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By Gareth Dunlop

Why design thinking comes before design doing

February 11th, 2025
4 min read

Back in 1977, G.L. Shostack, a former Vice President at Citibank, wrote a fascinating piece in the Journal of Marketing. It tackled a key difference in how we market products versus services. Products—tangible items we can see, hold, and use—shine when their intangible traits, like their emotional appeal, are highlighted. Services—intangible by nature—do better when marketers make their impact feel more concrete and relatable.

This concept is everywhere in the marketing we see today. Car companies, for example, rarely focus their ads on horsepower or trunk size. Instead, they paint a picture of status, adventure, or lifestyle. Where will the open road take you and how are you getting there? On the flip side, professional services firms make their expertise tangible by showcasing case studies, explaining their processes, and emphasising the credentials of their teams.

If we apply this thinking to UX design, it seems logical to focus on the outputs, explain the process, and spotlight the experts behind the work. Easy, right? Well, not quite.

Why UX advocacy is tricky

Here’s where it gets complicated. The nature of UX design doesn’t lend itself to traditional marketing tactics. For starters, good UX practices avoid locking in specific outputs from the beginning. Flexibility is crucial. What you deliver depends on the problem you’re solving, and the best way to communicate that solution might evolve as the project progresses.

And then there’s the matter of process. A quick online search for “design thinking frameworks” will reveal a dizzying array of methodologies, each claiming to be the definitive approach. Every process has its merits, but no single one works for every scenario. Even the composition of UX teams can be fluid, evolving as projects unfold. These factors make it tough to sell UX using the usual playbook of deliverables, fixed processes, and team introductions.

Why culture trumps process

Here’s the real kicker: great design isn’t just about the process—it’s about the culture behind it. A strong culture can elevate even a so-so process, but no process can rescue a weak culture.

At its core, design thinking is a mindset. It’s a belief system that defines what design is and how it should approach solving problems. This mindset pushes back against three major traps that can derail design projects:

  1. Misdiagnosing the problem, leading to solutions for issues users don’t actually have.

  2. Thinking too narrowly, missing opportunities for creativity and innovation.

  3. Delivering solutions that miss the mark because they lack nuance or fail to delight users.

A design culture built on curiosity, empathy, and a willingness to experiment is what helps designers sidestep these pitfalls. It’s what drives the world’s most innovative digital organisations to create solutions that not only work but resonate.

First things first

C.S. Lewis, the beloved author and thinker, once shared a piece of wisdom that feels tailor-made for design: “Put first things first and we get second things thrown in: put second things first & we lose both first and second things.”

For UX designers, this means putting design thinking—the first thing—before design doing. While tools, methods, and deliverables matter, they’re secondary to the mindset that guides them. It’s this mindset that helps teams truly understand user needs, solve meaningful problems, and create experiences that stand out.

The bottom line

Exceptional design isn’t born from rigid adherence to processes or flashy outputs. It stems from a mindset that prioritises understanding, adapts to change, and fosters a strong culture. When you put design thinking first, the doing naturally follows—and the results are better for it.

 

Gareth Dunlop.
Gareth Dunlop

UX Associate

Speaker, writer and consultant on experience design, strategy, innovation and leadership.