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Design Thinking Case Study: Innovation at Apple

Apple is one of the leading companies that is renowned for its unique products and brand. A short talk with an Apple user reveals there is an emotional relation between consumers and Apple products , including every “i” product created in the past two decades.

Why are Apple products different from their competitors’ products? How does Apple manage to achieve innovation in its product families? Answering these questions provides interesting insight into Apple’s history and how it survived its most critical time between 1985 and 1997.

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple after being fired, the company share was only worth US $5 and its future was uncertain. Today, in 2016, Apple’s share price is around US $108 and the company achieved revenues of US $233.7 billion in 2015 with net income of US $53.39 billion. This mini case study sheds light on the role that design thinking and innovation played in helping Steve Jobs rescue Apple with his consumer-driven strategy and vision for the company.

The Hard Times at Apple

The early days of Apple (which was cofounded by Steve Jobs on 1976) are characterized by its first personal computer that was delivered with Apple OS. During this time, Apple was dominating the market because there were no other manufacturers of this type of computer as computers were used only by governments or large companies. However, in 1985, Steve Jobs was forced to leave the company. This marked the start of a chaotic era in the company’s strategy and product development.

In the period 1985-1997, Apple struggled to achieve market success, especially after Jobs’s departure and increasing competition from other giants such as IBM, which decided to enter the PC computers market. During this period, Apple faced number of challenges including:

Unstable strategy due to the change of executive teams
Unclear vision about Apple’s competitive strategy, especially after IBM entered the PC market
Unclear vision about selling OS licenses, which would put the company in competition with Windows operating system
Large number of failed products (such as Newton PDA) and few successful ones (such as PowerBook)
Products not unique in the market
Confusion and uncertainty among Apple consumers, resulting from this strategy

Design Thinking to Fuel Innovation

Apple is one of the leading companies in the field of innovation and this couldn’t have happened without the company adopting design thinking . Design thinking is a solution-oriented process that is used to achieve innovation with considerations about the consumer at the heart of all development stages. Tim Brown, president and CEO of IDEO, defines design thinking as follows: “ Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success. ”

“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” — Steve Jobs

In previous design thinking articles, we explored the different models of design thinking including the IDEO model, d.school model, and IBM design thinking model. Most of these models share the target of achieving innovation through three main factors:

User Desirability . The product should satisfy the consumer’s needs by solving everyday problems through a user-centered process. This can be achieved through a deep understanding of the user and through an empathic design process, which can only be achieved by putting ourselves in the shoes of our consumers (using tools such as an empathic persona map ).

Market Viability . Successful products require an integrated marketing strategy that identifies the target segment and builds the product brand in accordance with this target segment. Tools such as the business model canvas can help our understanding of the project and create a business strategy for it. Also, tools such as the SWOT analysis allows us to understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the specified product.

Technology Possibility . Technology provides state-of-art tools for designers to innovate and build products that meet today’s needs. Technology should be adopted through the development process, including the prototyping stage where a visual presentation of the product is made to the team.

Think Different!

After Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 (upon Apple’s acquisition NeXT), he started to apply the design thinking characteristics discussed above, which reflected his vision for Apple products. The vision discussed below was used to form Apple’s strategy from 1997 until today. Steve Jobs applied design thinking by focusing on:

People’s needs and desires, rather than only the needs of the business
Building empathy by helping people to love Apple products
The design rather than the engineering work; designers consider both the form and the function of the product
Building simple yet user-friendly products rather than complex hard-to-use products

The vision characterized above can be clearly identified in modern Apple products. Although other competitors focus on the features and product capabilities, Apple focuses on a holistic user experience. For example, the iMac is renowned for being quiet, having a quick wake-up, better sound, and a high-quality display. This vision was formed in Apple’s development strategy that includes:

Excellence in Execution

In this part, Steve tended to improve the execution process by closing 2 divisions, eliminating 70% of the new products and focusing on the higher potential products, reducing the product lines from 15 to just 3, and shutting facilities to move manufacturing outside the company. Apple also launched a website for direct sale of its products and started to take an interest in materials and how products are manufactured within a consumer-driven culture.

Platform Strategy

Apple streamlined their product portfolio to a family of products that can be produced much more quickly while keeping the existing design elements. Also, the company targeted product that require less repair and maintenance.

Iterative Customer Involvement

The consumer experience should be integrated into the design and development stages through participating in usability testing. Also, the design for interfaces should focus on the user experience.

Beautiful Products

In addition to the function of the product, the form should beautiful, which can be achieved through continuous innovation and development. Apple also focused on the materials and manufacturing process and took a bold approach to trying new ideas rather than sticking with the ordinary design forms.

Apple’s history with innovation provides a clear lesson about how design and innovation can turn company failure to market success and a leading position in a competitive market. Design thinking helped Apple to innovate while placing their consumers at the heart of the process. The period that Steve Jobs was absent from Apple demonstrates that copying others and lacking a clear innovation strategy can lead companies directly from success to failure. On the other hand, innovation can definitely help build a successful business.

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Dr Rafiq Elmansy

As an academic and author, I've had the privilege of shaping the design landscape. I teach design at the University of Leeds and am the Programme Leader for the MA Design, focusing on design thinking, design for health, and behavioural design. I've developed and taught several innovative programmes at Wrexham Glyndwr University, Northumbria University, and The American University in Cairo. I'm also a published book author and the proud founder of Designorate.com, a platform that has been instrumental in fostering design innovation. My expertise in design has been recognised by prestigious organizations. I'm a fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA), the Design Research Society (FDRS), and an Adobe Education Leader. Over the course of 20 years, I've had the privilege of working with esteemed clients such as the UN, World Bank, Adobe, and Schneider, contributing to their design strategies. For more than 12 years, I collaborated closely with the Adobe team, playing a key role in the development of many Adobe applications.

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Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple

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Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple | Case Study | Harvard Business Review

A Harvard business case, describing Apple’s approach to innovation, management, and design thinking. For several years, Apple has been ranked as the most innovative company in the world, but how it has achieved such success remains mysterious because of the company’s obsession with secrecy. This note considers the ingredients of Apple’s success and its quest to develop, in the words of CEO Steve Jobs, insanely great products.

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Design thinking and innovation at Apple a harvard business case that one 2013 BCCH case award the authors of the business case are Harvard Business School professors Steven Pompey and independent researcher Barbara Feinberg the summary and the presentation are created by Li Wei technology commercialization manager from agency for science technology and research Singapore the full business case is available from Harvard Business Review in 2012 Apple became the most valuable public rated company in history with $600 share price 620 billion dollar market capital and 100 billion dollar annual sales Apple success was not just the result of strategic moves or innate sense of market timing it is a surprising consistency in the way the company worked simply put the Apple way first design thinking those of us on the original Macintosh team were really excited about what we were doing the result was that people saw a Mac and fell in love with him there was an emotional connection that I think came from the heart and soul of the design team Bill Atkinson member of Apple Macintosh development team in the mid-1970s computers were typically housed in discrete locations and only used by specialists the notion of computer as a tool for individual work was unimaginable in the 1970s to help people love their equipment and the experience of using it the level of complexity needed to be reduced dramatically Apple’s product starts with design from people’s need and want the design of the product is not limited by technology the engineers are pushed to use the same kind of creativity and innovation to make it happen design is very well thought through it is beyond fashion the capacity and technology to build it is not commoditized and no compromise for the functionalities this is Design Thinking combination of user desirability technology possibility and market viability smallest of details are scrutinized not just the appearance of the product but also its functions features and packaging the design team kept on going deep until they found the key underlying principle of a problem then built on design is not just what it looks like and feels like design is how it works that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication second strategy and execution you can see a lot just by observing Yogi Berra major league baseball player and manager apples history began in 1976 it launched the first personal computer Apple 2 in 1978 in 1981 IBM entered the market with its PC that can be cloned since 1985 Apple’s market share kept declining the board of Apple axed Steve Jobs in the following eleven years products and projects at Apple proliferated and consequence of various strategies and many of them failed the technology department process became more traditional and resembled approaches found at other companies process makes you more efficient but innovation comes from people calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea it comes from saying no to a thousand things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much by Steve Jobs everything changed after Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 decisions were made to achieve the excellence in execution stopped licensing program eliminated 70% of new projects product line was reduced from 15 to only 3 website was launched for direct sales sophisticated marketing kept product development complete secret shutdown facilities and move them abroad inventory was reduced from months to a few days Apple also adopted the platform strategy for its products they designed the initial product as a platform with an architecture that accommodated the development and the production of the derivative products customer’s experience was integrated into Apple’s product design and development a lot of it empirically drives with iterative customer involvement Apple worked intimately with manufacturers and assured that their products be completely attuned to customers Apple’s product always evolves the importance of design is a motivation to continued innovation rather than a static approach that assumes a single conclusion third CEO as chief innovator the really great person will keep on going and find the key underlying principle of the problem and come up with a beautiful elegant solution that works Steve Levy author of the perfect thing company founders essentially imprint their organizations with their own personality characteristics and Apple Jobs is no exception Steve Jobs and Apple seem like interchangeable terms Steve Jobs drive for perfection was apples drive for beautiful elegant products and its superior operations Steve Jobs vision held that Apple’s products were to be personal tools for individuals instead of enterprise solution Steve Jobs also had total hands-on involvement and decision making from strategy to product and service design to packaging forth bold business experimentation the greatest artists like Dylan Picasso and Newton risks failure and if we want to be great we’ve got to risk it – Steve Jobs when everyone was moving online Apple decided to move into retail and created every Apple store with the same painstaking focus on details against conventional wisdom of open platform collaboration community design transparency Apple insisted to develop and integrate its own hardware software and keep product launches secret Apple is also constantly learning adapting and evolving from the design of array of colors to black and white color theme from the closed developer community to the open developer platform from no compatibility for other OS to Windows compatible in summary the root of Apple’s success was a set of principles with a deep commitment to great products and services at its core design thinking clear development strategy and execution its CEO as chief innovator and the rational courage to conduct bold business experiments for more presentations about innovation management and technology commercialization please visit WWE

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Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple – Case Solution

Although Apple has been voted the most innovative company worldwide for multiple years, not much is known due to the company's obsession with secrecy. This "Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple" case analysis sheds some light on Apple's success and its quest to develop outstanding products.

Stefan Thomke; Barbara Feinberg Harvard Business Review ( 609066-PDF-ENG ) January 09, 2009

Case questions answered:

What are the key elements behind apple’s success.

Is there a systematic “approach” to innovation at Apple?
Are all “design thinking” approaches the same? If not, what are the “types” or differences in various approaches?
Can “design thinking” be imitated? Emulated? If yes, how can it be copied or approximated?
What are the pros/cons of using design thinking as an innovation strategy?
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Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple Case Answers

Elevator pitch.

This case discusses the implementation of commercially and critically acclaimed Design Thinking at Apple and how that has led to the innovation of its products. It describes the legacy left by Steve Jobs, who had an enormous impact on the culture of the company. His design mantra, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication,” has been a guiding light and driving force for all of Apple’s innovative endeavors.

This innovation in the design, however, comes from a clear and deep sense of understanding the consumer needs and coming up with an elegant and dynamic solution.

As Tim Brown says, “Innovation requires, above all else, a willingness to embrace chaos.” [1] That is clearly what Steve Jobs envisioned, incorporating those characteristics into the culture of Apple by saying that there is no proper and predefined system to achieve innovation.

The platform-integrative strategy that Apple uses makes it easier to implement disruptive incrementalism [2] , which means coming up with new innovations despite keeping the platform the same. The other benefit of maintaining and improving the platform is that it helps the company to easily integrate the new improvements into the system while having greater control of its proprietary assets.

Apple has holistically worked on the innovation triangle and has become successful in creating strong appropriation elements. It branches out from the fact that the corporate culture of innovation has spread across operations, marketing & products, even after Steve Jobs was not heading the company for a brief period of time.

The key elements behind Apple’s success have been its culture of innovation and its emphasis on simplicity in innovation. The other important element has been the innovation based on…

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Publication Date: January 09, 2009

Source: Harvard Business School

Describes Apple's approach to innovation, management, and design thinking. For several years, Apple has been ranked as the most innovative company in the world, but how it has achieved such success remains mysterious because of the company's obsession with secrecy. This note considers the ingredients of Apple's success and its quest to develop, in the words of CEO Steve Jobs, insanely great products. Focuses on: 1) design thinking; 2) product development strategy and execution; 3) CEO as chief innovator; and 4) bold business experimentation.

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Apple’s Product Development Process – Inside the World’s Greatest Design Organization

Apple’s Product Development Process may be one of the most successful design processes ever implemented. With a valuation that exceeds $2 trillion, there’s a lot that designers can learn from Apple and introduce into their own design environments.

Apple is a notoriously secretive business. In Steve Jobs’ time at the company it would have been near impossible to find out about the internal workings of the business. This isn’t surprising when a business’s market advantage is its design approach. It’s worth keeping it under wraps.

However, Adam Lashinsky, the author of Inside Apple: How America’s most Admired and Secretive Company Really Works has been given a look at the process. While there are still aspects of the way that Apple works that are shrouded in secrecy , you can get a good idea of the overall high level process through this book. And in this article, we’ve distilled the key takeaways from the book.

Apple’s Product Development Process

Design is at the forefront.

Author/Copyright holder: GiuliaPiccoliTrapletti . Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-SA 4.0

How do you give designers the freedom to design and ensure that the products they produce fulfil their visions? Well at Apple they put design at the forefront.

Jony Ive, the British designer who was the Chief Design Officer (CDO) at Apple, and his design team do not report to finance, manufacturing, etc. They are given free rein to set their own budgets and are given the ability to ignore manufacturing practicalities.

At the heart of the design department is the Industrial Design Studio where only a select few Apple employees have access.

It’s a simple concept that allows for the creation of incredible products.

Design Teams are Separated From the Larger Company

When a design team works on a new product they are then cut off from the rest of the Apple business. They may even implement physical controls to prevent the team from interacting with other Apple employees during the day.

The team is also removed from the traditional Apple hierarchy at this point. They create their own reporting structures and report directly to the executive team. This leaves them free to focus on design rather than day-to-day minutiae.

A Documented Development Process

Author/Copyright holder: Ed Uthman . Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-SA 2.5

The Apple New Product Process (ANPP) information is given to a product development team when they begin work. It details every stage of the design process and it goes into elaborate detail. The idea is to define what stages the product creation team will go through, who will be responsible for delivering the final product, who works on which stage and where they work and also when the product is expected to be completed.

Monday is Review Day

The Apple Executive Team holds a regular Monday meeting to examine every single product that the company has in design phase at that point in time. This isn’t as daunting as it may sound; one of the keys to Apple’s success is that they don’t work on hundreds of new products at once. Instead, resources are concentrated on a handful of projects that are expected to bear fruit rather than being diluted over many lesser projects.

If a product cannot be reviewed at one meeting – it’s automatically at the top of the agenda for the next meeting. In practice, this should mean that every single Apple product is inspected by the executive team at least once a fortnight. This keeps delays in decision making to a minimum and enables the company to be very lean with its approach to design.

The EPM and the GSM

The EPM is the engineering program manager and the GSM is the global supply manager. Together they are known within Apple as the “EPM Mafia”. It’s their job to take over when a product moves from design to production.

As you might expect, these people are usually going to be found in China, Apple does very little of its own manufacturing. Instead it relies on contract outsourcing companies like Foxconn (one of the largest employers in the world) to do this for them. This removes much of the headache of manufacturing for Apple whilst keeping production costs as low as possible. There is a significant market advantage to this approach and its one that many other electronics manufacturers are emulating now.

The EPM Mafia may sound scary (and they probably are to the suppliers) but their real job is simply to ensure that products are delivered to market in the right way, at the right time and at the right cost. They may disagree at points but their guiding principle is to act in the interests of the product at all times.

Iteration Is Key

Like any good design company , the design process at Apple is not over when manufacturing begins. In fact, Apple iterates the design throughout manufacturing. The product is built, it’s tested and reviewed, then the design team improves on it and it’s built all over again. These cycles take 4-6 weeks at a time and may be run many times over a product’s development lifecycle.

Author/Copyright holder: CyberDoc LLC . Copyright terms and licence: Fair Use.

When production is complete the EPM will take possession of some or all of the test devices and then take them back to Apple’s headquarters at Cupertino.

This is a very costly approach but it’s one of the reasons that Apple has a reputation for quality. The more you invest in design, the more likely you are to build incredible market changing products. It’s the process that the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad went through.

The Packaging Room

This is a very-high security area in Apple and it’s where prototypes are unboxed. As you might expect, the security is to prevent leaks to the outside world. If you ever do see a leaked prototype for an Apple product – it won’t have come from here. It’s more likely to have vanished from a production line in China.

A Launch Plan

Author/Copyright holder: Manutaus. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

The final step in Apple’s product development is product launch. When the product is considered to be as good as it can be – it enters an action plan known as “the Rules of the Road”. This explains all the responsibilities and actions that must be taken prior to a commercial launch of the product.

It must be a nerve-wracking experience to be privy to the “Rules of the Road” because if you lose it or leak it… you’re immediately fired. This is explained in the document itself.

The Take Away

Apple’s process is complex, expensive and demanding. If you compare it to most business theories – it shouldn’t work. However, to date it has out-performed even the wildest of expectations.

You may not be able to emulate all of their processes within the space of your own workplace but there’s no reason that you can’t develop written processes for design phases and launch phases of your projects, for example. And, of course, there is no reason at all for you in not iterating!

The more you know about successful design processes, the more you can take some of the best aspects of them and use them to enhance your own products.

Find out all the details of the design process in: Inside Apple: How America's Most Admired--and Secretive--Company Really Works by Adam Lashinsky ISBN 97814555512157, Published January 25, 2012

And take an insight into Apple’s greatest designer’s mind in : JonyIve: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products by Leander Kahney ISBN 159184617X, Published November 14, 2013

Hero Image: Author/Copyright holder: Sreejithk2000. Copyright terms and licence: Public Domain.

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10 Successful Design Thinking Case Study

Dive into the realm of Successful Design Thinking Case Studies to explore the power of this innovative problem-solving approach. Begin by understanding What is Design Thinking? and then embark on a journey through real-world success stories. Discover valuable lessons learned from these case studies and gain insights into how Design Thinking can transform your approach.

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Design Thinking has emerged as a powerful problem-solving approach that places empathy, creativity, and innovation at the forefront. However, if you are not aware of the power that this approach holds, a Design Thinking Case Study is often used to help people address the complex challenges of this approach with a human-centred perspective. It allows organisations to unlock new opportunities and drive meaningful change. Read this blog on Design Thinking Case Study to learn how it enhances organisation’s growth and gain valuable insights on creative problem-solving.

Table of Contents

1) What is Design Thinking?

2) Design Thinking process

3) Successful Design Thinking Case Studies

a) Airbnb

b) Apple

c) Netflix

d) UberEats

e) IBM

f) OralB’s electric toothbrush

g) IDEO

h) Tesla

i) GE Healthcare

j) Nike

3) Lessons learned from Design Thinking Case Studies

4) Conclusion

What is Design Thinking ?

Before jumping on Design Thinking Case Study, let’s first understand what it is. Design Thinking is a methodology for problem-solving that prioritises the understanding and addressing of individuals' unique needs.

This human-centric approach is creative and iterative, aiming to find innovative solutions to complex challenges. At its core, Design Thinking fosters empathy, encourages collaboration, and embraces experimentation.

This process revolves around comprehending the world from the user's perspective, identifying problems through this lens, and then generating and refining solutions that cater to these specific needs. Design Thinking places great importance on creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, seeking to break away from conventional problem-solving methods.

It is not confined to the realm of design but can be applied to various domains, from business and technology to healthcare and education. By putting the user or customer at the centre of the problem-solving journey, Design Thinking helps create products, services, and experiences that are more effective, user-friendly, and aligned with the genuine needs of the people they serve.

Design Thinking process

Design Thinking is a problem-solving and innovation framework that helps individuals and teams create user-centred solutions. This process consists of five key phases that are as follows:

To initiate the Design Thinking process, the first step is to practice empathy. In order to create products and services that are appealing, it is essential to comprehend the users and their requirements. What are their anticipations regarding the product you are designing? What issues and difficulties are they encountering within this particular context?

During the empathise phase, you spend time observing and engaging with real users. This might involve conducting interviews and seeing how they interact with an existing product. You should pay attention to facial expressions and body language. During the empathise phase in the Design Thinking Process , it's crucial to set aside assumptions and gain first-hand insights to design with real users in mind. That's the essence of Design Thinking.

During the second stage of the Design Thinking process, the goal is to identify the user’s problem. To accomplish this, collect all your observations from the empathise phase and begin to connect the dots.

Ask yourself: What consistent patterns or themes did you notice? What recurring user needs or challenges were identified? After synthesising your findings, you must create a problem statement, also known as a Point Of View (POV) statement, which outlines the issue or challenge you aim to address. By the end of the define stage, you will be able to craft a clear problem statement that will guide you throughout the design process, forming the basis of your ideas and potential solutions.

After completing the first two stages of the Design Thinking process, which involve defining the target users and identifying the problem statement, it is now time to move on to the third stage - ideation. This stage is all about brainstorming and coming up with various ideas and solutions to solve the problem statement. Through ideation, the team can explore different perspectives and possibilities and select the best ideas to move forward with.

During the ideation phase, it is important to create an environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their ideas without fear of judgment. This phase is all about generating a large quantity of ideas, regardless of feasibility. This is done by encouraging the team to think outside the box and explore new angles. To maximise creativity, ideation sessions are often held in unconventional locations.

It’s time to transform the ideas from stage three into physical or digital prototypes. A prototype is a miniature model of a product or feature, which can be as simple as a paper model or as complex as an interactive digital representation.

During the Prototyping Stage , the primary objective is to transform your ideas into a tangible product that can be tested by actual users. This is crucial in maintaining a user-centric approach, as it enables you to obtain feedback before proceeding to develop the entire product. By doing so, you can ensure that the final design adequately addresses the user's problem and delivers an enjoyable user experience.

During the Design Thinking process, the fifth step involves testing your prototypes by exposing them to real users and evaluating their performance. Throughout this testing phase, you can observe how your target or prospective users engage with your prototype. Additionally, you can gather valuable feedback from your users about their experiences throughout the process.

Based on the feedback received during user testing, you can go back and make improvements to the design. It is important to remember that the Design Thinking process is iterative and non-linear. After the testing phase, it may be necessary to revisit the empathise stage or conduct additional ideation sessions before creating a successful prototype.

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Successful Design Thinking Case Studies

Now that you have a foundational understanding of Design Thinking, let's explore how some of the world's most successful companies have leveraged this methodology to drive innovation and success:

Case Study 1: Airbnb

Airbnb’s one of the popular Design Thinking Case Studies that you can aspire from. Airbnb disrupted the traditional hotel industry by applying Design Thinking principles to create a platform that connects travellers with unique accommodations worldwide. The founders of Airbnb, Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk, started by identifying a problem: the cost and lack of personalisation in traditional lodging.

They conducted in-depth user research by staying in their own listings and collecting feedback from both hosts and guests. This empathetic approach allowed them to design a platform that not only met the needs of travellers but also empowered hosts to provide personalised experiences.

Airbnb's intuitive website and mobile app interface, along with its robust review and rating system, instil trust and transparency, making users feel comfortable choosing from a vast array of properties. Furthermore, the "Experiences" feature reflects Airbnb's commitment to immersive travel, allowing users to book unique activities hosted by locals.

Case Study 2. Apple

Apple Inc. has consistently been a pioneer in Design Thinking, which is evident in its products, such as the iPhone. One of the best Design Thinking Examples from Apple is the development of the iPhone's User Interface (UI). The team at Apple identified the need for a more intuitive and user-friendly smartphone experience. They conducted extensive research and usability testing to understand user behaviours, pain points, and desires.

The result? A revolutionary touch interface that forever changed the smartphone industry. Apple's relentless focus on the user experience, combined with iterative prototyping and user feedback, exemplifies the power of Design Thinking in creating groundbreaking products.

Apple invests heavily in user research to anticipate what customers want before they even realise it themselves. This empathetic approach to design has led to groundbreaking innovations like the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook, which have redefined the entire industry.

Case Study 3. Netflix

Netflix, the global streaming giant, has revolutionised the way people consume entertainment content. A major part of their success can be attributed to their effective use of Design Thinking principles.

What sets Netflix apart is its commitment to understanding its audience on a profound level. Netflix recognised that its success hinged on offering a personalised, enjoyable viewing experience. Through meticulous user research, data analysis, and a culture of innovation, Netflix constantly evolves its platform. Moreover, by gathering insights on viewing habits, content preferences, and even UI, the company tailors its recommendations, search algorithms, and original content to captivate viewers worldwide.

Furthermore, Netflix's iterative approach to Design Thinking allows it to adapt quickly to shifting market dynamics. This agility proved crucial when transitioning from a DVD rental service to a streaming platform. Netflix didn't just lead this revolution; it shaped it by keeping users' desires and behaviours front and centre. Netflix's commitment to Design Thinking has resulted in a highly user-centric platform that keeps subscribers engaged and satisfied, ultimately contributing to its global success.

Case Study 4. Uber Eats

Uber Eats, a subsidiary of Uber, has disrupted the food delivery industry by applying Design Thinking principles to enhance user experiences and create a seamless platform for food lovers and restaurants alike.

One of UberEats' key innovations lies in its user-centric approach. By conducting in-depth research and understanding the pain points of both consumers and restaurant partners, they crafted a solution that addresses real-world challenges. The user-friendly app offers a wide variety of cuisines, personalised recommendations, and real-time tracking, catering to the diverse preferences of customers.

Moreover, UberEats leverages technology and data-driven insights to optimise delivery routes and times, ensuring that hot and fresh food reaches customers promptly. The platform also empowers restaurant owners with tools to efficiently manage orders, track performance, and expand their customer base.

Case Study 5 . IBM

IBM is a prime example of a large corporation successfully adopting Design Thinking to drive innovation and transform its business. Historically known for its hardware and software innovations, IBM recognised the need to evolve its approach to remain competitive in the fast-paced technology landscape.

IBM's Design Thinking journey began with a mission to reinvent its enterprise software solutions. The company transitioned from a product-centric focus to a user-centric one. Instead of solely relying on technical specifications, IBM started by empathising with its customers. They started to understand customer’s pain points, and envisioning solutions that genuinely addressed their needs.

One of the key elements of IBM's Design Thinking success is its multidisciplinary teams. The company brought together designers, engineers, marketers, and end-users to collaborate throughout the product development cycle. This cross-functional approach encouraged diverse perspectives, fostering creativity and innovation.

IBM's commitment to Design Thinking is evident in its flagship projects such as Watson, a cognitive computing system, and IBM Design Studios, where Design Thinking principles are deeply embedded into the company's culture.

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Case Study 6. Oral-B’s electric toothbrush

Oral-B, a prominent brand under the Procter & Gamble umbrella, stands out as a remarkable example of how Design Thinking can be executed in a seemingly everyday product—Electric toothbrushes. By applying the Design Thinking approach, Oral-B has transformed the world of oral hygiene with its electric toothbrushes.

Oral-B's journey with Design Thinking began by placing the user firmly at the centre of their Product Development process. Through extensive research and user feedback, the company gained invaluable insights into oral care habits, preferences, and pain points. This user-centric approach guided Oral-B in designing electric toothbrushes that not only cleaned teeth more effectively but also made the entire oral care routine more engaging and enjoyable.

Another of Oral-B's crucial innovations is the integration of innovative technology into their toothbrushes. These devices now come equipped with features like real-time feedback, brushing timers, and even Bluetooth connectivity to sync with mobile apps. By embracing technology and user-centric design, Oral-B effectively transformed the act of brushing teeth into an interactive and informative experience. This has helped users maintain better oral hygiene.

Oral-B's success story showcases how Design Thinking, combined with a deep understanding of user needs, can lead to significant advancements, ultimately improving both the product and user satisfaction.

Case Study 7. IDEO

IDEO, a Global Design Consultancy, has been at the forefront of Design Thinking for decades. They have worked on diverse projects, from creating innovative medical devices to redesigning public services.

One of their most notable Design Thinking examples is the development of the "DeepDive" shopping cart for a major retailer. IDEO's team spent weeks observing shoppers, talking to store employees, and prototyping various cart designs. The result was a cart that not only improved the shopping experience but also increased sales. IDEO's human-centred approach, emphasis on empathy, and rapid prototyping techniques demonstrate how Design Thinking can drive innovation and solve real-world problems.

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Case Study 8 . Tesla

Tesla, led by Elon Musk, has redefined the automotive industry by applying Design Thinking to Electric Vehicles (EVs). Musk and his team identified the need for EVs to be not just eco-friendly but also desirable. They focused on designing EVs that are stylish, high-performing, and technologically advanced. Tesla's iterative approach, rapid prototyping, and constant refinement have resulted in groundbreaking EVs like the Model S, Model 3, and Model X.

From the minimalist interior of their Model S to the autopilot self-driving system, every aspect is meticulously crafted with the end user in mind. The company actively seeks feedback from its user community, often implementing software updates based on customer suggestions. This iterative approach ensures that Tesla vehicles continually evolve to meet and exceed customer expectations .

Moreover, Tesla's bold vision extends to sustainable energy solutions, exemplified by products like the Powerwall and solar roof tiles. These innovations showcase Tesla's holistic approach to Design Thinking, addressing not only the automotive industry's challenges but also contributing to a greener, more sustainable future.

Case Study 9. GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare is a prominent player in the Healthcare industry, renowned for its relentless commitment to innovation and design excellence. Leveraging Design Thinking principles, GE Healthcare has consistently pushed the boundaries of medical technology, making a significant impact on patient care worldwide.

One of the key areas where GE Healthcare has excelled is in the development of cutting-edge medical devices and diagnostic solutions. Their dedication to user-centred design has resulted in devices that are not only highly functional but also incredibly intuitive for healthcare professionals to operate. For example, their advanced Medical Imaging equipment, such as MRI and CT scanners, are designed with a focus on patient comfort, safety, and accurate diagnostics. This device reflects the company's dedication to improving healthcare outcomes.

Moreover, GE Healthcare's commitment to design extends beyond the physical product. They have also ventured into software solutions that facilitate data analysis and Patient Management. Their user-friendly software interfaces and data visualisation tools have empowered healthcare providers to make more informed decisions, enhancing overall patient care and treatment planning.

Case Study 10. Nike

Nike is a global powerhouse in the athletic apparel and Footwear industry. Nike's journey began with a simple running shoe, but its design-thinking approach transformed it into an iconic brand.

Nike's Design Thinking journey started with a deep understanding of athletes' needs and desires. They engaged in extensive user research, often collaborating with top athletes to gain insights that inform their product innovations. This customer-centric approach allowed Nike to develop ground breaking technologies, such as Nike Air and Flyknit, setting new standards in comfort, performance, and style.

Beyond product innovation, Nike's brand identity itself is a testament to Design Thinking. The iconic Swoosh logo, created by Graphic Designer Carolyn Davidson, epitomises simplicity and timelessness, reflecting the brand's ethos.

Nike also excels in creating immersive retail experiences, using Design Thinking to craft spaces that engage and inspire customers. Their flagship stores around the world are showcases of innovative design, enhancing the overall brand perception.

Lessons learned from Design Thinking Case Studies

The Design Thinking process, as exemplified by the success stories of IBM, Netflix, Apple, and Nike, offers valuable takeaways for businesses of all sizes and industries. Here are three key lessons to learn from these Case Studies:

Key takeaways from Design Thinking Case Studies

1) Consider the b ig p icture

Design Thinking encourages organisations to zoom out and view the big picture. It's not just about solving a specific problem but understanding how that problem fits into the broader context of user needs and market dynamics. By taking a holistic approach, you can identify opportunities for innovation that extend beyond immediate challenges. IBM's example, for instance, involved a comprehensive evaluation of their clients' journeys, leading to more impactful solutions.

2) Think t hrough a lternative s olutions

One of the basic principles of Design Thinking is ideation, which emphasises generating a wide range of creative solutions. Netflix's success in content recommendation, for instance, came from exploring multiple strategies to enhance user experience. When brainstorming ideas and solutions, don't limit yourself to the obvious choices. Encourage diverse perspectives and consider unconventional approaches that may lead to breakthrough innovations.

3) Research e ach c ompany’s c ompetitors

Lastly, researching competitors is essential for staying competitive. Analyse what other companies in your industry are doing, both inside and outside the realm of Design Thinking. Learn from their successes and failures. GE Healthcare, for example, leveraged Design Thinking to improve medical equipment usability, giving them a competitive edge. By researching competitors, you can gain insights that inform your own Design Thinking initiatives and help you stand out in the market.

Incorporating these takeaways into your approach to Design Thinking can enhance your problem-solving capabilities, foster innovation, and ultimately lead to more successful results.

Conclusion

Design Thinking is not limited to a specific industry or problem domain; it is a versatile approach that promotes innovation and problem-solving in various contexts. In this blog, we've examined successful Design Thinking Case Studies from industry giants like IBM, Netflix, Apple, Airbnb, Uber Eats, and Nike. These companies have demonstrated that Design Thinking is a powerful methodology that can drive innovation, enhance user experiences, and lead to exceptional business success.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Design Thinking Case Studies align with current market demands and user expectations by showcasing practical applications of user-centric problem-solving. These Studies highlight the success of empathetic approaches in meeting evolving customer needs.

By analysing various real-world examples, businesses can derive vital insights into dynamic market trends, creating innovative solutions, and enhancing user experiences. Design Thinking's emphasis on iterative prototyping and collaboration resonates with the contemporary demand for agility and adaptability.

Real-world examples of successful Design Thinking implementations can be found in various sources. For instance, you can explore several Case Study repositories on Design Thinking platforms like IDEO and Design Thinking Institute. Furthermore, you can also look for business publications, such as the Harvard Business Review as well as Fast Company, which often feature articles on successful Design Thinking applications.

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Our Leadership Training blogs covers a range of topics related to Design Thinking, offering valuable resources, best practices, and industry insights. Whether you are a beginner or looking to advance your Design Thinking skills, The Knowledge Academy's diverse courses and informative blogs have you covered.

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Apple Company’s Design Thinking and Innovation Case Study

Most important facts surrounding the case, key issue or issues, alternative courses of action, evaluation of each course of action, recommended best action.

Apple was a troubled company in the 1980s and the early 1990s before it became a successful company. The company faced increased competition and at one time wanted to compete in the cloning space. Its ideas were not taking off and customers at the time were facing a challenge of picking the right products for their needs. There was too much proliferation of models. Apple at the time was using a traditional approach in the manufacture and sale of new products.

Apple eventually abandoned the traditional approach to business and embraced the design thinking approach. It took up a cohesive method, which includes four key steps. It is characterized by excellence in execution, platform strategy, iterative customer involvement, and eventually beautiful products.

Apple’s excellence in execution began when Steve Jobs returned to the company. He spearheaded the quest to develop insanely great products and wanted to have a core working approach that ensured there was a big rise in sales. In the use of a platform strategy, the design of the initial product as a platform was critical to its relevancy and eventual success in the market. A platform allowed the company to come up with derivative products. For example, the iPod was a platform and iPod mini was its derivative product.

The company insisted on ensuring that customer experience goals were part of design and development. It embraced the belief that the interface was critical to device functionality and acceptance by users. Therefore, there were increased tests for users to ensure execution happened smoothly. Lastly, Apple put design at the centre of manufacturing to make sure products came out beautiful and attractive in all standards. Beauty also called for the use of new materials and manufacturing processes and allowed the company to stay bold and not stick to playing it safe.

The key issue was the sustainability of the design approach and the transition of leadership, given that the CEO was the chief innovator in the company.

One alternative would be to apprentice a new leader, who would work closely with the CEO in understanding the chief innovation culture at the company. Another option would be to come up with self-executing teams and a standard board of approval within the company. The board would ensure that new products meet specific company ideologies and best practices before they are introduced into the market. On the other hand, the independent teams would retain their freedom to be creative.

Apple, with Tim Cook working closely with Steve Jobs as the operations director, adopted the first course of action. The transition was smooth because Jobs left work and still served as chairman of the board. This would ensure that he could still direct strategy to some extent and play a critical advisory role. The second option would still allow Steve Jobs, upon resigning, to advise the company’s product quality board. Teams would be able to come up with independent designs and product concepts faster and conduct parallel user tests, while following the beautiful and user-friendliness design approach. The board, on the other hand, would ensure products stuck to a platform mentality, as either core products or additions.

The best course of action is to go with the one CEO successor, who retains absolute control of the company’s innovation process. Although the second alternative is enticing, as it can increase the rate of innovation, it is susceptible to misdirection and high expenditures. Therefore, a strong position of the CEO as chief innovator is crucial for Apple’s success. The company should think of either developing new platforms or improving the beauty and useful features of the present design.

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IvyPanda. (2021, July 21). Apple Company's Design Thinking and Innovation. https://ivypanda.com/essays/apple-companys-design-thinking-and-innovation/

"Apple Company's Design Thinking and Innovation." IvyPanda , 21 July 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/apple-companys-design-thinking-and-innovation/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Apple Company's Design Thinking and Innovation'. 21 July.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Apple Company's Design Thinking and Innovation." July 21, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/apple-companys-design-thinking-and-innovation/.

1. IvyPanda . "Apple Company's Design Thinking and Innovation." July 21, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/apple-companys-design-thinking-and-innovation/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Apple Company's Design Thinking and Innovation." July 21, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/apple-companys-design-thinking-and-innovation/.

Amazon Corporation as a Monopolist and Innovator
“The Cult of iPod” Book by Leander Kahney
Apple's iPod Product Marketing Campaign
Google Democratic Leadership Style – Compared to Amazon
Sony and Nintendo in the Video Game Industry
Etihad Airlines' Products, Market and Expansion
King Vada Pav Business Location Analysis
Ocean Beauty Center's Logistics and Distribution

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DESIGN THINKING AND INNOVATION AT APPLE

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Lina Malfona

Focusing on the relationship among architectural form, global market, and digital technologies, this essay investigates the controversial nature of the corporation, between real and virtual, local and global space. The writing contains two intersecting paths of reading. On the one hand, it focuses on the latest building of the Apple enterprise, which is analyzed through a formal as well as metaphorical comparison with some previous architectural experiences, including both the Stanford academic campus and the Royal Saltworks of Chaux. On the other hand, the paper focuses on the strategies used by Apple Computers in the construction of its competitive image, and passing through a reading of primary data, such as early experiences, products, commercials, and buildings, it analyzes the proper company’s style, that we can define as “Apple Architecture”.

Dr. İbrahim Atakan Kubilay

Apple Corporation is one of the most profitable, and socially influential companies that ever existed. Its products are in homes, businesses and entertainment venues. It constantly brings out new high-tech tools to the consumer electronics market, the most recent one being the Apple Watch. The creation of this company is more humble, and is the result of a conjuncture of various factors that have converged to create a unique environment. It all started with a group of amateur electronics enthusiasts. Smart individuals, an engineering-oriented social environment, business angels willing to invest in a new start-up company, and the developments in technology appearing at the right time and place have all contributed to this creation. It took engineering knowledge, visionary management and a business outlook to succeed. Individual entrepreneurs and developing countries carefully study the reasons behind the success and influence of Apple, so that they could recreate the conditions for imitating similar successes for themselves and their countries. Especially universities are encouraged to launch start-up companies and dive into the commercial world. Techno-parks are built to imitate the achievements of garage founded companies such as Apple. In this study, the perceived and deducted reasons for Apple’s success are examined using an opinion survey, and accounts of the founders are examined and conclusions are made based on this information. The results show that the perceived and true reasons for Apple’s success may be very different and that a legendary image of the company with an ardent fan base may obscure the true reasons behind its success.

NZ Collection

Samuel Roscoe

Tanvir Apon

Interactions

Elizabeth Dykstra-Erickson

Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies

TODD A FINKLE

The Apple Computer Company is arguably one of the most innovative technology companies to emerge in the last three decades. Apple, Inc. is responsible for bringing to market such products as the Macintosh desktop and the portable computer, iPod and iTunes, and most recently, the iPhone. The success of the company can be traced to the ingenuity of their founder and CEO, Steven Jobs. His philosophy has always been to create products that consumers find easy to use and integrate innovative technology. Throughout Apple’s history it has accomplished these goals. However, with a growing line of products, a competitive market landscape, and an unpredictable technology life cycle curve, the company faces challenges as to the direction of its product lines. The case gives an overview of a tool that is used to analyze a company’s product line portfolio and applies it to Apple, Inc.’s array of products. Questions for discussion are provided to enable students to use critical thinking skills in applying the case material.

CLOG #2: Apple

Koldo Lus Arana

For all its promise of unlimited connetivity, Apple´s design seems to leave almost everything out. Apple has built a style on impenetrability, providing us with sleek, polished technological gizmos that are not only a product of design, but a symbol of designed obsolescence. Looking like an alien mothership hanging gently in the middle of Arcadia, the new Cupertino campus speaks of a dream of ascetic-aesthetic plenitude that goes back to modern utopianism.

Maartje van Huijstee

40 Design Thinking Success Stories

I’m incredibly optimistic of the power of DT but also always on the lookout for design thinking success stories and examples. As I’ve shared my knowledge of design thinking with others, I’ve frequently been asked how often it delivers demonstrable results and how broadly it can be applied. Below is my collection of design thinking success stories that have helped reinforce my conviction that design thinking can deliver incredibly powerful results and be applicable to everyone.

Consumer Packaged Goods

Designing a Simplified IoT Electric Toothbrush
Indra Nooyi HBR Design Thinking Interview
Using Design Thinking to Guide Product Development for Oil of Olay Brand
Design Thinking for K-12 Educators
Great Fast Co Design Article on Teaching Kids DT
Design Thinking STEAM School Case Study
Awesome Case of Designing an Entire High School Via Design Thinking
Dense but Rich Dissertation of Use of Design Thinking in a School District
The Power of Empathy in the Elementary Classroom

Financial Services

Click Link & Scroll Down for Bank of America Case Profile
How ABN AMRO Leverages Design Thinking
3 Banks Integrating Design Into Customer Experience
Evolution of Design Thinking in Deutsche Bank’s IT Division
Bank of Ireland’s Lesley Tully on the Value of Design Thinking
GE Healthcare – From Terrifying to Terrific
NY Times – Design Thinking for Doctors & Nurses
Design Thinking in Healthcare – Schizophrenia
Design Thinking Lessons from Mayo Clinic
Design Thinking at Stanford University Medicine
Design Thinking Case Studies in Journalism
Why Design Thinking & Journalism Go Together

Non-Profit/NGOs

Design Thinking & Winnebago at GGRC for Better Service
Collection of Design Thinking Case Studies from Museums
Improving Quality of Life for the Elderly Via Better Food Service
Mobisol’s Use of Design Thinking for Solar Energy
Leveraging Design Thinking in Cambodia Video
How Nike Became a Fashion Powerhouse Through Design
Nordstrom Innovation Lab Video Profile
Popular Airbnb Design Thinking Success Story
Innovation at Apple – Design Thinking Case Study
IBMs Design Centered Strategy
Design Thinking at IBM
Google’s 3 Step Process for Generating Innovative Ideas
Intuit’s Designing for Delight
How the Uber Eats Team Designs
Design Thinking in Action at SAP

Transportation

Cool Step by Step Case of Applying DT to a Common Challenge for Travelers
How Makassar Plans To Use Design Thinking to Improve Transport

Self-Improvement

Designing Your Life Through Design Thinking – My Personal Story
NY Times – Design Thinking for a Better You
Stanford professor’s Take on How DT Can Help You Lose Weight, Stop Worrying, & Change Your Life
Designing Your Life – Insight into the Most Popular Class at Stanford!

If you’re at the beach and would rather read an actual book full of design thinking case studies, I’d recommend ‘Solving Problems with Design Thinking: Ten Stories of What Works’ by Jeanne Lietdka.

In summary, there are plenty of available and powerful design thinking success stories, that will hopefully increase your conviction in the strength of DT. I’m always on the lookout for new examples and will continue to add to this list. Please don’t hesitate to share any great examples that I’m missing and continue to check back in as this list grows in size!

Interested in expanding your design thinking mindset and skills? Click here for my collection of design thinking tools and resources!

Category: Design Thinking , Innovation , Marketing & Branding
Tag: Best Practices , Case Studies , Design , Design Thinking , Innovation , Success Stories

Published by accidentaldesignthinker

View all posts by accidentaldesignthinker

accidentalDT- thank you for sharing so much amazing resources on your site.

[…] Be an Advocate for Design Thinking – Know, believe, share, and celebrate the success stories of design thinking. Here are 40 design thinking stories that will help make anyone a believer […]

[…] Check out my collection in the Self-Improvement section of 40 Design Thinking Success Stories! […]

[…] It was wonderful hearing case studies to supplement the research I’ve conducted on design thinking success stories. […]

Thank you for your valuable contribution to Design Thinkers!

My pleasure Denise! Thank you for your kind words and for visiting my site; it means a ton to me!

50+ Design Thinking Case Study Examples

Design Thinking Case Studies demonstrate the value of the Design Thinking methodology. They show how this Design Thinking methodology helps creatively solve problems and improve the success rate of innovation and increase collaboration in corporations, education, social impact work and the public sector by focusing on the needs of humans.

There are many Design Thinking Case Study examples on the web, but few meet the criteria for a robust case study: a clear description of the methodology, steps undertaken, experimentation through rapid prototypes and testing with people and finally documented results from the process. In this section, we have been selective about the design thinking case study examples that we highlight. We look for Design Thinking Case Studies that demonstrate how a problem was tackled and wherever possible the results or effect that the project produced. Our goal in curating this section of Design Thinking Case Study examples is quality over quantity.

Browse this page to view all Design Thinking Case Study examples, or if you are looking for Design Thinking Case Studies in a specific industry or marketing vertical, then rather start with the Design Thinking Case Studies Index .

If you have an interesting application of Design Thinking that you have a case study for, we would be happy to publish it.

Submit your Design Thinking Case Study for publication here.

Design Thinking Case Study Index

Welcome to the Design Thinking Case Study Index. There are many Design Thinking Case Studies on the internet. Many are retrofitted descriptions of what occurred, rather than evidence of the Design Thinking process in action. In order to bring a higher standard to the practice of Design Thinking, we require stronger evidence and rigor. Only members can post and must provide strong evidence in the Design Thinking Case Study that the Design Thinking process was used to create the original idea for the product or service solution. The criteria that needs to be proved to make your project a Design Thinking Case Study are:

The Guardian: Benefits of Design Thinking

Design thinking helped The Guardian newspaper and publishing group change their funding model, boost revenue and adapt their culture and engage on an emotional level with their readers. In this case study, Alex Breuer, Executive Creative Director and Tara Herman, Executive Editor, Design explain how design thinking was able to achieve these goals for The Guardian.

Tackling the Opioid Crisis at the Human and Systems Levels

How the Lummi Tribal clinic used design to address opioid overdoses

Applying Design Thinking Internally

Applying Design Thinking internally, within a group, community or to ourselves. This is a new application of the Design Thinking Methodology.

An internal application in this sense can have two meanings. First, the internal application of design thinking tactics within a group, organization or community, and second, the internal application of design thinking to one’s own self and life.

Can Design Thinking help you solve your own problems?

The Use of Design Thinking in MNCH Programs, Ghana

Responding to growing interest among designers, global health practitioners, and funders in understanding the potential benefits of applying design thinking methods and tools to solving complex social problems, the Innovations for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (MNCH) Initiative (Innovations) developed and piloted innovative interventions to address common barriers to improving the effectiveness of basic MNCH health services in low-resource settings.

Société Générale's Time Tracking Nightmare Solved

In 2017, employees, managers, and partners of Société Générale Global Solution Centre agreed that invoices based on time tracking and project allocation were a chronic and painful challenge.

At SG-GSC, customers were billed for the time each assigned employee worked. The process of collecting the time worked by those employees (HCC) was a complicated and difficult ordeal. It consumed 21 days per month for senior employees. These employees had to navigate different systems, many types of contracts, high staff mobility, and a variety of processes between business lines.

How to Stimulate Innovation in Your Organization With Design Thinking

In this use case the cities of Aalborg and Rotterdam share their findings obtained from design thinking initiatives. This is based on empirical research as part of an evaluation. The use case is written for other professionals in the field of design in public organizations.

One of the main targets of the Interreg NSR project Like! is to create a digital innovative culture in which citizens are engaged, and more inclusive services are build. To reach this the municipalities started several initiatives with design thinking. In these initiatives one of the objectives was to find out how design thinking can help us to develop innovative and inclusive services. To research what design thinking contributed, we evaluated the pilots with participants.

The Impact of Design Thinking on Innovation: A Case Study at Scania IT

Organizational culture represents a crucial factor for the introduction of innovation throughout the organization via Design Thinking and agile way of working. Thus, the organization must establish a culture that encompasses a shared vision with values that create a commitment to learn, experiment and accept failure.

Oral B - Putting the User At the Center of Innovation

Oral B wanted to integrate digital technology into their electric toothbrush. The Brands first thoughts were to help users to track how well they were brushing their teeth. Future Facility, a product design firm in the UK suggested a different approach. Focus on the pain points of electric toothbrush users.

This case study discusses the importance of placing the user at the center of your innovation activities.

Design Thinking at Innogy

eCarSharing: Energy Solutions for the New Generation

In 2015, Itai Ben-Jacob pitched his own ideas for a viable business model and developed the idea for innogy’s eCarSharing project in a design thinking workshop. His goal was to explore one of innogy’s innovation focus areas, ‘urban mobility.’

Together with fellow innovation hub members he organized a series of design thinking workshops to wade through the expansive topic of urban concepts – one of them focusing on mobility: “ We wanted to understand urban mobility – what does it actually entail? What type of business should we start? “

Building Cape Town’s Resilience Qualities Through Design Thinking.

This case study focuses on a Design Thinking Workshop for primary school learners. The aim of the workshops was to provide learners with a new set of skills which they can employ when problem solving for real world challenges.

Building resilience is essential for cities that face increasing uncertainty and new challenges that threaten the well-being of its citizens. This is especially important when looking at the diversity and complexity of potential shocks and stresses.

Cape Town’s efforts to build skills in design thinking supports the creation of locally-relevant and innovative solutions that contribute to building resilient individuals and communities in Cape Town.

Designing Waste Out of the Food System

The average American wastes enough food each month to feed another person for 19 days. Through a number of projects with The Rockefeller Foundation and other organizations, IDEO designers from across the U.S. devised novel ways to tackle food waste.

B2B Design Thinking: Product Innovation when the User is a Network

When B2B companies talk about user experience, they are really considering the aggregated needs of multiple people and roles in a large ecosystem. But what happens when those objectives are vastly different for every individual?

“Humans don’t stop being humans just because they entered an office building.”

Self-Checkout: Improving Scan Accuracy Through Design

In this unique applied research study, academics and designers partnered with four of ECR’s Retailer members to immerse themselves in the self-checkout experience, understanding from the perspectives of the shopper and self-checkout supervisors, their journey from entry to exit, and their design challenges and frustrations.

Co-designing OTP Bank’s Strategic Plan for Growth

This is an example of accelerating a transformation through co-design. Eighty-two professionals gathered, representing OTP’s whole organization. Together, they were able to achieve months of work in just three days.

OTP Bank Romania (OTP) was at a key turning point in late 2018. The organization was undergoing changes in its leadership team. This new team helped them develop an ambitious goal:

OTP Bank will double its market share in 5 years.

They gathered for two Discovery sessions in December 2018. In these sessions, a carefully selected senior team chose three market segments to focus on. Then they built these segments into Personas.

IDEO: Journey to Mastery

While this is not a case study as such, it sits in our case study section as it is an important piece of information from a consultancy that played a large part in popularizing Design Thinking. In their Journey to Mastery section, IDEO discuss and shine a light on the shortcomings of the design thinking term and how it has been applied. I.e that it is not designing and that just knowing and using the practice does not in itself produce amazing solutions to problems.

It is worth a read to understand some of the nuance that is important to successful design thinking work.

Singapore Government: Building Service Platforms Around Moments in Life

In 2017, the product development team at Singapore’s Government Technology Agency (GovTech) was tasked to develop a tool to consolidate citizen-facing services previously delivered by different government agencies onto a single platform. The initiative, Moments of Life, sought to make it easier for citizens to discover and access relevant services during important changes in their lives by reducing fragmentation and being more anticipatory in the delivery of those services.

Organizing the delivery of services around a citizen’s journey, rather than fitting their delivery to existing processes, required extensive interagency collaboration beyond functional silos.

Mayo Clinic: Design Thinking in Health Care – Case Study

In the early 2000s, Mayo Clinic physician Nicholas LaRusso asked himself a question: if we can test new drugs in clinical trials, can we in a similarly rigorous way test new kinds of doctor-patient interactions?

Consequently, the Mayo Clinic set up a skunkworks outpatient lab called SPARC. Within 6 years it had grown to an enterprise wide department called the Center for Innovation a dedicated research and design-oriented institute that studies the processes of health care provision, from the initial phone call, to the clinic visit, to the diagnosis and treatment of the problem, to follow-up and preventive care.

Design Thinking and Participation in Switzerland: Lessons Learned from Three Government Case Studies

Olivier Glassey, Jean-Henry Morin, Patrick Genoud, Giorgio Pauletto

This paper examines how design thinking and serious game approaches can be used to support participation.

In these case studies the authors discovered the following results.

Perceived usefulness. Based on informal discussions and debriefing sessions following all workshops, it is clear that the vast majority of workshop participants explicitly stated that both the actual outcome of the workshop and the methods used would significantly contribute to enhancing their performance in their work. Some workshops have actually led to follow up workshops or concrete actions based on the outcome.

Asili: Addressing an Entire Ecosystem of Need in a Rural Community

Design Thinking in HR at Deutche Telekom

Reza Moussavian, a senior HR and IT executive at Deutsch Telekom explains the company's journey and how important Design Thinking is as a business strategy for HR. Reza Moussavian's presentation provides great examples of issues tackled in HR and the results achieved. The presenter claims that there is not a singe issue that Deutche Telekom tackles in HR now that does not start with a Design Thinking methodology.

"Design Thinking solves 5% of our problems." says Reza Moussavian, "What we found out was that the magic was really in the implementation phase. We had to learn how to keep the momentum, the spirit and the fire from the co-creation workshops alive through the long implementation phase. Success is really about technology, transformation and leadership skills."

Design Thinking in Education: Perspectives, Opportunities and Challenges

This very informative article discusses design thinking as a process and mindset for collaboratively finding solutions for wicked problems in a variety of educational settings. Through a systematic literature review the article organizes case studies, reports, theoretical reflections, and other scholarly work to enhance our understanding of the purposes, contexts, benefits, limitations, affordances, constraints, effects and outcomes of design thinking in education.

Specifically, the review pursues four questions:

Design Thinking in the Classroom: What can we do about Bullying?

As children move from kindergarten, through middle school, and to high school, instruction shifts from stories to facts, from speculation to specifics, and imagination fades from focus. Design Thinking provides an alternative model to traditional ways of learning academic content by challenging students to find answers to complex, nuanced problems with multiple solutions and by fostering students’ ability to act as change agents.

Design Thinking is all about building creative confidence — a sense that “I can change the world.” In the Bullies & Bystanders Design Challenge, the students discovered that changing themselves might be even more important.

Following One School District's Approach to Innovation for the 21st Century

In her doctoral paper Loraine Rossi de Campos explores the use of Design Thinking in a school district for a 4-5 grade school.

India: Using ‘Design Thinking’ to Enhance Urban Redevelopment.

The discourse on urban planning and development has evolved over the last century with top-down methods of planning urban spaces giving way to bottom-up approaches that involve residents and other stakeholders in the design process. While the notion of participation and user involvement is considered critical to the design of appropriate and acceptable urban forms, there is no clear consensus in the literature on the methodology to be used to involve users and stakeholders in the design process. In this paper, we propose that the use of ‘Design-Thinking’ – a methodology for Human-Centred Design that is often used in product design and related industries – may be an effective methodology for engaging stakeholders in the urban design domain.

E*Trade: From Idea to Investment in 5 Minutes

Why the Financial Services Sector Should Embrace Design Thinking. Financial institutions need to evolve rapidly or risk disruption at the hands of nimble Fintech start-up companies.

In this article Kunal Vaed, The Street, describes how E*Trade used design thinking to enable the company to help investors get smarter by going from the idea of investing to an investment in 5 minutes.

E*Trade's Adaptive Portfolio service offering provides a good example of the work and results that E*Trade achieved with Design Thinking.

Fidelity Labs: Optimizing near-term savings goals

Thanks to providers like Fidelity, people can rely on easy, convenient systems to stay on track with their retirement savings. But when it comes to saving for important near-term goals (think: vacation, house, or wedding), people tend to be less organized.

Fidelity Labs tackled this problem and defined the challenge as: "How might we improve the experience of saving for near-term goals? How might we make it easier, faster, and better?"

Design for Action: MassMutual and Intercorp Group

How to use design thinking to make great things actually happen by Tim Brown and Roger L. Martin. In this great HBR article, the authors look at design thinking in Finance with two case studies, one from MassMutual and the other from Intercorp. Group of Peru.

In this article highlighting the development of the acceptance of Design Thinking, they discuss how Design Thinking helps to create the artifact that creates the new solution as well as the intervention/s that brings the artifact to life.

How to Use Design Thinking to Make Great Things Actually Happen

Ever since it became clear that smart design led to the success of many products, companies have been employing it in other areas, from customer experiences, to strategy, to business ecosystems. But as design is used in increasingly complex contexts, a new hurdle has emerged: gaining acceptance (for the new solutions).

4 Design Thinking Case Studies in Healthcare: Nursing

The 4 case studies by Penn Nursing illustrate how nurses can be really powerful collaborators and generators of solutions within Healthcare. The videos describe the main attributes that nurses bring to the problem solving table

Philips: Improving the Patient Experience

Philips Ambient Experience service offers hospitals a way to radically improve the patient experience and results that they can achieve from their CT scanning suites. The best way to understand what it is is to watch this video and this video discussing the latest addition to the service. The white paper from Philips is also a good source of information on the Ambient Experience Service.

IBM: Design Thinking Adaptation and Adoption at Scale

How IBM made sense of ‘generic design thinking’ for tens of thousands of people.

Generic design thinking often faces heavy resistance from influential skeptics, gets misunderstood or not understood at all, or less dire, it gets picked up with an unreflected euphoria and is applied as a “silver bullet” to all kinds of problems and projects (the famous “methodology misfit” we also see with Scrum for example). The big hangover often comes after the first experimentation budgets are expended and at worst a blame game starts.

Design Thinking in Public Engagement: Two Case Studies

Dave Robertson presents two case studies with the British Columbia Government (Canada). One with the Ministry of Transportation discussing their (public servant centered website), the other solving the problem of finding a solution to where to place a power substation.

Dave shows how he was stuck working in the public sector as a consultant and how creativity expressed through the Design Thinking methodology helped him to see a different, more effective way of creating solutions.

Bank of America Helps Customers Keep the Change

How do you encourage new customers to open bank accounts? In 2004, Bank of America used the Design Thinking methodology to look at the problem from a human centered perspective when they assigned design agency IDEO to boost their enrollment numbers: a problem that at the time, lacked any user perspective on why it was so hard for customers to save.

Redesigning The Employment Pass Application in Singapore

The Ministry of Manpower’s Work Pass Division (WPD) used design thinking as a tool to develop better ways to support foreigners who choose Singapore as a destination to live, work and set up businesses. The case reveals: Design thinking can potentially transform the perception and meaning of public service.

The team found out that the service redesign process required a better understanding of the decision points of both users and non-users. This involved taking a closer look at the opportunities and difficulties facing users, including those who had succeeded and failed within it, or had encountered problems or avoided it.

The US Tax Forms Simplification Project

This case concerns one of the earliest attempts by design thinkers at designing a large, complex system. It shows that design approaches in the public sector can look back at a long history. And it reveals how design thinking within the organization must include members of the whole organization in the design process.

Design has a long tradition and a rich history in the public sector. Nearly 40 years ago, when the US Congress passed the Paperwork Reduction Act into law, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) turned to designers in an effort to implement the new policy and to improve its relationship with taxpayers.

A Tough Crowd: Using Design Thinking to Help Traditional German Butchers

Between 2004 and 2014, more than 4000 butcher shops were forced to shut down in Germany. When last was the butcher shop redesigned? The process started in the 1990s, as supermarkets became the favored spot for meat-shopping. As if a dramatic loss of market share was not enough, the industry as a whole started suffering from a serious image crisis. It was time to apply design Thinking to the traditional German Butcher Shop.

The initial problem statement read “Create the meat shop 2.0, an up-to-date version of the classic butcher business”.

IDEO: Using Design Thinking to Create a Better Car

The challenge.

Remove roadblocks that can compromise the in-car experience for the Lincoln car company.

The final product, the Lincoln MKC luxury crossover, is credited with helping the Lincoln brand outpace growth in the luxury segment by more than two-to-one over competitors.

THE OUTCOME

A pop-up studio where IDEO designers helped departments communicate and collaborate more effectively.

Transforming Constructivist Learning into Action: Design Thinking in Education

In an ever changing society of the 21st century, there is a demand to equip students with meta competences going beyond cognitive knowledge. Education, therefore, needs a transition from transferring knowledge to developing individual potentials with the help of constructivist learning. A Scheer, C Noweski, C Meinel , University of Potsdam, Germany.

Design Thinking is the most effective method of teaching constructivist learning.

Scaling Design Thinking in the Enterprise, a 5 Year Study

During Julie Baher's five years at Citrix between 2010 to 2015, she was fortunate to gain first-hand experience leading a transformation in product strategy to a customer-centered approach. It began when several senior executives attended the design thinking boot camp at Stanford’s d-school, returning with a new vision for the product development processes. Julie goes into detail about how they scaled up the customer centric methodology across the organizations 8,000 employees.

Developing Environmental Sustainability Strategies

Developing environmental sustainability strategies, the Double Diamond method of LCA and design thinking: a case study from aged care. Journal of Cleaner Production, 85, 67-82. Stephen J. Clune*, Simon Lockrey.

Developing an App for Type II Diabetes

Development and testing of a mobile application to support diabetes self-management for people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes: a design thinking case study. Numerous mobile applications have been developed to support diabetes-self-management. However, the majority of these applications lack a theoretical foundation and the involvement of people with diabetes during development. The aim of this study was to develop and test a mobile application (app) supporting diabetes self-management among people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes using design thinking. The article was written by Mira Petersen and Nana F. Hempler.

Design Thinking to Improve UX in Public Transportation

Improving UX in Public Transportation

In this case study the project leaders goal was to improve the experience of bus users on Madrid's EMT system by offering a technological solution to increase the users’ satisfaction with regard to accessibility during the bus trip as well as when waiting for the bus to arrive.

Transforming Life Insurance through Design Thinking

To some fintechs, non-insurance incumbents, and venture capitalists, the industry’s challenges suggest opportunity. The life insurance value chain is increasingly losing share to these players, who are chipping away at the profit pool.

How might incumbent life insurers keep pace in today’s fast-moving competitive environment and meet customers’ changing needs?

Deploying the Design Thinking methodology in the insurance sector could be the key to helping save insurance from itself. Here's what McKinsey has to say about design thinking in insurance in their article "Transforming Life Insurance through Design Thinking".

"Better addressing the evolving needs of consumers can help incumbents win their loyalty—and protect against new competitors.

Bringing Design Thinking to the Insurance World

Pancentric helped Jelf kick-off a several-year digital transformation journey by getting to know not just their customers better, but their own staff, too. Jelf has dozens of offices around the UK, all with specialties in insuring different kinds of commercial businesses. For our project team trying to determine a roadmap of new developments, there was no easy overview of how each office operated or what the entire customer experience looked like.

The Features of Design Thinking in Fast Moving Consumer Goods Brand Development

This paper investigates what features of design thinking are employed in FMCG brand development via stakeholder interviews in three domains: agencies, companies, and retailers. This paper concludes with suggestions of how design thinking can be embraced in FMCG brand development.

Swiffer Case Study by Harry West, Continuum

A Chain of Innovation The Creation of Swiffer

This is a great case study that underlines the complexity of bringing game changing products to market. It helps to provide an understanding of just how much more is needed that a simple five step process of idea generation.

Read more from Continuum , the Design Firm responsible for the Swiffer

The Guardian: Using Design to Reaffirm Values

The Guardian's redesign, which launched in January 2018, illustrated the business impact when design is valued. The Guardian has a strong culture of design and increasingly, how design thinking can contribute to organizational change and development.

Apple Case Study: Supply Chain, Design Thinking, & More

The picture provides introductory information about Apple Inc.

Do you know that Apple earns nearly one hundred thousand dollars per minute? This information may not be surprising because Apple is the world’s most valuable company. However, there are numerous challenges the corporation has faced on its way to success. You can learn many business lessons by doing the Apple case study, and we are here to help!

🍏 Apple Inc Facts
👍 Apple Case Study – Best Ideas
📝 Supply Chain
🍀 Sustainability
👩 Human Resource Management
🎨 Design Thinking and Innovation
💻 Crisis Management
🔝 Apple Case Study – 50 Best Examples

🔗References

🍏 6 fun facts about apple inc.

There has been a mystery surrounding the brand’s name. However, the word ‘Apple’ simply came from the founder, Steve Jobs’ favorite fruit.
Originally Apple had three co-founders: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. Ronald Wayne left the company only 12 days after its foundation.
Apple employs more than 154,000 people, which could be a good-sized town population! Millions more people make money from selling Apple products in local shops.
Apple’s first company logo was a drawing of the father of physics, Isaac Newton.
The creator of the iPod, Tony Fadel, initially offered the device to Real Networks and Philips, but they turned it down.
Apple created the digital color camera. The Apple QuickTake was introduced in 1994 and was one of the first consumer digital cameras.

👍 Best Ideas for an Apple Case Study

Numerous internal and external factors influence Apple company’s financial performance. When doing the Apple case study, choose the sphere that interests you the most and think of what can be improved. Here’s a list of topics that may pique your curiosity:

The history of Apple company.
Corporate values of Apple.
Key Apple’s products and services.
Importance of technology and innovation in Apple.
Apple’s corporate identity.
Apple’s online presence and e-marketing.
Apple’s supply chain.
Labor practices in Apple.
Apple’s executive management.
Apple’s strategic management.
The role of Apple’s board of directors.
Apple’s privacy policy.
Marketing strategies in Apple.
Apple’s financial figures over the years.
Apple’s eco-initiatives.
Criticism of Apple.
Apple’s customer support.
HR strategy in Apple.
Apple’s crisis management strategy.
Apple’s primary competitors.

The picture describes the process of Apple supply chain.

📝 Apple Supply Chain Case

How does Apple organize its supply chain operations? Apple buys components and materials from various suppliers worldwide. Then the company gets them shipped to the assembling plant in China. From there, products go directly to retail stores and consumers who buy online.
Main advantages of Apple’s inventory management Apple’s strategy is to keep as little inventory on hand as possible. The company can’t afford to keep too many products in stock because a sudden move from a competitor or an innovation can dramatically decrease the value of products in inventory.
Apple’s use of multiple suppliers Apple has an extensive network of suppliers in its supply chain in 31 countries worldwide. It allows the company to successfully mitigate disruptions or delays and process large volumes of pre-orders.
What can other businesses learn from Apple’s supply chain strategy? The main advantage of Apple’s supply chain is the multiple suppliers strategy. Businesses should be encouraged to use alternative suppliers to reduce single-supplier risks and improve financial performance.

🍀 Sustainability of Apple

Apple lowers the use of carbon materials Since the creation of the iPhone in 2007, the company has sold over 1.5 billion units. To make the iPhone design more energy-efficient, the company developed an innovation. They created “Dave,” a recycling robot that recovers rare materials such as earth magnets from old phones.
Apple’s use of renewable energy Moving to renewable energy is a crucial component of Apple’s green policies. Apple’s headquarters in California is 100% powered by solar panels. It contributes to a positive effect on pollution globally and locally.
Apple is innovative in its materials Apple works closely with two aluminum suppliers to develop the first carbon-free aluminum process. They have already forged highly low-carbon aluminum used for parts and components in MacBook Pro.
Apple reduces the use of conflict materials A common source of “conflict minerals” is the Democratic Republic of Congo, an area with ongoing human rights violations. Apple has ceased relationships with mineral providers that fail to be certified as ethical and conflict-free.

Apple's headquarters in California is 100% powered by solar panels.

👩 Apple’s Human Resource Management

Apple’s human resources strategies The HR specialists of Apple always seem to hire diverse, independent, and talented employees. Most of the employees are provided with training once they join the company. Apple encourages workers to build self-reliance and practical skills to ensure they are mentally ready to jump from one big project to another.
Apple’s cultural values and employees’ growth Apple is one of the biggest job creators in the US, providing positions for designers, marketers, hardware and software engineers, scientists, etc. Apple offers considerable opportunities to its employees to climb the career ladder and develop free-thinking and creativity.
Employees’ rewarding system in Apple Apple runs Apple Fellow Program to recognize employees’ significant contributions to the company. Those employees are rewarded and later on designated as team leaders. The company also provides competitive wages, monthly benefits, and periodical grants that serve as a reward to the best employees.

🎨 Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple

Apple adopting design thinking Design thinking is a human-oriented approach to innovation that Apple applies. This principle is used to achieve innovation considering the consumer at all the development stages. Apple adopts design thinking by considering the form and function of its products.
Apple’s user-friendly products When it comes to understandability, Apple successfully integrated it into its products. Apple designs products that are easy to use so that new users rarely consult manuals or guides. Apple highlights that they build user-friendly products rather than complex, hard-to-use ones.
The simplicity behind Apple’s products One of defining characteristics of Apple’s design is simplicity. The company designs its products to look clean, simple, and straightforward. At the same time, Apple products are instantly recognizable at first glance and have now become status symbols.
Apple designs for the future When it comes to design, Apple is a pioneer. The company’s design team start working on a new design two years beforehand. So, when Apple introduces a new, cutting-edge design, competitors will not have a chance to copy it.

The picture provides the statistics about Apple's refurbished devices.

💻 Apple Crisis Management Case Study

FBI asked Apple for unlimited access to any iPhone user in 2015 After the tragic San Bernardino terrorist attack in 2015, the US government demanded Apple release a new iOS, which would give them access to users’ private information. Apple refused this demand by writing a public letter. In this letter, the company highlighted that they always put the customer first.
Apple’s supply chain crisis in 2021 At the beginning of October, most of China shuts down for the Golden Week holidays. Phone and iPad assembly was halted for several days due to supply chain constraints and restrictions on the use of power. Consequently, Apple was forced to scale back its total production goal for 2021. This crisis illustrates how external factors can influence even tech giants like Apple.
Apple’s plan to get through the COVID-19 crisis At the beginning of the pandemic, CEO Tim Cook stressed the company’s plan to keep its eyes on the road and its hands on the wheel. The goal was to keep investing in developing future products and services no matter what. For example, Apple has been working on how an Apple Watch can provide any warning of Covid-infections.

🔝 Apple Case Studies – 50 Best Examples

HP Company and Apple: financial statement analysis. This essay analyzes two US companies in the computer hardware and software industry, the Hewlett Packard Company and Apple Inc.
Financial research report Apple, Inc. The purpose of this economic research report is to evaluate the financial records of Apple for investment purposes.
Income statement: Apple and Samsung. Check out this comparative analysis of the two IT giants in five dimensions: net income, net sales, operating expenses, income tax, and selling and administrative expenses.
Apple Inc.: the cost accounting. The paper aims to analyze the cost accounting model of Apple Inc. In simple words, cost accounting calculates a company’s total cost of production.
Apple’s success in the customer electronics industry. This essay explores Apple’s strategic management and planning that help the company maintain leadership.
The sustainability of Apple’s success. Apple’s market presence stretches beyond American borders. This essay will teach you the peculiarities of Apple’s strategic decision-making.
The case deal with Apple’s successes. This study explores Apple’s key competitive advantages, such as product differentiation and efficient distribution channels.
Apple, Inc. financial performance analysis. This is a financial performance analysis for Apple, which provides insights for creditors and investors on a company’s financial health.
Apple company system strategy analysis. This essay investigates Apple’s most important information systems: office automation, enterprise resource planning, and data warehouse systems.
A case study in managerial accounting: Apple Inc. Every organization aims to maximize revenue while minimizing costs. This article explores how Apple uses budgeting tools to estimate the total charges in various business processes.
Analysis of Apple’s marketing mix. This paper studies the development and significance of each element of Apple’s marketing mix to determine its relevance to the company’s mission.
Cash flow management at Apple Inc. The essay analyzes the financial statements of Apple, including non-cash items, to accurately reflect on an organization’s financial health.
The human resource plan of Apple Inc. This writing describes the latest cultural change at Apple Inc. and how such an initiative has transformed its performance and profitability.
Management accounting at Apple. Learn more about the use of accounting information by Apple’s managers within an organization to guide them in making concrete decisions.
Apple iPhone: demand and supply. This paper aims to analyze the law of supply and demand on the example of the Apple iPhone, a product that has changed the technology market.
The process of hiring employees at Apple. This essay analyzes recruitment and selection processes, such as job advertisement and interviewing at Apple, Inc.
Apple’s performance & customer satisfaction with iPhones. Curren’s study follows how Apple succeeds in the competitive business environment by maintaining a pool of loyal customers by delivering quality products and services.
Apple Inc.: smartphone industry. This report focuses on Apple’s primary segment of sales and marketing, which are the iPhones, a globally recognized product and brand.
Apple’s competitive positioning. The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate the company’s existing competitive positioning and suggest how it can be improved.
Performance management at Apple Inc. This passage discusses linkages between employee performance, HR practices, and organizational performance at Apple Inc.
Apple Inc.’s strategies throughout its history. This essay is dedicated to Apple’s innovative and effective ways of doing business in different company eras.
Apple and Dell companies: inventory management. This study focuses on the methods employed by Apple’s managers to maintain the optimum level of stock for the company.
Apple’s customers and their behavior. This essay aims to understand the decision-making process of Apple’s buyers, taking into consideration psychological and economic factors.
Apple company: innovation action plan. This sample discusses the innovation opportunities and challenges that are facing the company.
The financial ratio of Apple and Samsung. For this report, two competitor firms have been selected to review and analyze their financial performance.
Analysis of Apple’s website: fundamental aspects.
Strategic management at Apple Inc.
Apple’s production management.
Apple’s music streaming future service strategies.
Ipad by Apple Inc.
Contemporary developments in business and management of Apple.
Apple stores retail mix analysis.
Marketing communication used by Apple.
Apple iPod product’s marketing audit & management.
Apple and Microsoft companies’ marketing approaches.
Apple company managing innovation & entrepreneurship.
Branding in Apple incorporation.
Apple Inc. managing technology and innovation.
Apple Inc.’s development since the 1980s.
Apple Inc: why it has success?
Apple incorporation’s managerial economics.
Apple Inc.’s modeling decision-making.
Apple Inc.’s analysis and implications for practice.
Apple company in the Chinese market.
Apple Inc.’s products and customer dissatisfaction.
Apple Inc.’s marketing communication scenarios.
Apple company’s corporate communications.
Apple company communication system strategies.
Apple Inc.’s supply chain and recommendations.
Apple Inc.’s new steps toward competitiveness.
Operations and Supply Chain
The Case for Making Multiple Suppliers Part of Your Supply Chain Strategy
Environment – Apple – apple
Apple’s Supply Chain: The 9 Major Companies
Apple and Amazon further climate commitments as sustainability race heats up

Ford Pinto Case Study & Other Analysis Ideas

Mcdonald’s supply chain issues – a case study on supply and demand analysis.

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Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple

By: Stefan Thomke, Barbara Feinberg

Length: 14 page(s)
Publication Date: Jan 9, 2009
Discipline: Entrepreneurship
Product #: 609066-EPB-ENG

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Learning Objectives

Managing innovation.

Jan 9, 2009 (Revised: May 1, 2012)

Discipline:

Entrepreneurship

Harvard Business School

609066-EPB-ENG

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Benefits of Design Thinking
How Apple successfully leveraged Design Thinking
Apple - Think Different

Design thinking is Apple’s Success Mantra

Apple, which is an American technology company that is headquartered in Cupertino, California is a brand name that most of us know about. It designs, develops, and sells electronic products, online services, and computer software. Their hardware products include the iPhone, iPad, Mac Personal Computer, Apple watch, and more. Apple is a well-known brand, but how did it become successful? The answer to this questions is Design Thinking.

All the top brands such as Google, Apple, Airbnb, and Adidas are using design thinking concepts as part of their process. Through the course of this blog, we’ll try to explain how Apple has successfully leveraged the benefits of Design Thinking.

Also Read: How Design Thinking has Revolutionised Five Prominent Industries

Since design thinking is an empathy-driven process as opposed to problem identification, it is thought of as a solution-driven approach. This has made it a favorite among most business leaders. Let us take a look at the importance of design thinking.

Helps in effectively meeting client requirements

Since prototyping is a part of design thinking, it goes through several rounds of testing and feedback. This means there is assured quality, and the customer is likely to be satisfied with the results.

Helps in tackling creative challenges

Here, we are looking at problems through a fresh perspective. Looking at the problem at hand differently, and brainstorming various solutions allows the company to use a creative approach. Through design thinking, we can gain feedback from the clients and create a valuable product or service.

Expands your knowledge

The entire process goes through multiple stages and does not stop when the deliverables are met. By doing so, you can gain feedback and improve your understanding of the clients. You will gain knowledge about which tools to use, how to close gaps, and more.

When you think of Steve Jobs, you instantly think about Apple’s user experience, and how well thought out it is. He focused on crafting the best quality products and services while focusing on simplicity of design and user-friendliness of their products. Design thinking enabled Apple to reach the greatest heights in the market, and take over the world of technology in all aspects; be it usability, design or User Interface.

When Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, it instantly became every user’s favorite. The reason for its popularity and market dominance would be how thoughtfully it was planned. The whole experience was different when compared to the other phones in the market at that period.

“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think the design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” — Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, and he changed the vision of Apple by applying design thinking principles. The same strategy is being practiced by the brand even today. Although Jobs isn’t with us today, he has founded one of the most successful companies and is currently valued at close to $2 trillion as of August 2020.

The main reason for Apple being as successful as it is today is the fact that they were able to act on the opportunities in the market in the best possible way. Some of the key factors that were kept in mind were as follows-

Keeping their customer’s needs above their own
Minimal product designs that customers can use easily
Status Symbol- Apple became a luxury for many
Focus on the working of the product without any compromise in their product design and packaging
Focus and simplicity

An example to prove the above features is the iMac. It has excellent sound design, great quality of the display, and is easy to use. It is design thinking that helped the brand reach the great heights they have today. But what made Apple different?

Apple – Think Different

The advertising slogan Think Different was used by Apple from 1997-2002, and it perfectly describes the design thinking approach. Here’s how Apple was unique when compared to its competitors.

Well designed products through innovation

As Steve Jobs once said, it’s not just about how it looks but also how it works. Along with a well functioning product, Apple also focuses on beautiful products through innovation and development. Their products tend to create a statement and are bold, and trendy.

Excellent execution

The quality of the product was focused on while coming up with the designs. The new product lines were shut down so that the focus could be centered around three main products. Thus, there has always been an excellent execution.

Customer experience

One of the main things Apple focuses on is its customer experience. It ensures that all their customers are satisfied with the product and have an unforgettable customer experience. From product designs to stores, everything is focused on design thinking principles.

Hiring the right people

Be it the salespeople, the design teams, or the engineers, Apple always focused on finding the right personalities that consumers would deeply connect with. Apple has created its products in a way that they can be seen as expensive, but also unique. The right people made owning Apple products feel more special.

Feedback from customers

Since customer experience is a huge part of Apple’s mantra, they have integrated it into the design and development stages as well, with the help of testing and feedback processes. Usability testing and improvement have become an integral part of the product development process.

Product strategy

Apple has organized its products into a product family in such a way that there is product dependability. AirPods were connected to the iPhone, and an iPhone is connected to the Apple Watch. This creates a hype as soon as the product is launched, thus connecting the dots backward.

Apple shows us a clear lesson on how design thinking and innovation can lead a company to reach greater heights. Apple has secured the leading position in the competitive market today, and have placed their customers at the heart of the process.

Design thinking engages the company to think critically and out of the box. Instead of just taking a problem and using machines to solve it, it allows companies to come up with different solutions and approaches.

If you are looking to upskill and would like to learn more about design thinking, take up an online design thinking course that will help you understand all the essential design thinking frameworks required for you to build a successful career in the field. Upskill today and power ahead your career.

Looking to upskill or explore a new field without breaking the bank? Our free online courses are the perfect solution. Dive into the exciting realms of Cybersecurity, Management, Cloud Computing, IT, and Software, Artificial intelligence and acquire the knowledge that can set you apart. Whether you’re a tech enthusiast, an aspiring entrepreneur, or simply curious about the digital landscape, our courses offer a flexible and accessible learning method.

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COMMENTS

Design Thinking Case Study: Innovation at Apple
Today, in 2016, Apple's share price is around US $108 and the company achieved revenues of US $233.7 billion in 2015 with net income of US $53.39 billion. This mini case study sheds light on the role that design thinking and innovation played in helping Steve Jobs rescue Apple with his consumer-driven strategy and vision for the company.
Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple
Describes Apple's approach to innovation, management, and design thinking. For several years, Apple has been ranked as the most innovative company in the world, but how it has achieved such success remains mysterious because of the company's obsession with secrecy. This note considers the ingredients of Apple's success and its quest to develop ...
How Apple Is Organized for Innovation
Apple is well-known for its innovations in hardware, software, and services. Thanks to them, it grew from some 8,000 employees and $7 billion in revenue in 1997, the year Steve Jobs returned, to ...
PDF Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple
Design Thinking Those of us on the [original] Macintosh team were really excited about what we were doing. The result was that people saw a Mac and fell in love with it. . . . There was an emotional connection . . . that I think came from the heart and soul of the design team. — Bill Atkinson,1 Member of Apple Macintosh Development Team
How Apple used Design thinking?
This article is dedicated to the man who revolutionized Design thinking and Apple products — ... Day 4 of System Design Case Studies Series : Design Instagram — Part 1.
Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple
Describes Apple's approach to innovation, management, and design thinking. For several years, Apple has been ranked as the most innovative company in the world, but how it has achieved such success remains mysterious because of the company's obsession with secrecy. This note considers the ingredients of Apple's success and its quest to develop, in the words of CEO Steve Jobs, insanely great ...
Design Thinking Case Study: Apple & Focus on Users
User Focus and Design Thinking. Apple makes no secret of what drives everything that happens inside its massive compound in Cupertino, California: its end users. In one recent interview, Cook said ...
How Re-thinking design can change your brand: Case study Apple Inc
An integral part of the Apple way is design thinking. In the mid-1970s computers were typically housed in discrete locations and only used by specialists. The notion of the computer as a tool for individual work was unimaginable in the 1970s. ... A UI design case study to redesign an example user interface using logical rules or guidelines.
Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple
A Harvard business case, describing Apple's approach to innovation, management, and design thinking. For several years, Apple has been ranked as the most innovative company in the world, but how it has achieved such success remains mysterious because of the company's obsession with secrecy.
Design Thinking and Innovation At Apple
Transcript: Design thinking and innovation at Apple a harvard business case that one 2013 BCCH case award the authors of the business case are Harvard Business School professors Steven Pompey and independent researcher Barbara Feinberg the summary and the presentation are created by Li Wei technology commercialization manager from agency for science technology and research …
Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple
Although Apple has been voted the most innovative company worldwide for multiple years, not much is known due to the company's obsession with secrecy. This "Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple" case analysis sheds some light on Apple's success and its quest to develop outstanding products. Stefan Thomke; Barbara Feinberg.
Design Thinking and Innovation At Apple
A Harvard business case: Winner of a 2013 ecch Case Award. It describes Apple's approach to innovation, management, and design thinking
Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple
Prize winner. Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple. Case. -. Reference no. 9-609-066. Subject category: Entrepreneurship. Authors: Stefan Thomke (Harvard Business School); Barbara Feinberg (Harvard Business School) Published by: Harvard Business Publishing. Originally published in: 2009.
Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple
This note considers the ingredients of Apple's success and its quest to develop, in the words of CEO Steve Jobs, insanely great products. Focuses on: 1) design thinking; 2) product development strategy and execution; 3) CEO as chief innovator; and 4) bold business experimentation. Product #: 609066-PDF-ENG.
Apple's Product Development Process
1,355 shares. Apple's Product Development Process may be one of the most successful design processes ever implemented. With a valuation that exceeds $2 trillion, there's a lot that designers can learn from Apple and introduce into their own design environments. Apple is a notoriously secretive business. In Steve Jobs' time at the company ...
Explore 10 Great Design Thinking Case studies
Case Study 2. Apple. Apple Inc. has consistently been a pioneer in Design Thinking, which is evident in its products, such as the iPhone. One of the best Design Thinking Examples from Apple is the development of the iPhone's User Interface (UI).
Apple Company's Design Thinking and Innovation Case Study
We will write a custom essay on your topic. Apple eventually abandoned the traditional approach to business and embraced the design thinking approach. It took up a cohesive method, which includes four key steps. It is characterized by excellence in execution, platform strategy, iterative customer involvement, and eventually beautiful products.
(DOC) DESIGN THINKING AND INNOVATION AT APPLE
Concentrates on 1) design thinking, 2) product development strategy and execution, 3) CEO as chief innovator, and 4) bold business experimentation. 3.0 Case Issues There are some questions have arisen within this case that need to be answered. Questions about the creativity that keeps Apple the among its rivals.
40 Design Thinking Success Stories
Popular Airbnb Design Thinking Success Story; Apple - Think Different about Innovation through Design Thinking Innovation at Apple - Design Thinking Case Study; IBM - I Love That IBM Has An Entire Section of its Website Dedicated to DT! IBMs Design Centered Strategy; Design Thinking at IBM; Google - How To Brainstorm Like a Googler
Explore: Design Thinking Case Studies
Building Cape Town's Resilience Qualities Through Design Thinking. Read time: 10-11 minutes. This case study focuses on a Design Thinking Workshop for primary school learners. The aim of the workshops was to provide learners with a new set of skills which they can employ when problem solving for real world challenges.
Apple Case Study: Supply Chain, Design Thinking, & More
Design thinking is a human-oriented approach to innovation that Apple applies. This principle is used to achieve innovation considering the consumer at all the development stages. Apple adopts design thinking by considering the form and function of its products. Apple's user-friendly products.
Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple
Describes Apple's approach to innovation, management, and design thinking. For several years, Apple has been ranked as the most innovative company in the world, but how it has achieved such success remains mysterious because of the company's obsession with secrecy. This note considers the ingredients of Apple's success and its quest to develop, in the words of CEO Steve Jobs, insanely great ...
Design thinking is Apple's Success Mantra
Design thinking is Apple's Success Mantra. Apple, which is an American technology company that is headquartered in Cupertino, California is a brand name that most of us know about. It designs, develops, and sells electronic products, online services, and computer software. Their hardware products include the iPhone, iPad, Mac Personal ...

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Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple

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