18 Best Design Thinking Tools of 2026
Design Thinking Tools Shortlist
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 18 tools reviewed.
With so many different design thinking tools available, figuring out which one is right for you is time-consuming. You know you want a tool to help you understand design problems and generate creative solutions, but you need to figure out which option is best. In this article, I'll help you make this choice easier by sharing my insights on the best design thinking tools to foster creativity, innovation, and collaboration when navigating design challenges.
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Best Design Thinking Tools Summary
This comparison chart summarizes basic details about each of my top design thinking tool selections. You can view pricing details and the availability of free trials or demos side-by-side to help you find the best design platform for your budget and business needs.
| Tool | Best For | Trial Info | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Best agile design thinking tool | Free plan available | From $8/user/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 2 | Best for a highly flexible virtual whiteboard | Free plan available | From $15/seat/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 3 | Best for video feedback from users | Free demo available | Pricing available upon request | Website | |
| 4 | Best for team feedback and voting features | Free plan available | From $9.99/user/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 5 | Best design thinking tool for rapid prototyping & testing | 7-day free trial + free plan available | From $16/user/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 6 | Best for collaborative mind mapping | Free plan available | From $6.50/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 7 | Best tool for building a shared workspace | Free plan available | From $8/user/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 8 | Best tool for customer journey mapping | Free plan available | From $25/user/month | Website | |
| 9 | Best for small group breakout sessions | Free plan available | From $9/user/month | Website | |
| 10 | Best for persona generation | Free trial (1 persona) | From $16/month (10 users) | Website |
Best Design Thinking Tool Reviews
Here are brief descriptions of the top 10 design thinking tools on my shortlist that highlight what each tool does best, plus screenshots to showcase some of the features. I’ve also included a few more bonus options below if you’d like even more options to consider.
For those seeking a design thinking tool that caters to the creative minds in Agile organizations, Miro is a versatile digital whiteboard that transforms how teams brainstorm and collaborate. This tool appeals to creative professionals and remote teams by providing an infinite canvas for real-time idea mapping, allowing your team to visualize complex projects and align remotely. Miro addresses collaboration challenges by simplifying project visualization, enabling engagement in virtual meetings, and integrating well with other work management tools.
Why I Picked Miro
I picked Miro for its ability to bring design thinking to life through an expansive digital workspace that fosters creativity and collaboration. Its visual tools—like sticky notes, mind maps, and templates—make it easy to capture and organize ideas during brainstorming sessions. What sets it apart is the built-in voting feature, which helps teams quickly evaluate options and make collective decisions without slowing down the creative process. Combined with real-time collaboration that keeps everyone engaged, Miro ensures complex challenges are tackled cohesively and decisions are made with clarity and alignment.
Miro Key Features
On top of its real-time collaboration and visual organization tools, Miro offers several other features that can enhance your design thinking process:
- Templates Library: Access a wide array of pre-built templates tailored for design thinking activities, saving your team valuable setup time and providing a solid starting point for your projects.
- Presentation Mode: Transform your board into an engaging presentation by showcasing your team's ideas and progress to stakeholders without needing to switch platforms.
- Voting and Polling: Facilitate decision-making by using built-in voting and polling features, which empower your team to prioritize ideas and reach consensus quickly during brainstorming sessions.
- Integration with Popular Tools: Connect Miro with tools like Slack, Jira, and Google Drive to ensure a smooth workflow and maintain continuity across different platforms your team already uses.
Miro Integrations
Integrations include Zoom, Google Meet, Jira add-on, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Confluence, Airtable, Trello, Asana, and Google Calendar.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Voting and polling features facilitate quick decision-making during collaborative sessions
- Offers a vast integrative capacity with popular tools, centralizing project elements
- The intuitive interface makes it approachable for users of all skill levels
Cons:
- Security features might not meet the demands of some users seeking higher data protection
- Performance can lag when boards become hyper-detailed
New Product Updates from Miro
Miro Launches AI Workflows and Ready-to-Run Flows Templates
Miro introduces AI Workflows for Enterprise plans and Ready-to-Run Flows templates to help teams build and share collaborative AI processes faster. These updates enable scalable automation and quicker workflow setup across organizations. For more information, visit Miro’s official site.
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This tool helps turn scattered ideas into cohesive strategies and actionable plans, all in real-time. Serving as an interactive online whiteboard, FigJam is a great option for design professionals, Agile teams, and creative thinkers. It bridges the gap between brainstorming and execution, supporting your journey from concept to completion with smooth integrations into existing design workflows. With FigJam, your team can visualize complex processes, enhance collaboration, and bring innovative ideas to life, addressing the common challenge of aligning diverse thoughts into a unified vision.
Why I Picked Figjam
I picked FigJam because it excels at fostering collaborative creativity. One feature I appreciate in particular is its interactive sticky notes and whiteboard feature that empower your team to brainstorm intuitively and prioritize ideas visually. FigJam's built-in templates are specifically designed for design sprints and user journey mapping, making it easy to structure your sessions and maintain focus on your goals. Additionally, the tool's real-time collaboration capabilities ensure that every team member, regardless of location, can contribute to the ideation process, addressing the challenge of remote teamwork in creative projects.
Figjam Key Features
In addition to the collaborative tools that make FigJam a standout choice for design thinking, there are several other features that enhance its usability for creative teams:
- Emojis and Reactions: Your team can use these to express feedback quickly and keep the mood light during brainstorming sessions.
- Audio Chat: This feature allows team members to discuss ideas in real-time without leaving the workspace, facilitating fluid communication.
- Timer Functionality: Helps keep your sessions on track by timing activities, ensuring that your team stays focused and productive.
- Cross-Platform Compatibility: FigJam works across various devices and operating systems, making it accessible for all team members, regardless of their preferred technology.
Figjam Integrations
Integrations include Asana, Jira, GitHub, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, Dropbox, Trello, Confluence, and Notion.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Provides a variety of templates that cater to design sprints and user journey mapping
- The user-friendly interface ensures that even non-designers can participate in creative sessions
- Includes a timer functionality, helping teams maintain productivity by keeping activities on track
Cons:
- might not meet the needs of teams requiring full project management functionalities
- Lacks advanced diagramming tools, a limitation for users needing more complex visual representations
UserTesting empowers your team to harness the power of real-time user insights, ensuring that your design thinking process is grounded in genuine customer feedback. Whether you're in retail, healthcare, or technology, UserTesting enables you to swiftly validate concepts and refine user experiences, addressing the unique challenges your industry faces. By offering deep analytics and diverse testing capabilities, it supports data-driven decisions that enhance product development and customer satisfaction, making it an invaluable tool for those seeking to create impactful, user-centric designs.
Why I Picked UserTesting
I picked UserTesting for its unparalleled ability to provide real-time user feedback, a unique aspect of this type of software. With the platform's Live Conversation feature, you can engage directly with users through video interviews, gaining authentic insights that help shape empathetic and user-centered designs. Additionally, the platform's in-depth analytics tools allow you to analyze user interactions and preferences, ensuring data-driven decisions that align with your team's design goals. These capabilities make UserTesting a great option if your focus is geared towards crafting designs that truly resonate with users.
UserTesting Key Features
In addition to the real-time insights and analytics, UserTesting offers several features that enhance your design thinking process.
- Customizable Tests: Tailor your tests to target specific audiences or areas of interest, ensuring you gather relevant data for your design projects.
- Template Library: Access a wide range of pre-built test templates that can help your team quickly set up user tests without starting from scratch.
- Mobile Testing: Conduct tests on mobile devices to ensure your designs deliver a great user experience across platforms.
- Instant Insight Narratives: Receive automatically generated summaries of user feedback, making it easier for your team to quickly understand and act on user insights. Native integrations are not currently listed by UserTesting.
UserTesting Integrations
Integrations include Qualtrics, Jira, Slack, Trello, Adobe XD, Outlook Calendar, and Google Calendar.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Supports collaboration with UX teammates and product partners, fostering a unified approach
- AI-enhanced insights facilitate quick data analysis, enabling teams to swiftly interpret user feedback
- Access to a diverse network of participants, allowing for feedback across various demographics
Cons:
- Reporting tools are somewhat basic, potentially limiting in-depth analysis
- Limited panel diversity, especially in niche markets like healthcare
For those seeking a design thinking tool that fosters creativity and collaboration, Mural offers a dynamic digital canvas tailored to your needs. Whether you're in finance, healthcare, or any industry demanding innovative solutions, Mural enables your team to visualize ideas using sticky notes, diagrams, and templates. It addresses challenges in brainstorming and project planning by offering real-time interaction, customizable permissions, and integration with existing productivity tools, ensuring that your team can effectively innovate and solve problems together.
Why I Picked Mural
I picked Mural for its ability to transform your team's brainstorming sessions into interactive and engaging experiences. With its digital sticky notes and intuitive templates, you can easily map out complex ideas, ensuring every team member's voice is heard. I appreciate how Mural's facilitation superpowers, like private mode and timer features, help maintain focus and structure during workshops, allowing your team to tackle challenges head-on. By incorporating these elements, Mural becomes a great software option for fostering creativity and collaboration in any design thinking process.
Mural Key Features
In addition to its facilitation superpowers, Mural offers several features that enhance your team's design thinking capabilities.
- Customizable Templates: You can choose from a wide range of templates tailored to different stages of the design thinking process, allowing your team to start quickly and structure their sessions effectively.
- Real-Time Collaboration: Mural enables your team to work together in real-time, regardless of location, ensuring that everyone stays connected and contributes to the creative process.
- Visual Collaboration Tools: With features like drawing and diagramming, your team can easily visualize complex ideas and relationships, making abstract concepts more tangible and understandable.
- Feedback and Voting: This feature allows your team to gather input and prioritize ideas, helping you make informed decisions and move projects forward with confidence.
Mural Integrations
Integrations include Microsoft Teams, Adobe Creative Cloud, Airtable, Asana, Azure DevOps, Confluence, Dropbox, Figma, Google Drive, and Slack.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Feedback and voting features enable teams to gather input and prioritize ideas effectively
- Offers a wide range of customizable templates tailored for various stages of the design thinking process
- Digital sticky notes and templates make it easy for teams to visualize ideas
Cons:
- May lack offline access, which can be a limitation for remote teams
- Can be challenging to track changes and note progress on boards over time
For those diving into the world of design thinking, Marvel offers a sophisticated platform tailored for your creative needs. Whether you're a startup, a large enterprise, or an educational institution, Marvel caters to diverse teams seeking to ideate rapidly, collaborate efficiently, and prototype. The tool addresses common challenges such as transforming ideas into interactive prototypes without the need for coding, making it a valuable asset for digital product teams looking to refine their design process.
Why I Picked Marvel
I picked Marvel for its unique ability to transform complex ideas into interactive prototypes without requiring coding skills. The platform’s design and prototyping capabilities allow your team to visualize concepts quickly, which is essential in design thinking. Additionally, Marvel’s user testing feature provides valuable insights by enabling you to gather feedback directly from users, ensuring that your designs meet real-world needs. By focusing on these key functionalities, Marvel stands out as a tool that supports the iterative and collaborative nature of design thinking.
Marvel Key Features
In addition to its prototyping and user testing capabilities, Marvel offers several other features that can enhance your design thinking process.
- Design Handoff: This feature simplifies the transition from design to development by providing developers with all the necessary design specifications and assets.
- Collaboration Tools: Marvel enables real-time collaboration, allowing your team to work together, share feedback, and iterate designs quickly.
- Integrations: With Marvel, you can integrate with popular tools like Slack and Jira, keeping your design process connected with your existing workflows.
- Templates: Marvel offers a variety of templates to help you and your team get started quickly, saving time and providing inspiration for your design projects.
Marvel Integrations
Integrations include YouTube, Confluence, Sketch, Microsoft products, YouTube, Niice, Smartmockups, Keynote, Userflows, Botbot, Zeroheight, Ballpark, Dropbox Paper, and an API for custom integrations.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- The design handoff feature simplifies the transition from design to development by providing necessary specs and assets
- User testing capabilities provides direct feedback
- Allows teams to create interactive prototypes without coding
Cons:
- Lacks some advanced animation features and customization that competitors offer
- The platform can be slow with large projects
MindMeister offers a unique platform for visualizing ideas and fostering collaboration. It appeals to professionals across industries such as education, manufacturing, and public sectors, who require a structured yet flexible approach to brainstorming and organizing thoughts. MindMeister helps you break down complex concepts into manageable visuals, enhancing both individual and team productivity. Whether you’re conducting a team meeting or delving into intricate study topics, MindMeister supports your journey with its intuitive interface and robust security features.
Why I Picked MindMeister
I picked MindMeister for its dynamic approach to visual brainstorming, which is essential in the design thinking process. One standout feature is its real-time collaboration capability, allowing your team to engage simultaneously, fostering an environment where ideas can be exchanged freely and without delay. The tool's mind mapping functionality enables you to break down complex problems into visual components, making it easier to identify patterns and insights. Additionally, MindMeister’s presentation mode transforms your mind maps into engaging presentations, helping you articulate your ideas clearly and persuasively to stakeholders.
MindMeister Key Features
In addition to its extensive collaboration and presentation capabilities, MindMeister offers several other features that enhance your design thinking process.
- Customizable Themes: You can tailor the appearance of your mind maps with various themes and styles, allowing you to align visuals with your brand or project needs.
- Task Management: Integrated task management lets you assign tasks, set priorities, and track progress directly from your mind maps, keeping your team organized and focused.
- History Mode: This feature allows you to review and revert to previous versions of your mind maps, providing a safety net for experimentation and iterative design.
- Comments and Voting: Your team can leave comments and vote on ideas within the mind map, facilitating a democratic approach to decision-making and idea validation.
MindMeister Integrations
Integrations include Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Evernote, Box, Confluence, and Trello.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Presentation mode transforms mind maps into engaging presentations for stakeholders
- Task management capabilities within mind maps help teams organize and prioritize tasks
- Real-time collaboration feature allows teams to work simultaneously on mind maps
Cons:
- There might be a learning curve for users unfamiliar with mind mapping software
- The task management feature is quite basic in comparison to dedicated project management tools
Imagine transforming your team's brainstorming sessions into dynamic and collaborative experiences with Stormboard, a versatile design thinking tool. This platform is designed for Agile teams, hybrid environments, and digital transformation initiatives, allowing you to harness creativity while focusing on customer needs. With features like the Design Thinking Brainstorming Session Template, Stormboard helps you evaluate ideas based on feasibility, desirability, and viability, ensuring that your innovative concepts are not only creative but also actionable.
Why I Picked Stormboard
I picked Stormboard for its unique ability to transform brainstorming sessions into actionable plans, a core aspect of design thinking. One standout feature is its template-driven workspaces, which guide your team through each stage of the design thinking process, from ideation to execution. This structured approach helps you maintain focus and direction, reducing the chaos often associated with brainstorming. Additionally, Stormboard's real-time collaboration capabilities ensure that your team can contribute ideas and feedback instantly, no matter where they are, fostering a truly collaborative environment that is essential for innovation.
Stormboard Key Features
In addition to the brainstorming capabilities, Stormboard offers a suite of features that further enhance your team's design thinking process.
- Meeting Notes and Reports: Capture detailed notes and generate reports automatically, so your team can focus on ideation without worrying about documentation.
- Voting and Polling: Engage your team in decision-making by allowing them to vote on ideas, helping prioritize the most promising concepts.
- Templates Library: Access a wide range of customizable templates specifically designed to guide your team through different stages of design thinking.
- Integration with Third-Party Tools: Seamlessly connect Stormboard with tools like Microsoft Teams and Slack, ensuring your team's workflow remains uninterrupted.
Stormboard Integrations
Integrations include Microsoft, Google, Jira, Azure DevOps, and Rally.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Real-time collaboration enables team members to contribute ideas instantly and remotely
- Digital sticky notes feature allows for easy capturing and organization of ideas
- Automatic reporting tools generate summaries of brainstorming sessions
Cons:
- Focus on structured processes might limit flexibility for teams that prefer more freeform brainstorming sessions
- Reporting tools, while useful, may not be customizable enough for specific needs.
Smaply empowers your team to visualize and optimize customer experiences with its intuitive customer journey mapping capabilities. Ideal for professionals in UX, product management, and service design, Smaply facilitates collaboration and data-driven decision-making. By transforming insights into actionable strategies, it addresses challenges in understanding and enhancing customer touchpoints, making it an essential tool for those committed to customer-centric innovation.
Why I Picked Smaply
I picked Smaply for its deep journey management capabilities, helpful for design thinking processes. The tool's journey map editor allows your team to create detailed customer journey maps with an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, making collaboration straightforward even in real-time. Additionally, Smaply's persona builder transforms customer insights into actionable personas, directly linking them to journey maps for a well-rounded approach. These features facilitate a deeper understanding of customer experiences, enabling data-driven decisions that are essential for improving customer touchpoints and business outcomes.
Smaply Key Features
In addition to its journey management capabilities, Smaply offers a suite of features that enhance your design thinking efforts.
- Storyboarding: Visualize customer interactions through storyboards that help your team understand and communicate the emotional journey of users.
- Stakeholder Mapping: Identify and visualize relationships between different stakeholders, enabling you to manage and prioritize interactions effectively.
- Touchpoint Management: Organize and analyze various customer touchpoints, providing a detailed view of how users interact with your product or service.
- Collaboration Tools: Facilitate real-time collaboration with your team, ensuring that everyone is aligned and contributing to the design process.
Smaply Integrations
Integrations include Jira as well as import/export data options from Mural, Excel, Miro, and Lucidspark.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- ISO 27001 certified and GDPR compliant, ensuring high standards of data protection and security
- Persona builder feature allows for the creation of detailed customer profiles
- Highly intuitive journey map editor that simplifies the visualization of customer journeys
Cons:
- Smaply's pricing structure may not be ideal for smaller teams with limited budgets
- Native integrations are limited, potentially requiring additional manual data handling
Ideaflip offers you a creative platform to bring your team together for remote meetings using virtual sticky notes that mimic the tactile experience of real ones. Ideal for professionals in creative industries or collaborative environments, it helps you brainstorm, organize, vote, and annotate ideas in real-time. By simplifying the process of capturing and sharing ideas, Ideaflip addresses challenges like remote collaboration and idea flow, making it a valuable tool for teams looking to enhance their creative processes.
Why I Picked Ideaflip
I picked Ideaflip because it excels in facilitating real-time collaboration, a cornerstone of design thinking tools. Its standout feature, the virtual sticky note system combined with their small group breakout session feature, allows your team to brainstorm and organize ideas visually and collaboratively, which is ideal for creative problem-solving sessions. Additionally, the voting functionality helps you prioritize ideas, ensuring that the best concepts rise to the top during collaborative sessions. This focus on interactive and visual engagement makes Ideaflip a compelling choice for teams dedicated to innovative design thinking processes.
Ideaflip Key Features
In addition to its collaborative capabilities, Ideaflip offers several other features that can enhance your team's design thinking process:
- Idea Clustering: You can group related ideas together on the board, making it easier to identify patterns and themes during brainstorming sessions.
- Commenting: This feature allows your team to provide feedback directly on ideas, fostering a more interactive and communicative environment for collaboration.
- Customizable Templates: Choose from a variety of templates to suit different stages of the design thinking process, helping your team to structure sessions more effectively.
- Real-Time Syncing: Ensures that all changes and updates to the board are reflected instantly for all participants, keeping everyone on the same page during remote meetings.
Ideaflip Integrations
Integrations are not listed publicly on their website but they do claim that custom integrations are part of their Enterprise subscription package
Pros and cons
Pros:
- The voting system and idea categorization features aid in prioritizing ideas
- The idea clustering feature simplifies the organization of thoughts and helps identify patterns easily
- Virtual sticky note features provide a familiar and tactile brainstorming experience
Cons:
- Lack of detailed progress tracking features hinders monitoring of idea development over time
- Lacks native integrations, which can limit connectivity with other tools
If you're seeking a tool that integrates user personas into your design thinking process, Userforge might be the solution you need. Tailored for product teams, UX design agencies, and marketing professionals, Userforge excels in crafting authentic user personas that reflect genuine customer needs. This platform addresses the challenge of aligning your design and marketing strategies with real-world insights, offering features like an AI-driven persona generator and customizable templates. By fostering team collaboration and enhancing user experience design, Userforge ensures that your projects are guided by a clear understanding of your audience.
Why I Picked Userforge
I picked Userforge for its unique ability to integrate real customer data into user personas, a critical aspect of the design thinking process. With its AI-driven persona generator, you can create detailed and accurate personas that resonate with your target audience, ensuring your design strategies are grounded in genuine user needs. Another standout feature is the customizable templates, which allow your team to tailor personas to fit specific project goals. These tools not only foster collaboration but also enhance the alignment of product strategies with audience insights, making Userforge an invaluable asset for any team focused on user-centered design.
Userforge Key Features
In addition to its AI-driven persona generator and customizable templates, I also found several other features that enhance your team's design thinking process.
- Collaborative Workspace: This feature allows your team to work together in real-time, ensuring that everyone is aligned on persona development and design strategies.
- Persona Sharing: You can easily share personas with stakeholders and team members, facilitating feedback and ensuring everyone has access to the most up-to-date information.
- Version History: This allows you to track changes and revert to previous versions of personas, providing flexibility and control over your design process.
- Secure Data Management: Userforge ensures that all user data is securely managed, giving you peace of mind when handling sensitive information.
Userforge Integrations
Integrations include Jira. Native integrations beyond Jira are not currently listed by Userforge.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Customizable templates enable tailoring of personas to fit specific project objectives
- Collaborative workspace allows teams to work together in real-time
- AI-driven persona generator provides detailed and accurate user personas
Cons:
- Limited focus on personas lacks features for ideation and prototyping
- Limited native integrations may restrict workflows
Other Tools
Here are a few more worthwhile design platforms that didn’t make it into my top 10 list of the best design thinking tools, but are still worth checking out:
- Invision
Design thinking tool for rich, interactive prototypes
- Lucidspark
Virtual whiteboard with integrations and collaboration for design thinking
- Lucidchart
Intelligent diagramming software with integrations and collaboration for design thinking
- Sprintbase
Design thinking analytics & reporting suite
- Batterii
Tool for turning video reviews into insight reports
- Digisite
For design thinking tool for marketing, CX/UX, and innovation teams
- Boords
Web-based storyboarding software
- Mockingbird
Drag and drop UI elements
Selection Criteria for Design Thinking Tools
When selecting the best design thinking tools to include in this list, I considered common buyer needs and pain points like identifying user-centric solutions and facilitating team collaboration during ideation phases. I also used the following framework to keep my evaluation structured and fair:
Core Functionality (25% of total score)
To be considered for inclusion in this list, each solution had to fulfill these common use cases:
- Capture and organize brainstorming ideas
- Facilitate remote or in-person workshops
- Enable collaborative visual mapping
- Support prototyping and iteration
- Store and export design artifacts
Additional Standout Features (25% of total score)
To help further narrow down the competition, I also looked for unique features, such as:
- Provide AI-assisted ideation suggestions
- Integrate directly with agile or product management tools
- Offer real-time feedback and voting functionality
- Include industry-specific design templates
- Allow AR or VR prototyping support
Usability (10% of total score)
To get a sense of the usability of each system, I considered the following:
- Provide a clean and intuitive user interface
- Balance power and simplicity in toolsets
- Offer clear navigation with minimal learning curve
- Maintain responsiveness and stability
- Support easy drag-and-drop or whiteboard interaction
Onboarding (10% of total score)
To evaluate the onboarding experience for each platform, I considered the following:
- Include interactive walkthroughs or product tours
- Provide access to ready-to-use templates
- Offer video tutorials and training guides
- Include live webinars or scheduled training
- Use in-app chatbots or guided support prompts
Customer Support (10% of total score)
To assess each software provider’s customer support services, I considered the following:
- Offer live chat or 24/7 availability
- Maintain a searchable help center or knowledge base
- Provide timely and helpful email responses
- Allow access to user communities or forums
- Include onboarding support and success managers
Value For Money (10% of total score)
To evaluate the value for money of each platform, I considered the following:
- Offer transparent and flexible pricing tiers
- Provide a free trial or freemium plan
- Justify costs with unique features or integrations
- Scale features effectively for team or enterprise use
- Maintain competitive pricing compared to alternatives
Customer Reviews (10% of total score)
To get a sense of overall customer satisfaction, I considered the following when reading customer reviews:
- Highlight ease of use in real-world scenarios
- Mention helpfulness of support and documentation
- Reflect tool’s ability to enhance collaboration
- Discuss performance and reliability
- Share user success stories or specific outcomes
How to Choose a Design Thinking Tool
It’s easy to get bogged down in long feature lists and complex pricing structures. To help you stay focused as you work through your unique software selection process, here’s a checklist of factors to keep in mind:
| Factor | What to Consider |
|---|---|
| Scalability | Can the tool grow with your team as more users, projects, or templates are added? Avoid tools that cap functionality on lower plans. |
| Integrations | Does it connect easily to tools your team already uses like Jira, Miro, Slack, or Trello? Manual workarounds kill momentum. |
| Customizability | Can you tailor workflows, templates, or boards to match your team’s specific process? Rigid tools create friction fast. |
| Ease of use | Can non-designers jump in without needing a training session? If people avoid using it, it doesn’t help. |
| Implementation and onboarding | How long will it take to get value after purchase? Look for pre-built templates, how-to videos, and live walkthroughs. |
| Cost | What’s the true cost per user and does it scale well with your team size? Watch for hidden limits on users or boards. |
| Security safeguards | Does it offer SSO, SOC 2 compliance, or access controls? If you’re prototyping sensitive ideas, don’t skip this. |
| Support availability | Will someone be available to help if you hit a wall mid-sprint? Check if support is live, ticketed, or community-based. |
What are Design Thinking Tools?
Design thinking tools include the software, methods, techniques, and processes used to facilitate the design thinking approach, a human-centered problem-solving method that puts the user's needs and experiences at the forefront of the design process. These tools aim to promote empathy, creativity, and collaboration among team members to generate innovative solutions to complex problems.
Some examples of design thinking tools include persona creation, journey mapping, empathy maps, brainstorming, storyboarding, prototyping, and user testing. These tools help teams gather insights, identify user needs, ideate and develop solutions, and validate and iterate on those solutions based on user feedback. Overall, design thinking tools help teams approach problems with a user-centered mindset and generate meaningful solutions that meet user needs.
Features of Design Thinking Tools
When selecting a design thinking tool, keep an eye out for the following key features:
- Collaborative whiteboard: Enables teams to brainstorm, map ideas, and work together in real time from anywhere.
- Template library: Provides ready-made frameworks like empathy maps, user journeys, and ideation boards to speed up sessions.
- Sticky notes and voting: Lets users add input quickly and vote on ideas to prioritize concepts during workshops.
- User persona builder: Helps create and visualize personas to keep the team aligned on user needs.
- Prototyping interface: Allows quick creation of low-fidelity prototypes to test and refine solutions early.
- Workshop facilitation tools: Includes timers, presenter mode, and breakout tools to guide structured sessions.
- Version history: Tracks changes and lets users revert to earlier iterations to manage evolving ideas.
- Commenting and feedback: Supports real-time or asynchronous comments to capture input and encourage discussion.
- Export and sharing options: Makes it easy to share work with stakeholders through links, PDFs, or integrations.
- Cross-device access: Ensures users can access and contribute to sessions from laptops, tablets, or phones.
Benefits of Design Thinking Tools
Implementing design thinking tools provides several benefits for your team and your business. Here are a few you can look forward to:
- Faster idea development: Built-in templates and real-time collaboration help teams move from idea to concept quicker.
- Better team alignment: Shared boards and visual tools keep everyone on the same page during workshops and reviews.
- More user-focused outcomes: Persona tools and empathy maps make it easier to keep user needs front and center.
- Easier remote collaboration: Cloud access and multi-device support let everyone contribute no matter where they are.
- Clearer decision-making: Voting features and feedback tools help teams prioritize ideas without long debates.
- Lower rework risk: Early prototyping and testing features catch issues before too much time or money is spent.
- Stronger stakeholder buy-in: Easy sharing and visual exports make it simpler to show progress and gather input.
Costs and Pricing of Design Thinking Tools
Selecting design thinking tools requires an understanding of the various pricing models and plans available. Costs vary based on features, team size, add-ons, and more. The table below summarizes common plans, their average prices, and typical features included in design thinking tool solutions:
Plan Comparison Table for Design Thinking Tools
| Plan Type | Average Price | Common Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free Plan | $0 | Basic whiteboarding, limited templates, limited collaborators, and basic export options. |
| Personal Plan | $5–$15/user/month | Full template access, unlimited boards, version history, and standard integrations. |
| Business Plan | $15–$30/user/month | Team collaboration tools, advanced permissions, admin controls, and priority support. |
| Enterprise Plan | $30–$60/user/month | SSO and security features, advanced analytics, dedicated support, and custom onboarding. |
People Also Ask
Still wondering about design thinking tools and how they work? These answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) should help clarify things further:
What is design thinking?
Design thinking is a productive and creative way of solving problems by building products that cater to a niche need.
Jeanne Liedtka, Design Thinking Expert, noted in Harvard Business Review that: “design thinking has the potential to do for innovation exactly what TQM did for manufacturing: unleash people’s full creative energies, win their commitment, and radically improve processes.”
The best business model is one that keeps the end-user front-and-center throughout the service design process. You can do this by creating an empathy map for iterating purposes, uncovering user pain points with your product, and doing tons of hands-on user research.
However, brainstorming sessions are wasted time if you don’t have a way to collect and compile the resulting data using a platform that can make use of the data.
Design thinking can be hugely influential when it comes to developing new products, like when Braun set out to design a simplified IoT electric toothbrush, for example. Design thinking is exactly that: taking what you already know and building off of it to make a better product that answers more of the end user’s concerns for a better customer journey.
How can design thinking tools help the creative process?
Design thinking helps you develop creative solutions to technical problems in customer-centric ways. Online design thinking tools can help you organize your thoughts and plan your trajectory toward product innovation.
The design thinking process can become complex because you’re constantly balancing idea viability + affordability (for the business) + desirability (for the end user). However, design thinking apps are made to guide you through the 5 design thinking stages so you can track new ideas from project start to project completion.
What is the customer journey?
The customer journey is the probable path (or paths) that your ideal users will follow during their interaction with your product, from introduction to completion. Human-centered design is important to make this journey as painless as possible. The design thinking process relies on a strong understanding of the customer journey: how customers get from A to B and where they might run into trouble, as well as what key problem your product/service is trying to solve for them.
What are the 5 design thinking stages?
According to Stanford University, the 5 stages of design thinking are: empathy, definition, conception, prototype, and testing.
- Empathy is working to understand the end user’s needs (the “problem statement”);
- Definition is the elevator pitch of what problem you intend to solve and how;
- Conception (or, ideation) is creative brainstorming (“ideate”) to find the best solution through product design;
- Prototyping is creating the most basic version of your product;
- Testing is turning that minimum viable product into a fully functional, QA tested, launch-ready item.
What other resources can help me learn more about design thinking?
If the design thinking concept has got your wheels turning, there are plenty of other resources to help you along in your learning journey.
Are there any free design thinking tool kits?
Though they may have some limitations compared to their paid-subscription counterparts, using a free design tool is a great option for smaller teams or those looking to simply test the waters of the software first. As a design leader, you can make the call in regards to what suits your needs best.
Free possible solutions include:
- Ideo’s toolkit
- IBM design thinking toolkit
- Hubspot’s make my persona
- Google Design
What's Next?
If you're in the process of researching design thinking tools, connect with a SoftwareSelect advisor for free recommendations.
You fill out a form and have a quick chat where they get into the specifics of your needs. Then you'll get a shortlist of software to review. They'll even support you through the entire buying process, including price negotiations.