A bibliometric analysis of the status, trends, and frontiers of design thinking research based on the web of science core collection (2011–2022)

Technological innovation is catalyzing a shift in thinking, leading to a growing scholarly interest in the realm of Design Thinking (DT). To elucidate the current research landscape, evolutionary patterns, and prospective trajectories within the DT domain over the past twelve years, this study utilized CiteSpace, Vosviewer, and R-bibliometrix-ggplot for a bibliometric examination of DT publications in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) spanning from 2011 to 2022. As of December 31, 2022, a total of 585 articles pertaining to DT were identified in WoSCC, originating from 70 countries, published in 373 journals, authored by 1726 scholars affiliated with 807 institutions, and collectively cited 22,935 times. The three leading countries in terms of publication frequency are the United States (F = 195), Australia (F = 53), and China (F = 50). The preeminent institution is Stanford University (F = 15). The most prolific author is Magistretti S (F = 6), with the initial publication in 2021. Apart from DT, the most prevalent keyword was “innovation” (F = 51), with the first mention in 2013. The subject category with the highest number of DT publications was Education & educational research (F = 136). The most frequently cited local author was Liedtka J (LCF = 117), and the most frequently co-cited author was Brown T (CCF = 448). In conclusion, this study finds that the development of DT still holds great potential, and its frontier hotspots will likely focus on “system” and “challenge”. The study aims to provide comprehensive insights into the overall picture and developmental trajectory of DT, offering valuable guidelines for future DT research.