Design thinking: an educational model towards creative confidence

Abstract

Design creativity is one of the most relevant fields in design and innovation. To better understand the effectiveness and origin of it, this study draws attention to the question of how design creativity can be mediated via design education. Since institutes exist that focus on teaching design thinking, the question arises what the experts of education believe they achieve with their lessons and how they support students in developing a capability of thinking and acting creative. In the empirical part of this study we find that there are different levels of creative knowledge, skills and mindsets that can be achieved by design thinking education, culminating in a capability that is called ‘creative confidence’. Building on these results we demonstrate how design education contributes to both the development and understanding of design creativity. Furthermore we suggest a definition of “design thinking” as a learning model towards creative confidence.