students are taught to use a problem-solving process (we called it a design process) with the acronym ETC. The first step is to express an idea: come up with a trial solution. The next step is to test the idea: see what about it works and what does not. The third step is to cycle: use what you have learned to come up with a modified or new

Design thinking is a set of general practices a group of us has developed over the years that are effective in solving design challenges.

In Braverman’s terms, the machines that enhance people’s skills are considered life-supporting, while those that deskill people and devalue their work are life-destroying.2

His mistake was that he originally tried to solve the wrong problem. He started by working on the question “How can I fix the bed?” The real question, of course, was “How do I get a good night’s sleep?”

1. Empathize. This is where it starts. When you design, you’re not primarily doing it for yourself; you’re doing it with other people’s needs and desires in mind.

is helpful to take the viewpoint that nothing is what you think it is. You need to make the familiar unfamiliar.

In one of our classes, “Launchpad,” professors lead you through starting your own company in ten weeks, and by the end of that time you’ll be producing income. Or

As an assignment in one of my design courses I asked each student to find something in his life that bothered him and fix it.

take the view that life is basically a problem-solving activity, and you can learn to make both the process and the result better. My goal with this book has been to give you tools and concepts that you can use to achieve a fuller, more fruitful, more satisfying life.