What a thoughtful question, Julia Tsoi.

DT is about opening and/or deepening the understanding you have with others. That kind of investment in a personal relationship, I imagine, would only strengthen the connection.

I suppose you might also discover, by going deeper, is that the relationship isn’t serving what you thought it was. And so DT might also help you leave relationships that are no longer serving you.

Isn’t that what therapists and coaches do? They ask questions and provide prompts in order to help you understand enough about yourself and your situation that you can solve your own problems based on insights you wouldn’t have otherwise seen yourself.

The point here, is that your question highlights that design thinking is not a workshop or a method. It’s a language and mindset. It’s an orientation. And because of that, I think we’re saying that it can be applied to business strategy and R&D, just as well as life, and love.

Thanks for asking this!