Tim Brown, born on June 24, 1962 in Preston, England, is the chairman of IDEO, a design and innovation company closely associated with the concept of “design thinking.” This concept, which Brown helped refine and popularize, centers on the user and meeting their needs through designer-driven innovation and strategic decision-making.
Brown is currently the chairman of IDEO, which offers consultancy services to help businesses implement design thinking. Originating in the 1970s, this concept also involves the collective creative thinking of designers to develop innovative solutions from the very beginning of a product or service’s creation.
Tim Brown, the king of design thinking
The concept of design thinking has gained massive popularity in recent years, applied across many industries. Much of that success is attributed to Brown, an industrial designer by training and a professor of engineering at Stanford. His main base of operations is IDEO, a creative design consultancy offering services to assist other companies.
Through a blog, Brown shared and expanded his insights into design thinking, which led to collaborations with major brands like Apple. He is a regular at the World Economic Forum in Davos, has given TED Talks exploring design, creativity, and thought, and works as a freelance advisor to CEOs and brands, in addition to his consultancy role.
Brown not only serves as chairman of IDEO but also sits on the company’s board of directors. Writing is one of his hobbies, and his work has been featured in The Economist, Harvard Business Review, and others. He authored the book Change by Design, aimed at creative leaders who seek to bring innovative solutions to business environments.
His résumé includes leading a creativity course and receiving multiple honorary doctorates—academic honors awarded by institutions to public figures of relevance. Brown has received these recognitions from institutions in London, Japan, and the United States. His long, innovative career has earned him numerous awards and led to exhibitions in galleries across London and the U.S.
Inspired by thinking big
In one of his TED Talks, Tim Brown urged his audience to focus on design that begins with thinking, rather than just the object itself. For years now, the English designer has made a tremendous impact, even founding a school of thought rooted in big, creative, and innovative design thinking.
Brown continues to inspire not only future designers but also professionals from other sectors seeking to explore creativity. He consistently argues that design should not be limited to aesthetic objects but should be seen as a method for problem-solving and understanding cultures and contexts to create user-centered experiences.
“Human need is the starting point,” Brown emphasized in one of his talks. “Instead of thinking about what to build, build to think,” is one of his iconic phrases. The process begins with building as a way to think—based on human needs—shifting the focus away from materiality and production.
That career-defining moment for Brown is the same principle he applies in his consulting work. Design thinking emphasizes the participation of the consumer as a key actor, with the goal of creating meaningful and innovative experiences. Brown defines this process as an “active relationship.”
A conclusion that sums up design thinking came during one of his TED Talks, where Brown stated that “design thinking is most effective when it moves from the hands of designers into the hands of everyone.”
A global school of innovation
Design thinking has evolved into a global school of thought, with thousands of companies and executives turning to Brown and IDEO for guidance on creative and innovative strategies—not just in business, but also in health, education, religion, and beyond.
Countless examples shared by Brown show that nearly every sector promotes the creation of user experiences as a way to address new challenges. These experiences go beyond simple actions and involve collective creativity focused on meeting user and consumer needs.
Tim Brown is also an active participant on LinkedIn, the professional social network. His activity focuses on cultivating design thinking among thousands of professionals, including designers from various disciplines. For Brown, the field of design is not limited to designers—it’s something that reaches out to everyone.