Design Thinking in Action: How Process Drives Human-Centered Innovation

In a time when speed and scale often dominate innovation conversations, it’s easy to overlook the power of process—especially when that process starts with empathy.

Design thinking, at its core, is a structured way to solve problems by centering the people affected by them. It’s not a shortcut or a buzzword. It’s a discipline. And when applied well, it can radically reshape outcomes.

When empathy reframes the problem, innovation follows.

Two case studies—one from a hospital in the U.S., another from rural Nepal—illustrate just how powerful this mindset can be. Both began with technical asks. Neither ended there.

1. From Fear to Fantasy: Turning MRIs into Adventures

Doug Dietz, an industrial designer at GE Healthcare, was proud of the MRI machines he’d helped create. They were technically advanced, highly capable systems. But that pride cracked the day he watched a young girl, in tears, walk toward one of his machines for a scan. The technology wasn’t the problem. The experience was.

“Empathy can drive powerful innovation when we look beyond functionality and focus on human experience.” — Doug Dietz, GE Healthcare

That moment pushed Dietz into the world of human-centered design. Partnering with child life specialists and creative professionals, he reimagined the MRI experience from the child’s point of view. The result? The “Adventure Series”—MRI rooms transformed into immersive environments like pirate ships and jungle safaris. What was once a terrifying ordeal became a story-driven journey.

The impact was significant: sedation rates dropped, kids were calmer, and families left with positive experiences—not trauma.

2. How a $250 Incubator Became a $25 Lifesaver

In another corner of the world, a Stanford design team faced a different challenge: build a $250 incubator for low-resource hospitals. But once on the ground in Nepal, they realized the real issue wasn’t equipment—it was access. Most premature infants never made it to hospitals in time.

That insight reframed everything.

“Empathy enabled them to listen, observe, and truly understand the lives of their end users.” — IDEO

Rather than improving hospital incubators, the team created the Embrace Infant Warmer—a sleeping bag–like device with a reusable phase-change heating pad that could be warmed with boiling water and maintain a baby’s body temperature for hours. It didn’t require electricity. It cost under $25. And most importantly, it met mothers where they were: in remote villages, without reliable infrastructure.

What These Stories Teach Us

Both teams started with an ask—and ended with a breakthrough. But only because they let empathy disrupt the brief. Design thinking gave them a framework to:

• Reframe the problem through observation and insight

• Prototype with stakeholders instead of for them

• Solve for experience and context—not just functionality

These weren’t marginal improvements. They were transformative shifts, born from asking better questions and being willing to challenge the starting assumptions.

Why Design Thinking Matters

Design thinking is a creative engine, yes—but more importantly, it’s a compass. It keeps us anchored to people, not just problems. It reminds us that behind every spec sheet, every assignment, every constraint, there’s a human reality.

That’s where real innovation lives.

Links for Further Reading

• Adventure Series, GE HealthCare

• Baby, It's Cold Outside, Stanford University Magazine