Design Thinking and Four-P Creativity Framework: Highland Craft Community Product Development in a Creative Social Development Context

Abstract

This research article pursues three objectives: (1) to examine the design thinking process as a strategic instrument for coffee product development within highland communities under the Phra Dhammajarik Project at Wat Phra Dhammajarik Ban Ya Nam, Wawi Subdistrict, Mae Suai District, Chiang Rai Province; (2) to analyze the structural relationships between human-centered design and the creation of social and economic value within the Doi Wawi highland community; and (3) to propose integrative guidelines combining design thinking with a four-component creativity framework to advance sustainable social innovation in the context of highland craft communities. A qualitative methodology was employed, integrating participatory action research and ethnographic approaches at the same research site. Key informants, selected through purposive sampling, comprised monk-developers, community leaders, coffee-processing artisans, designers, and social innovation specialists. Data were collected via in-depth interviews, participant observation, and content analysis, with credibility verified through triangulation. The findings reveal that the design thinking process within highland community contexts operates as an iterative five-stage cycle: empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping, and testing. The empathizing stage requires prior establishment of trust and social capital as its foundation. Integrating the four-component creativity framework-person, process, contextual environment, and product-strengthens community capacity to develop coffee products balancing functional utility, aesthetic value, and cultural appropriateness. The outcomes generate tangible social value across packaging and processing skill development, sustainable income generation, and preservation of the Doi Wawi highland community's cultural identity. As a key contribution, this study proposes a new conceptual framework designated the “JARIKANO Model” - a four-level integrative model articulating the dynamic interrelationships among community foundation, driving mechanisms, design thinking process, and the four-component creativity framework, culminating in sustainable social innovation within highland craft community contexts.