Design Thinking in an Hour? Or, Design Thinking: A Cautionary Tale

Abstract

Design thinking (DT) is a methodology that has become popular across many sectors due to its iterability and flexibility. As its adoption spreads throughout higher education settings, DT is now starting to appear in library literature and conferences. As teaching librarians, we may be tempted to adapt popular methodologies in the hope of increasing the reach of our work, considering how undervalued and misunderstood our work can be, but we should also consider whether DT is a potentially harmful practice. By discussing DT, what it can do, and where it can be most useful, I will present a case for why librarians who teach need not engage in a practice that treats learning as something that needs a solution and appears to sideline students and their lived experiences. Those who practice critical librarianship would be better served by adopting a student-centered pedagogy that shifts power and agency to the students, while simultaneously educating others on the work they do, why they do it, and how it contributes to student learning.