular globally over the last decade. While the spread of Design Thinking is well understood and documented in the Western cultural contexts, particularly in Europe and the US due to the popularity of the Stanford-Potsdam Design Thinking education model, this is not the case when it comes to non-Western cultural contexts. This thesis fills a gap identified in the literature regarding how Design Thinking emerged, was perceived, adopted, and practiced in the Arab world. The culture in that part of the world differs from that of the Western context, which impacts the mindset of people and how they interact with Design Thinking tools and methods. A mixed-methods research approach was followed in which both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. First, two methods were used in the quantitative phase: a social media analysis using Twitter as a source of data, and an online questionnaire. The results and analysis of the quantitative data informed the design of the qualitative phase in which two methods were employed: ten semi-structured interviews, and participant observation of seven Design Thinking training events. According to the analyzed data, the Arab world appears to have had an early, though relatively weak, and slow, adoption of Design Thinking since 2006. Increasing adoption, however, has been witnessed over the last decade, especially in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. The results also show that despite its limited spread, Design Thinking has been practiced the most in education, information technology and communication, administrative services, and the non-profit sectors. The way it is being practiced, though, is not fully aligned with how it is being practiced and taught in the US and Europe, as most people in the region do not necessarily believe in all mindset attributes introduced by the Stanford-Potsdam tradition. Practitioners in the Arab world also seem to shy away from the 'wild side' of Design Thinking in particular, and do not fully appreciate the connection between art-design, and science-engineering. This questions the role of the educational institutions in the region since -according to the findings- they appear to be leading the movement in promoting and developing Design Thinking in the Arab world. Nonetheless, it is notable that people seem to be aware of the positive impact of applying Design Thinking in the region, and its potential to bring meaningful transformation. However, they also seem to be concerned about the current cultural, social, political, and economic challenges that may challenge this transformation. Therefore, they call for more awareness and demand to create Arabic, culturally appropriate programs to respond to the local needs. On another note, the lack of Arabic content and local case studies on Design Thinking were identified by several interviewees and were also confirmed by the participant observation as major challenges that are slowing down the spread of Design Thinking or sometimes hampering capacity building in the region. Other challenges that were revealed by the study are: changing the mindset of people, the lack of dedicated Design Thinking spaces, and the need for clear instructions on how to apply Design Thinking methods and activities. The concept of time and how Arabs deal with it, gender management during trainings, and hierarchy and power dynamics among training participants are also among the identified challenges. Another key finding revealed by the study is the confirmation of التفكير التصميمي as the Arabic term to be most widely adopted in the region to refer to Design Thinking, since four other Arabic terms were found to be associated with Design Thinking. Based on the findings of the study, the thesis concludes by presenting a list of recommendations on how to overcome the mentioned challenges and what factors should be considered when designing and implementing culturally-customized Design Thinking training in the Arab region.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Taheri2022,
  author    = {Taheri, Mana},
  title     = {The impact of the socio-cultural context on Design Thinking education},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-54259},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-542599},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {xii, 167},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {The demand for learning Design Thinking (DT) as a path towards acquiring 21st-century skills has increased globally in the last decade. Because DT education originated in the Silicon Valley context of the d.school at Stanford, it is important to evaluate how the teaching of the methodology adapts to different cultural contexts.The thesis explores the impact of the socio-cultural context on DT education. DT institutes in Cape Town, South Africa and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, were visited to observe their programs and conduct 22 semistructured interviews with local educators regarding their adaption strategies. Grounded theory methodology was used to develop a model of Socio-Cultural Adaptation of Design Thinking Education that maps these strategies onto five dimensions: Planning, Process, People, Place, and Presentation. Based on this model, a list of recommendations is provided to help DT educators and practitioners in designing and delivering culturally inclusive DT education.},
  language  = {en}
}
@book{GerkenUebernickeldePaula2022,
  author    = {Gerken, Stefanie and Uebernickel, Falk and de Paula, Danielly},
  title     = {Design Thinking: a Global Study on Implementation Practices in Organizations},
  publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam},
  address   = {Potsdam},
  isbn      = {978-3-86956-525-5},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-53466},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-534668},
  publisher      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {230},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {These days design thinking is no longer a "new approach". Among practitioners, as well as academics, interest in the topic has gathered pace over the last two decades. However, opinions are divided over the longevity of the phenomenon: whether design thinking is merely "old wine in new bottles," a passing trend, or still evolving as it is being spread to an increasing number of organizations and industries. Despite its growing relevance and the diffusion of design thinking, knowledge on the actual status quo in organizations remains scarce. With a new study, the research team of Prof. Uebernickel and Stefanie Gerken investigates temporal developments and changes in design thinking practices in organizations over the past six years comparing the results of the 2015 "Parts without a whole" study with current practices and future developments. Companies of all sizes and from different parts of the world participated in the survey. The findings from qualitative interviews with experts, i.e., people who have years of knowledge with design thinking, were cross-checked with the results from an exploratory analysis of the survey data. This analysis uncovers significant variances and similarities in how design thinking is interpreted and applied in businesses.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{HoelzleRhinow2019,
  author    = {H{\"o}lzle, Katharina and Rhinow, Holger},
  title     = {The Dilemmas of Design Thinking in Innovation Projects},
  series = {Project Management Journal},
  volume    = {50},
  journal   = {Project Management Journal},
  number    = {4},
  publisher = {Sage Publ.},
  address   = {Thousand Oaks},
  issn      = {8756-9728},
  doi       = {10.1177/8756972819853129},
  pages     = {418 -- 430},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {Organizations have discovered Design Thinking as a promising framework or language for innovation-focused project teamwork. The goal is to develop new products and services by being customer-centric and working iteratively and in an interdisciplinary way, using specific working principles and methods to create a common language among all stakeholders. The empirical results in this article show that Design Thinking teamwork is different from other forms of teamwork. The difference in Design Thinking team-based project work is that the teams go through a specific learning process that poses individual challenges but also provides the individual with experience-based learning. We show that teams going through this learning process repeatedly find themselves in seemingly insolvable conflicts-so called structural dilemmas-within the framework of project deadlines and under the influence of strategic guidelines of the organization. We explore these structural dilemmas and develop ways to overcome them.},
  language  = {en}
}
@book{Scheer2019,
  author    = {Scheer, August-Wilhelm},
  title     = {Was macht das Hasso-Plattner-Institut f{\"u}r Digital Engineering zu einer Besonderheit?},
  number    = {131},
  publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam},
  address   = {Potsdam},
  isbn      = {978-3-86956-481-4},
  issn      = {1613-5652},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-43923},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-439232},
  publisher      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {17},
  year      = {2019},
  language  = {de}
}
@phdthesis{Dribbisch2017,
  author    = {Dribbisch, Katrin},
  title     = {Translating innovation},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-104719},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {VIII, 217},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {This doctoral thesis studies the process of innovation adoption in public administrations, addressing the research question of how an innovation is translated to a local context. The study empirically explores Design Thinking as a new problem-solving approach introduced by a federal government organisation in Singapore. With a focus on user-centeredness, collaboration and iteration Design Thinking seems to offer a new way to engage recipients and other stakeholders of public services as well as to re-think the policy design process from a user's point of view. Pioneered in the private sector, early adopters of the methodology include civil services in Australia, Denmark, the United Kingdom, the United States as well as Singapore. Hitherto, there is not much evidence on how and for which purposes Design Thinking is used in the public sector. For the purpose of this study, innovation adoption is framed in an institutionalist perspective addressing how concepts are translated to local contexts. The study rejects simplistic views of the innovation adoption process, in which an idea diffuses to another setting without adaptation. The translation perspective is fruitful because it captures the multidimensionality and 'messiness' of innovation adoption. More specifically, the overall research question addressed in this study is: How has Design Thinking been translated to the local context of the public sector organisation under investigation? And from a theoretical point of view: What can we learn from translation theory about innovation adoption processes? Moreover, there are only few empirical studies of organisations adopting Design Thinking and most of them focus on private organisations. We know very little about how Design Thinking is embedded in public sector organisations. This study therefore provides further empirical evidence of how Design Thinking is used in a public sector organisation, especially with regards to its application to policy work which has so far been under-researched. An exploratory single case study approach was chosen to provide an in-depth analysis of the innovation adoption process. Based on a purposive, theory-driven sampling approach, a Singaporean Ministry was selected because it represented an organisational setting in which Design Thinking had been embedded for several years, making it a relevant case with regard to the research question. Following a qualitative research design, 28 semi-structured interviews (45-100 minutes) with employees and managers were conducted. The interview data was triangulated with observations and documents, collected during a field research research stay in Singapore. The empirical study of innovation adoption in a single organisation focused on the intra-organisational perspective, with the aim to capture the variations of translation that occur during the adoption process. In so doing, this study opened the black box often assumed in implementation studies. Second, this research advances translation studies not only by showing variance, but also by deriving explanatory factors. The main differences in the translation of Design Thinking occurred between service delivery and policy divisions, as well as between the first adopter and the rest of the organisation. For the intra-organisational translation of Design Thinking in the Singaporean Ministry the following five factors played a role: task type, mode of adoption, type of expertise, sequence of adoption, and the adoption of similar practices.},
  language  = {en}
}
@book{SchmiedgenRhinowKoeppenetal.2015,
  author    = {Schmiedgen, Jan and Rhinow, Holger and K{\"o}ppen, Eva and Meinel, Christoph},
  title     = {Parts without a whole?},
  number    = {97},
  publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam},
  address   = {Potsdam},
  isbn      = {978-3-86956-334-3},
  issn      = {1613-5652},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-79969},
  publisher      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {143},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {This explorative study gives a descriptive overview of what organizations do and experience when they say they practice design thinking. It looks at how the concept has been appropriated in organizations and also describes patterns of design thinking adoption. The authors use a mixed-method research design fed by two sources: questionnaire data and semi-structured personal expert interviews. The study proceeds in six parts: (1) design thinking¹s entry points into organizations; (2) understandings of the descriptor; (3) its fields of application and organizational localization; (4) its perceived impact; (5) reasons for its discontinuation or failure; and (6) attempts to measure its success. In conclusion the report challenges managers to be more conscious of their current design thinking practice. The authors suggest a co-evolution of the concept¹s introduction with innovation capability building and the respective changes in leadership approaches. It is argued that this might help in unfolding design thinking¹s hidden potentials as well as preventing unintended side-effects such as discontented teams or the dwindling authority of managers.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Lindberg2013,
  author    = {Lindberg, Tilmann S{\"o}ren},
  title     = {Design-Thinking-Diskurse : Bestimmung, Themen, Entwicklungen},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-69704},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {Der Untersuchungsgegenstand der vorliegenden Arbeit ist, die mit dem Begriff „Design Thinking" verbundenen Diskurse zu bestimmen und deren Themen, Konzepte und Bez{\"u}ge herauszuarbeiten. Diese Zielstellung ergibt sich aus den mehrfachen Widerspr{\"u}chen und Vieldeutigkeiten, die die gegenw{\"a}rtigen Verwendungen des Design-Thinking-Begriffs charakterisieren und den koh{\"a}renten Gebrauch in Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft erschweren. Diese Arbeit soll einen Beitrag dazu leisten, „Design Thinking" in den unterschiedlichen Diskurszusammenh{\"a}ngen grundlegend zu verstehen und f{\"u}r zuk{\"u}nftige Verwendungen des Design-Thinking-Begriffs eine solide Argumentationsbasis zu schaffen.},
  language  = {de}
}
@phdthesis{Gumienny2013,
  author    = {Gumienny, Raja Carola},
  title     = {Understanding the adoption of digital whiteboard systems for collaborative design work},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-72417},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {User-centered design processes are the first choice when new interactive systems or services are developed to address real customer needs and provide a good user experience. Common tools for collecting user research data, conducting brainstormings, or sketching ideas are whiteboards and sticky notes. They are ubiquitously available, and no technical or domain knowledge is necessary to use them. However, traditional pen and paper tools fall short when saving the content and sharing it with others unable to be in the same location. They are also missing further digital advantages such as searching or sorting content. Although research on digital whiteboard and sticky note applications has been conducted for over 20 years, these tools are not widely adopted in company contexts. While many research prototypes exist, they have not been used for an extended period of time in a real-world context. The goal of this thesis is to investigate what the enablers and obstacles for the adoption of digital whiteboard systems are. As an instrument for different studies, we developed the Tele-Board software system for collaborative creative work. Based on interviews, observations, and findings from former research, we tried to transfer the analog way of working to the digital world. Being a software system, Tele-Board can be used with a variety of hardware and does not depend on special devices. This feature became one of the main factors for adoption on a larger scale. In this thesis, I will present three studies on the use of Tele-Board with different user groups and foci. I will use a combination of research methods (laboratory case studies and data from field research) with the overall goal of finding out when a digital whiteboard system is used and in which cases not. Not surprisingly, the system is used and accepted if a user sees a main benefit that neither analog tools nor other applications can offer. However, I found that these perceived benefits are very different for each user and usage context. If a tool provides possibilities to use in different ways and with different equipment, the chances of its adoption by a larger group increase. Tele-Board has now been in use for over 1.5 years in a global IT company in at least five countries with a constantly growing user base. Its use, advantages, and disadvantages will be described based on 42 interviews and usage statistics from server logs. Through these insights and findings from laboratory case studies, I will present a detailed analysis of digital whiteboard use in different contexts with design implications for future systems.},
  language  = {en}
}