The History of Design Thinking and its Contributions to Food Experiences and Well-Being

This chapter examines the relationships between three complimentary paradigms: food experiences, food well-being, and design thinking. All three are holistic approaches to improving individual and community well-being – herein, food well-being is the goal, food experiences are the mechanism, and design thinking is the tool. This chapter first defines each concept, which are all relatively new to academic inquiry. Next, it traces the history of design thinking from its roots in 20th century mechanical and industrial engineering, to its modern incarnation of rethinking our approach to effective problem-solving. The chapter simultaneously examines the evolution of food design during the same timeframe, noting when and how food experiences have received greater and less attention from designers and consumers. Next, the chapter examines how a design thinking approach can be used to examine and improve food experiences, and to increase food well-being. Finally, because food experiences and food well-being are, to date, underrepresented in the portfolio of design thinking contexts, we conclude by emphasizing how food-related research can and should be put into practice by applying design thinking, thus increasing our understanding of the utility of all three concepts.