S3E9: Natasha Jen

Natasha Jen is a partner in the design firm Pentagram. She has given a talk with the provocative title Design Thinking Is Bullshit.

In her conversation, Jen expanded on her position:

Design thinking is not bullshit. However, the marketing of design thinking is completely bullshit. It’s even getting worse and worse now that we have a three-day boot camps that offer certified programs — as if anyone who enrolled in these programs can become a designer and think like a designer and work like a designer.

Secondly, I really don’t believe that there is one single methodology that can deal with any kind of situation — not to mention the very complex society that we’re in today.

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By Michael Bierut & Jessica Helfand

Jessica Helfand, a founding editor of Design Observer, is an award-winning graphic designer and writer and a former contributing editor and columnist for Print, Communications Arts and Eye magazines. A member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and a recent laureate of the Art Director’s Hall of Fame, Helfand received her B.A. and her M.F.A. from Yale University where she has taught since 1994.