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Summary
Thinking styles are not like horoscopes, which apply to every aspect of a person's life. Instead thinking styles describe a person's core approach to a particular purpose. The point of thinking styles is to recognize that there is a variety of approaches to a purpose, none of which is "better" than another. And thinking styles derive from qual research. This makes thinking styles incredibly powerful for your team and your org. You can easily embrace broader perspectives, invent more, and fill the gaps in your solutions.
Key Insights
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Thinking styles are context-dependent cognitive patterns tied to a person’s specific goals or frames, not universal personality traits.
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Demographics do not accurately predict cognition; relying on them can obscure real user needs and thinking styles.
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Inner thinking, emotional reactions, and personal rules are core components to identifying thinking styles.
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A single person can exhibit multiple thinking styles over time or across different contexts or goals.
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Using mental model skylines combined with thinking styles helps organizations visualize where they support or abandon certain cognitive approaches.
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Thinking styles enable better storytelling by creating characters that represent cognitive approaches rather than fixed demographic categories.
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Supporting diverse thinking styles prevents systemic harm and discrimination in product design and service strategies.
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Friction or adversity in a situation often triggers shifts between thinking styles, important for design considerations.
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Organizations can apply thinking styles to tailor front-end solutions, such as subscription models, to better fit user cognition and emotional context.
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Thinking styles differ from mindsets as they are situational, dynamic, and frame-dependent rather than fixed or universal.
Notable Quotes
"Thinking styles are not horoscopes or Myers-Briggs, they’re context-specific patterns within a frame of intent or purpose."
"Demographics don’t cause how people think; inner thinking is shaped by past experiences and personal rules."
"A caregiver’s thinking style changes from giving dignity and agency, to pushing past resistance, to avoiding the stew."
"You can’t understand cognition by saying someone is a grumbler who yells in traffic and also yells at gate attendants—it’s about the frame."
"We use mental model skylines to see gaps and opportunities in how we support different thinking styles."
"If organizations base offerings by demographics, they risk leaving some groups unsupported; thinking styles helps fix those cracks."
"Thinking styles let us humanize users by recognizing their emotional reactions and guiding principles within a situation."
"Friction in situations often causes people to switch thinking styles rather than change within the same style."
"Designing for thinking styles instead of personas lets you support people’s real-time cognitive approaches, not static categories."
"If a VP rejects supporting certain thinking styles, that can amount to outright discrimination, not just a business decision."
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