**4. Design thinking in instrument design**

Computer-based instrument design requires a design thinking mindset. Generally, design thinking is defined as an analytic and creative process to engage users in opportunities to experiment, create and prototype models, gather feedback, and redesign [12]. According to the Interaction Design Foundation group, there are five-stage in the design thinking model [13]. They are as follows: empathise, define (the problem), ideate, prototype, and test (**Figure 2**). The first stage is to gain an empathic understanding of the design problem. It includes consulting the experts to collect information more on the concerning issue through observing and engaging with the users. In the defining stage, the designer put together the gathered information. This is where the designer will analyse the observations and synthesise them to define the core problems. In this stage, the designer has to define the problem in a human-centred manner. In the third stage, the designer starts to generate ideas, as the users' initial understanding and need have been analysed in the earlier stages. A new innovative solution can be attained through "think outside the box" strategies with a solid background of expert designers. Then, the steps of prototyping, where the designer test the developed instrument by himself or within a team. This is an experimental phase, and the aim is to identify the best possible solution for each of the problems identified during the first three stages. This stage helps get a better idea of the constraints inherent with the instrument and gives a clever view of how real users would behave, think, and feel when interacting with the instrument. Finally, the designer rigorously tests the complete product using the best solutions identified during the prototyping phase. It is an iterative process. The results regenerated during the testing phases are often used to redefine the problems and inform the understanding of the users.

**Figure 2.** *Five-steps of design thinking [13].*

*Design Thinking for Computer-Aided Co-Design in Architecture and Urban Design DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.98938*
