Abstract
Recent evidence suggests that design thinking can contribute to agile software development by increasing attention towards user needs as well as collaboration in interdisciplinary teams. However, there is a lack of understanding and support on how to facilitate the integration of design thinking activities into the daily work of agile development teams. Our work extends existing research on integrating design thinking with agile software development methodologies by developing and validating a toolbox that software teams can use in their everyday work. We present the DT@IT Toolbox, a collection of design thinking methods targeted at design thinking novices that aims to support everyday software development activities. The toolbox was evaluated with a team from an SME based in Germany over a period of 12 weeks. As a result, participants reported that using the DT@IT Toolbox led to a better communication within the team, enhanced problem-solving skills, increased empathy towards users and led to a better understanding of the users needs.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aerssen, B., Buchholz, C., Burkhardt, N., Ernst, A., Rings, J., et al. (2018). Das große Handbuch innovation: 555 Methoden und Instrumente für mehr Kreativität und Innovation im Unternehmen. Vahlen.
Beck, K., Beedle, M., Van Bennekum, A., Cockburn, A., Cunningham, W., Fowler, M., et al. (2001). Manifesto for agile software development.
Belshee, A. (2005). Promiscuous pairing and beginner’s mind: Embrace inexperience (agile programming). Agile Development Conference (ADC’05) (pp. 125–131).
Brauneck, P., Urbanek, R., & Zimmermann, F. (1995). Methodensammlung: Anregungen und Beispiele für die Moderation. Verlag für Schule und Weiterbildung: Dr.-Verlag Kettler.
Brown, T. (2008). Design thinking. Harvard Business Review, 86(6), 84.
Carlgren, L., Elmquist, M., & Rauth, I. (2014). Exploring the use of design thinking in large organizations: Towards a research agenda. Swedish Design Research Journal, 1(14), 47–56.
Clark, K., & Smith, R. (2008). Unleashing the power of design thinking. Design Management Review, 19(3), 8–15.
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark V. L. (2017). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Sage Publications.
Cross, N. (2003). Engineering design methods: Strategies for product design (Vol. 4).
d.School Stanford. (2018). Design thinking bootleg.
De Langhe, B., Bart, P., & Larrick, R. (2017). Linear thinking in a nonlinear world. Harvard Business Review, 95(3), 130–139.
De Paula, D., Dobrigkeit, F., & Cormican, K. (2018). Design thinking capability model (DTCM): A framework to map out design thinking capacity in business organisations (pp. 557–566).
Dobrigkeit , F., & de Paula, D. (2019). Manifestations of design thinking within software development. In Proceedings of ECIS19.
Dobrigkeit, F., de Paula, D., & Uflacker, M. (2018). InnoDev—A software development methodology integrating design thinking, scrum and lean startup. In H. Plattner, C. Meinel, & L. Leifer (Eds.), Design thinking—Research looking further: Design thinking beyond solution-fixation, Understanding Innovation, (pp. 199–228). Springer.
Dybå, T., & Dingsøyr, T. (2008). Empirical studies of agile software development: A systematic review. Information and Software Technology, 50(9), 833–859.
Eames, C., & Eames, R.(1977). Powers of ten. (film). Santa Monica: Eames Office.
Erickson, J., Lyytinen, K., & Siau, K. (2005). Agile modeling, agile software development, and extreme programming: The state of research. Journal of Database Management, 16(4), 88.
Ferreira, J., Noble, J., & Biddle, R. (2007). Agile development iterations and UI design. In AGILE 2007 (AGILE 2007) (pp. 50–58). IEEE.
Flick, U. (2014) An introduction to qualitative research, 5th ed. Sage Publications Limited.
Frye, U., & Inge, T. (2013) The integration of design thinking and lean software development from the perspective of product owners and scrum masters. Master’s thesis, CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY.
Glomann, L. (2018). Introducing ’human-centered agile workflow’ (HCAW)—An agile conception and development process model. In T. Ahram & C. Falcão (Eds.), Advances in usability and user experience (Vol. 607, pp. 646–655). Springer International Publishing.
Greenberg, S., Carpendale, S., & Marquardt, N., & Buxton, B. (2011). Sketching user experiences: The workbook.
Griffith, E. (2014). Why startups fail, according to their founders. Retrieved September, 20, 2016.
Grossman-Kahn, B., & Rosensweig, R. (2012). Skip the silver bullet: Driving innovation through small bets and diverse practices. Leading Through Design, 815–829.
Grudin, J., & Pruitt, J. (2002). Personas, participatory design and product development: An infrastructure for engagement. In Proceedings of PDC (Vol. 2002).
Gurusamy, K., Srinivasaraghavan, N., & Adikari, S. (2016). An integrated framework for design thinking and agile methods for digital transformation. In A. Marcus (Ed.), Design, user experience, and usability: Design thinking and methods (Vol. 9746, pp. 34–42). Springer International Publishing.
Hanington, B., & Martin, B. (2012). Universal methods of design: 100 ways to research complex problems. Develop innovative ideas, and design effective solutions: Rockport Publishers.
Hicks, A. (2015). Empathy and experiential learning: How a community-based project enhances the college experience. Ph. D. thesis, University Honors College, Middle Tennessee State University.
Hildenbrand, T., & Meyer, J. (2012). Intertwining lean and design thinking: Software product development from empathy to shipment. In A. Maedche, A. Botzenhardt, & L. Neer, (Eds.), Software for People: Fundamentals, Trends and Best Practices, Management for Professionals (pp. 217–237). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31371-4_13.
Hitchcock, D., & Taylor, A. (2003). Simulation for inclusion... true user-centred design? In Include 2003 Conference Proceedings (pp. 105–110).
Holloway, M. (2009). How tangible is your strategy? How design thinking can turn your strategy into reality. Journal of Business Strategy, 30(2/3), 50–56.
IDEO. (2003). IDEO method cards: 51 ways to inspire design.
Jalleh, S. (2013). Co-designing an EC135 air ambulance cabin, p. 8.
Jobst, B., & Meinel, C. (2013). How to give orientation and inspiration to design thinking novices regarding prototyping methods? (p. 10).
Kollmann, J., Sharp, H., & Blandford, A. (2009). The importance of identity and vision to user experience designers on agile projects. In 2009 Agile Conference (pp. 11–18). IEEE.
Kumar, V. (2012). 101 design methods: A structured approach for driving innovation in your organization. New York: Wiley.
Lemon, K. N., & Verhoef, P. C. (2016). Understanding customer experience throughout the customer journey. Journal of Marketing, 80(6), 69–96.
Leung, W. -C. (2001). How to design a questionnaire. student BMJ, 9.
Lewrick, M., Link, P., Leifer, L., & Langensand, N. (Eds.). (2017). Das design thinking playbook: mit traditionellen, aktuellen und zukünftigen Erfolgsfaktoren. Vahlen. OCLC: 958007004.
Lindberg, T., Meinel, C., & Wagner, R. (2011). Design thinking: A fruitful concept for IT development? In C. Meinel, L. Leifer, & H. Plattner (Eds.), Design Thinking, Understanding Innovation (pp. 3–18). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13757-0_1.
Mahmoud-Jouini, S. B., Midler, C., & Silberzahn, P. (2016). Contributions of design thinking to project management in an innovation context: Contributions of design thinking to project management in an innovation context. Project Management Journal, 47(2), 144–156.
Martin, R. (2010). Design thinking: Achieving insights via the “knowledge funnel”. Strategy & Leadership, 38(2), 37–41.
Meinel, C., Rhinow, H., & Köppen, E. (2013). Design thinking prototyping cardset. Hasso Plattner Institut für Softwaretechnik.
Miaskiewicz, T., & Kozar, K. A. (2011). Personas and user-centered design: How can personas benefit product design processes? Design Studies, 32(5), 417–430.
Morse, J. M. (1991). Approaches to qualitative-quantitative methodological triangulation. Nursing Research, 40(2), 120–123.
Moser, C. (2012). User experience design: Mit erlebniszentrierter Softwareentwicklung zu Produkten, die begeistern. Berlin Heidelberg: X.media.press. Springer.
Ohno, T. (1988). Toyota production system: Beyond large-scale production. CRC Press.
Patterson, L. E., Boone, A. E, & Engsberg, J. R. (2017). The creation and testing of a simulation-based workshop to increase level of understanding and empathy of eating disorders. Journal of Psychiatry and Psychiatric Disorders, 1(5), 270–289.
Pedersen, T. Ø. (2016). UX Toolbox for Software Developers. Ph.D. thesis.
Pérez, J., & Murray, M. C. (2010). Generativity: The new frontier for information and communication technology literacy. Interdisciplinary Journal of Information, Knowledge, and Management, 5, 127–137.
Pojasek, R. B. (2000). Asking? Why?? Five times. Environmental Quality Management, 10(1), 79–84.
Porcini, M. (2009). Your new design process is not enough-hire design thinkers!. Design Management Review, 20(3), 6–18.
Ritchie, J., Tinker, A., & Power, J. (2016). The effectiveness of design thinking techniques to enhance undergraduate student learning. In Futurescan 3: Intersecting identities. Association of Fashion & Textiles (FTC), Loughborough University.
Rosenbaum, M. S., Losada Otalora, M., & Ramírez, G. C. (2017). How to create a realistic customer journey map. Business Horizons, 60(1), 143–150.
Schwaber, K., & Beedle, M. (2001). Agile software development with scrum.
Serrat, O. (2017). The five whys technique (pp. 307–310). Springer Singapore.
Snyder, C. (2003). Paper prototyping: The fast and easy way to design and refine user interfaces. Morgan Kaufmann.
Sohaib, O., Solanki, H., Dhaliwa, N., Hussain, W., & Asif, M. (2018). Integrating design thinking into extreme programming. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing.
Sonnenwald, D. H. (1995). Contested collaboration: A descriptive model of intergroup communication in information system design. Information Processing & Management, 31(6), 859–877.
Spreng, N. R., McKinnon, M. C., Mar, R. A., & Levine, B. (2009) The Toronto empathy questionnaire: Scale development and initial validation of a factor-analytic solution to multiple empathy measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 91(1), 62–71.
Suzuki, S. (1970). Zen mind, beginner’s mind.
Tam, M. (2001). Using paper prototyping as a usability testing methodology for web application development. Master’s thesis, School of Interactive Arts and Technologies—University of British Columbia.
Tashakkori, A., & Teddlie, C. (2010). Mixed methodology: Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. Sage Publications Inc.
Valencia, A., Person, O., & Snelders, D. (2013). An in-depth case study on the role of industrial design in a business-to-business company. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 30(4), 363–383.
Verganti, R. (1997). Leveraging on systemic learning to manage the early phases of product innovation projects. R&D Management, 27(4), 377–392.
Ward, A., Runcie, E., & Morris, L. (2009). Embedding innovation: Design thinking for small enterprises. Journal of Business Strategy, 30(2/3), 78–84.
Ximenes, B. H., Alves, I. N., & Araújo, C. C. (2015). Software project management combining agile, lean startup and design thinking. In A. Marcus (Ed.), Design, user experience, and usability: Design discourse (Vol. 9186, pp. 356–367). Springer International Publishing.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dobrigkeit, F., Pajak, P., de Paula, D., Uflacker, M. (2020). DT@IT Toolbox: Design Thinking Tools to Support Everyday Software Development. In: Meinel, C., Leifer, L. (eds) Design Thinking Research . Understanding Innovation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28960-7_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28960-7_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-28959-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-28960-7
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)