The Use of Design Thinking in Transdisciplinary Research and Innovation Consortia: Challenges, Enablers and Benefits

Abstract. The innovation management literature describes a competitive advantage when applying Design
Thinking (DT) in corporate environments. In this paper we study the perceived challenges, enablers,
and benefits for implementing DT in publicly funded transdisciplinary industry-academia research and
innovation consortia (RIC). We facilitate and investigate five large RIC from the food and high-tech
industry in Norway and Germany using an explorative qualitative action research design. Our research
shows that the challenges of using DT in RIC are to some extent comparable to those for the corporate
context. Additionally, we identify distinct challenges for RIC. Benefits from using DT in RIC are stronger
user and innovation focus, better transdisciplinary collaboration, and triangulation of qualitative with
scientific data. We suggest that complex RIC benefit from an intermediary (DT) role translating business
needs into research questions, and research results into understandable and business-relevant information
and innovation.