Design Thinking as experiential learning

David Kolb describes the process of experiential learning as:

The process of learning starts with the immersion of the learner in a concrete experience from which as many observations as possible are gathered and perceptions recorded. This stage of information gathering is then followed by a phase of thinking, during which attempts are made to understand what has been experienced – and sense is made out of what has been sensed! This stage is followed, in turn, with plans for action based on the understanding achieved. Finally, the planned action is taken and as this changes the situation, the whole process is repeated, and more knowledge created.¹

I’m exited when I read something that reminds me of something that I know from somewhere else. And it seems to be happening more frequently – processes that we use as digital workers sometimes have deeper hidden histories and discovering them is a learning process in itself.

In this case the quote reminds me of the processes of design thinking. Following Kolb, it may be helpful to describe design thinking, explicitly, as a learning process where ‘learning is the creation of knowledge through the transformation of experience’. He goes on to argue that the ‘complete experiential learning process’ involves the learner in four basic activities:

• divergence – concrete experiences to reflective observations
• assimilation – reflective observations to abstract conceptualisation
• convergence – abstract conceptualisation to active experimentation
• accommodation – active experimentation to concrete experiences

It reminds me (loosely) of the ideation phase of design thinking – shown here in a diagram I created some time ago to visualise the process of design thinking²:

The point I wish to make is that, based on Kolb’s ideas, to learn we have to sometimes actively seek experience. And in a ‘professional context’ this can be harder than it sounds.