2.2

Design Thinking and Design Theory

For this step we have put together a list of different design books, theories and thinkers. The idea is not overwhelm you with reading and watching, but rather to give some inspiring examples and starting points.

Why is design thinking important for circularity?

Design thinking is a non-linear, iterative process used to solve complex problems and develop innovative solutions, primarily focusing on the human user. It generally follows five stages: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. By combining creative exploration with rational analysis, it fosters a deep understanding of user needs to create practical, user-centered, and viable outcomes across various fields.

Design thinking is crucial for a circular economy because it forces a shift from ‘take-make-dispose’ to regeneration and reuse. By applying the Empathize stage to a product’s entire lifecycle, designers are led to ideate solutions that eliminate waste from the start. This approach prioritizes durability, repairability, and disassembly in the design process, making resource recovery efficient and enabling new circular business models like ‘product-as-a-service.’

Design Books and Thinkers

Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change
Author: Victor Papanek
Primary Focus: A foundational manifesto that fundamentally challenges conventional design practice, arguing for a globally responsible, ethical, and ecologically sustainable approach that prioritizes human needs over market wants.

Published in 1971, this book became a classic that laid the groundwork for the modern movements of green architecture, humanitarian design, and social design. Papanek delivers a severe, urgent critique of the design profession, accusing designers of having become a “dangerous breed” by creating wasteful, unsafe, and frivolous products that serve a “Kleenex culture” and planned obsolescence.

The core argument is that design must shift its focus away from “sexed up” salesmanship and towards addressing genuine human needs, social justice, and ecological imperatives. Papanek advocates for integrated design—a trans-disciplinary, collaborative process where objects and systems function as political tools for change. The book provides a blueprint for sensible, responsible design in a world deficient in resources and energy.

Read more here.

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
Author: Caroline Criado Perez
Primary Focus: An investigative exploration into the global ‘gender data gap’, revealing how a reliance on male-centric data and a failure to consider female perspectives result in a world—from urban planning to medicine and technology—that is systematically designed for men, often to the detriment or danger of women.

The book argues that men are often treated as the default human being, leading to a pervasive and unconscious bias in data collection and application. This gender data gap is not malicious but systemic, resulting in inadequate and sometimes dangerous designs and policies across every sector. Criado Perez uses extensive, global case studies to illustrate how this “default male” approach creates real-world discrimination.

Invisible Women emphasizes that recognizing and accounting for gender in data is essential not just for gender equality, but for creating more efficient, equitable, and ultimately safer systems for everyone.

Read more here.

Make it Bigger
Author: Paula Scher
Primary Focus: A retrospective collection of Paula Scher’s groundbreaking graphic design work, combining portfolio, memoir, and essays to articulate her philosophy on design, typography, and creative process at a massive scale.

The book functions as a dynamic manifesto for expressive, public-facing graphic design. Scher champions a radical yet accessible approach, rooted in American vernacular history and the visual language of the street, best exemplified by her iconic work for The Public Theater . She argues that great design must be bold, immediate, and scalable, possessing the power to function effectively across the size of a poster and the façade of a building. Make it Bigger emphasizes the importance of infusing personal expression and cultural commentary into commercial work and mastering the strategic challenge of implementing large-scale identity systems.

Read more here.

What is a designer: things, places, messages
Author: Norman Potter
Primary Focus: A philosophical and practical guide that proposes what design could be, addressing students and practitioners across all design disciplines, including architecture.

The book is an urgent, stimulating text that marries high-level philosophical concepts with down-to-earth, specific advice. It argues that design is fundamentally a useful and modest art, and that the designer is ethically bound to be at the service of the community. Potter casts a critical eye over the realities of design education and delivers sharp critiques of what he terms ‘designer culture’.

A key feature of the book is its deliberate lack of visual illustrations. This choice serves the book’s critical principles, ensuring readers focus on the enduring arguments and avoid using the text merely as a source of visual models for imitation. The book encourages the reader to constantly redefine their role as a designer.

Read more here.

© Daniel Mossberg, CEMUS, Uppsala University and Sonali Phadke, studio Alternatives and Stephanie Foote