What's the difference between design and architectural thinking? When looking to solve a problem that involves the interaction of a human being with her environment, design coupled with architectural thinking provides a powerful combination. In these kinds of problems, we have to consider the solution from the perspective of the head and the heart, that is, both from a logical and emotional perspective.
Traditionally, we have looked at solving problems as being a logical exercise. In such an approach, we consider the problem holistically and try to break it down into smaller parts. Then, we attempt to understand the interconnections among these parts and start to solve the problem in parts. That is the essence of systems thinking. What is missing is the design thinking.
Let's walk through an example of how you would apply both design and architectural thinking. Consider a hospital. It's been shown that when a patient is treated at a hospital, The success of her treatment comes from a multitude of factors.
The expertise of the doctor, the right diagnosis, the right medicine are critical but not sufficient. Other factors such as soothing ambience of the hospital, being in the know and informed, and the comfort of the treatment area are important factors as well. So, if one were to design an ideal environment for patient treatment for high success rates, it isn't sufficient to focus only on the mechanical aspects of the problem. Rather, the full context of the patient experience has to be considered.
This full context is provided by both design and architectural thinking. Design thinking is typically approached as two parts. The first part is to gain a deep understanding of the environment in the user's context. Typically, this involves considerable field work in the user's environment.
to understand and empathize with the user. The second part is to visualize, ideate, prototype and evaluate many solutions to address the user's explicit and implicit needs. This exercise is iterative by nature but relatively fast and cheap. Design thinking is then followed by architectural thinking, which revolves around designing the business and associated systems to be able to scale and commercialize the solution identified. It is a structured approach of understanding the part.
the interconnections, the organizational structure, and how to leverage existing capabilities to deliver the solution. Design thinking and architectural thinking are like the yin and yang for solving problems that have human interactions. Design thinking focuses on the user context and their needs, while architectural thinking focuses on how the parts need to connect to meet those needs.