Design thinking and its application in the legal profession is trending. The Stanford event was one of THREE (unrelated) legal design events that took place on the same day last week (the other two were host by Cat Moon of Vanderbilt Law for Wake Forest Law School and J. Kim Wright and her organization, Lawyers as Changemakers – notably both Cat and Kim are also mediators).

While design thinking is not necessarily new, it is being adopted in new industries, including law firms (see Baker McKenzie’s Whitespace Collab), as a way to tackle old problems. The trend to incorporate design thinking into other industries isn’t surprising when you look at the success of products derived from design thinking such as the iPhone or AirBnB. What makes them successful is that the products are not only useful, they are desired. To find that desirability point, designers learn to follow a process of discovery before invention. First, they spend time exploring, gathering information, and using empathy to truly understand the user’s needs and wants. Once those needs and wants are fully understood, designers use brainstorming techniques to generate ideas for how to meet those needs. Then through rapid prototyping, designers create sample products to test and get feedback determining how well the product actually met the needs of the user before going to market.

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