Use of design thinking for product development: Smart cities India

Abstract

Design thinking is coming up as a very impactful tool to solve extremely complex problems and obtain desirable solutions. The approach is basically solution focused and aims to create a preferred prospect. Though this approach provides very efficient results, yet there is not enough work done of the usage of design thinking in the field of product or process development. This paper focuses on the city of Bangalore in India, where the Government of India is trying to implement its Smart City project to make the city a digitally connected and sustainable city. The article emphasizes on the different citizens of all the socio-economic strata of the city and depicts what a smart city means to citizens of Bangalore. Through the study and interviews of citizens, the authors try to segregate the expectations of the citizens from a Smart City into three different buckets. These three buckets provide an idea of what should be the core ideas while implementing the project. The article provides recommendations on the implementation process which can be undertaken by the Government of India in its project.