I’ve been interested in the growing space of self-assessments for design thinking and innovation. I was curious to see if an AI tool could create a self-assessment people could take to assess themselves on their design thinking behaviors, mindset and practices. This assessment obviously wouldn’t be as validated, scientific, reliable, or offer as high-quality a report as the Innovation Impact Assessment for instance. But, it could be a design thinking self-assessment that might provide awareness, insight, or some value when you reflect on each question and give yourself a quick rating. If you find assessing yourself helpful, you could then dive deeper into an assessment based on a large pool of research.

These 30 questions were generated are categorized by design thinking framework stages, mindsets, and best practices. For each question, rate yourself on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree.” You can follow along in a spreadsheet, score yourself, and tabulate the average rating for each of the four categories based on how many questions there were in that category. Note which categories were your strengths and which could use more growth.

Design Thinking Self-Assessment

Empathize and Understand:

  1. How well do you empathize with the needs and challenges of your users or customers?
  2. How often do you seek out diverse perspectives and opinions when working on a project?
  3. How well do you define and reframe problems to create innovative solutions?
  4. How well do you identify and address biases that may impact your design thinking approach?
  5. How well do you create and maintain a user-centered approach to your projects?
  6. How well do you create empathy with your users in order to understand their needs?
  7. How well do you gather and use data about users to inform your design decisions?
  8. How well do you use feedback from users to improve your design solutions?
  9. How well do you balance the needs of users with the goals of the organization?

Define and Reframe:

  1. How often do you challenge assumptions and think outside the box?
  2. How well do you prioritize and manage your time when working on a project?
  3. How often do you observe and learn from the world around you to inspire new ideas?
  4. How well do you challenge the status quo and seek out new ways of doing things?
  5. How well do you incorporate sustainability and ethical considerations into your design thinking approach?
  6. How well do you define problems in a way that allows for innovative solutions?
  7. How well do you use brainstorming and ideation techniques to generate ideas?
  8. How well do you synthesize information and ideas to identify the most promising solutions?
  9. How well do you use criteria to evaluate and select the best solutions?

Ideate and Experiment:

  1. How often do you prototype and test your ideas with users or customers?
  2. How well do you iterate and refine your ideas based on feedback from others?
  3. How well do you balance data-driven analysis with intuition and creativity?
  4. How well do you remain flexible and adaptable when working on a project?
  5. How well do you select the best approach for prototyping and testing?
  6. How well do you use feedback from testing to improve your design solutions?
  7. How well do you balance the speed of iteration with the need for thorough testing?
  8. How well do you identify and manage risks associated with prototyping and experimentation?

Collaborate and Communicate:

  1. How well do you collaborate with others and encourage a team approach?
  2. How well do you communicate your ideas and insights to others?
  3. How well do you balance your own ideas with the needs and wants of your users or customers?
  4. How well do you use storytelling and visualization techniques to communicate your design solutions?

The questions in this design thinking self-assessment are designed to assess individuals’ design thinking mindset and behavior, as well as their practice of design thinking for innovation in their organization. By providing categories for each question, it allows participants to identify their strengths and areas for improvement within the different stages of the design thinking process.

If you’d like a more proper innovation or design thinking assessment that you can take for yourself or with your team, the Innovation Impact Assessment is one of our favorites for a tool that is more scientifically validated, reliable, and studied than this AI generated design thinking self-assessment.

Design Thinking Self-Assessment

Learning from your Design Thinking Self-Assessment Results

Now, you can learn about some practices you can take for each category you’d like to emphasize. If you scored low in a category find some opportunities to grow below. If you scored high in the category, learn more to leverage that strength! (Thanks to our AI tool for these design thinking self-assessment category summaries.)

Empathize and Understand Category

If someone scores low in the Empathize and Understand category of the self-assessment, here are some suggestions that may help:

  1. Practice active listening: Active listening involves paying close attention to what someone is saying and responding in a way that shows you understand their perspective. Practice this skill by actively listening to people in your personal and professional life and responding in a way that shows you understand their point of view.
  2. Seek out diverse perspectives: Actively seek out diverse perspectives and opinions, especially from those who may have different backgrounds and experiences than you. This can help you gain a better understanding of the needs and challenges of different groups of people.
  3. Spend time with users or customers: Make an effort to spend time with the people you are designing for. This can include conducting user research, observing their behaviors, or conducting interviews. By spending time with users or customers, you can gain a deeper understanding of their needs and challenges.
  4. Reframe problems: Practice reframing problems in a way that encourages you to think more creatively and openly. This may involve challenging assumptions or considering multiple perspectives on a problem.
  5. Practice empathy: Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. Practice putting yourself in other people’s shoes and considering their needs and wants. This can help you better understand their perspective and design solutions that meet their needs.

By incorporating these practices into your design thinking approach, you can improve your ability to empathize with users and gain a deeper understanding of their needs and challenges.

Define and Reframe Category

If someone scores low in the Define and Reframe category of the self-assessment, here are some suggestions that may help:

  1. Practice divergent thinking: Divergent thinking is the ability to generate many ideas or solutions to a problem. Practice brainstorming and ideation techniques to generate a wide range of potential solutions.
  2. Reframe problems: Practice reframing problems in a way that encourages you to think more creatively and openly. This may involve challenging assumptions or considering multiple perspectives on a problem.
  3. Incorporate sustainability and ethical considerations: Consider how your design solutions can promote sustainability and ethical considerations. This may involve considering the environmental impact of your solutions or the social impact on different groups of people.
  4. Use criteria to evaluate and select solutions: Develop criteria to evaluate potential solutions and select the most promising ones. This can help you choose solutions that best meet the needs of users and the goals of the organization.
  5. Learn from the world around you: Observe and learn from the world around you to inspire new ideas. This can involve exploring new technologies or looking to other industries for inspiration.

By incorporating these practices into your design thinking approach, you can improve your ability to define problems in a way that allows for innovative solutions. This can help you identify new opportunities for design and create solutions that better meet the needs of users and the organization.

Ideate and Experiment Category

If someone scores low in the Ideate and Experiment category of the self-assessment, here are some suggestions that may help:

  1. Practice divergent thinking: Divergent thinking is the ability to generate many ideas or solutions to a problem. Practice brainstorming and ideation techniques to generate a wide range of potential solutions.
  2. Embrace experimentation: Embrace experimentation by testing and prototyping ideas. This can help you quickly and cheaply test potential solutions, allowing you to identify and refine the most promising ones.
  3. Consider multiple perspectives: Encourage collaboration and input from others to generate a wider range of ideas and perspectives.
  4. Foster a culture of creativity: Foster a culture of creativity within the organization by promoting an open-minded and experimental approach to problem-solving.
  5. Learn from failure: Embrace the idea of failing fast and learning from your failures. Use feedback from failed experiments to refine your ideas and generate new solutions.

By incorporating these practices into your design thinking approach, you can improve your ability to generate and test innovative solutions. This can help you identify new opportunities for design and create solutions that better meet the needs of users and the organization.

Collaborate and Communicate Category

If someone scores low in the Collaborate and Communicate category of the self-assessment, here are some suggestions that may help:

  1. Foster a culture of collaboration: Foster a culture of collaboration by encouraging communication and teamwork within the organization. This may involve creating opportunities for people to work together on projects, promoting cross-functional teams, or encouraging collaboration across departments.
  2. Practice active listening: Active listening involves paying close attention to what someone is saying and responding in a way that shows you understand their perspective. Practice this skill by actively listening to people in your personal and professional life and responding in a way that shows you understand their point of view.
  3. Use visual tools: Use visual tools like diagrams and prototypes to communicate your ideas more effectively. This can help you convey complex ideas in a way that is easy to understand.
  4. Embrace diversity and inclusivity: Embrace diversity and inclusivity by promoting an environment that welcomes people from different backgrounds and experiences. This can help you generate a wider range of perspectives and ideas.
  5. Practice effective feedback: Practice giving and receiving feedback in a way that is constructive and promotes learning. This can help you improve your communication and collaboration skills, while also improving the quality of your work.

By incorporating these practices into your design thinking approach, you can improve your ability to collaborate effectively with others and communicate your ideas more clearly. This can help you work more effectively with cross-functional teams, generate a wider range of ideas, and create solutions that better meet the needs of users and the organization.

Short Design Thinking Self-Assessment as a Learning Activity

My main use case for a design thinking self-assessment would be as a short activity that I could run in a training session, program or live workshop – even on a collaborative whiteboard or as a poll. For this case I had the AI tool narrow the 30 question assessment down to just 12 questions, with 3 questions per category.

For the 12 question self-assessment, the 1-5 scale to follow along and rate yourself would be:

1 – Never or almost never 2 – Rarely 3 – Sometimes 4 – Often 5 – Always or almost always

Participants can rate themselves on each question based on how frequently they engage in the behaviors or practices described. A score of 1 would indicate that the individual rarely or never engages in the behavior, while a score of 5 would indicate that the individual almost always engages in the behavior.

It’s important to note that there is no right or wrong answer, and participants should answer honestly to get an accurate assessment of their design thinking mindset and behavior.

Here is that self-assessment version. Follow along and rate yourself for each question.

A. Empathize and Understand:

  1. Do you regularly seek feedback from users and stakeholders to better understand their needs and experiences?
  2. Do you actively try to put yourself in the shoes of your users to gain a deeper understanding of their perspective?
  3. Do you consider the emotional and psychological needs of your users when designing solutions?

B. Define and Reframe:

4. Are you able to clearly articulate the problem you are trying to solve?
5. Do you challenge assumptions and consider multiple perspectives when defining a problem?
6. Do you consider sustainability and ethical considerations when defining a problem?

C. Ideate and Experiment:

7. Do you generate multiple ideas and solutions when approaching a problem?
8. Are you comfortable testing and experimenting with new ideas?
9. Do you actively seek out and incorporate feedback when refining your ideas?

D. Collaborate and Communicate:

10. Do you actively listen to and consider the perspectives of others when collaborating on a project?
11. Are you comfortable communicating your ideas to others, both verbally and through visual aids?
12. Do you actively seek out opportunities to collaborate with others and work in cross-functional teams?

By answering these questions, individuals can assess their design thinking skills and identify areas for improvement. By incorporating best practices and adopting a design thinking mindset, individuals can better approach problems, generate innovative solutions, and work more effectively with others. The questions can either be scored in a similar 1-5 rating format or they can also be reflection questions that people write responses to and discuss.

Thanks to ChatGPT for help with generating this self-assessment and different versions of it. If you are interested in applying assessments for innovation programs, see this article about how I used the Innovation Impact Assessment with a group as a part of the Adobe Learning Summit.