What Role Do Tangibles Play in Fostering Design Thinking Skills? An Exploratory Study

Despite the importance of using artifacts during the design thinking process, there is a limited understanding of the influence of tangibles with lower perceptual richness on design thinking skills within educational settings. It is speculated that tangibles may ease the visualization and communication of ideas, enhance interactions and collaboration, as well as create a playful experience for participants. With imposing external constraints, tangibles can help students prioritize and focus on essential elements in communication and developing narratives around their proposals, and create a relatively simple platform for thinking and reasoning through different perspectives, replicating what designers do in real-world practice. We initiated a study to explore the use of tangibles in a graduate-level management course at a technical university in Switzerland. Three different tangible activities, using LEGO bricks, were incorporated during earlier phases of the design thinking process, and student groups were encouraged to take advantage of the tangibles. Employing a qualitative case study approach, this study explored the influence of using tangibles concerning design thinking characteristics. While most students demonstrated engagement, collaboration, and playfulness during the activities, the results showed that the explicit benefits of tangibles depend on the type of activity and group dynamics. The primary benefit reported was when students worked on developing problem statements where they co-created meaning by manipulating LEGO pieces. The use of tangibles not only helped students with visualization and communicating ideas; it added flexibility for exploration as ideas emerged through conversational and material practices. Specifically, the findings demonstrated the benefits of tangibles concerning two traits of design thinking: experimentalism and collaboration. In this paper, we elaborate on the underemphasized role of tangibles concerning transversal skills and point out critical criteria for developing and incorporating tangible activities within higher education settings. Reflecting on the results, we argue that using tangibles can facilitate developing collective understanding.