What is a Creative Solution?
A solution to a problem is creative if it involves concepts not included in the problem statement and the general knowledge surrounding it. At its core, a creative solution solves a client's problem through the design medium/language.
Design Thinking
Design thinking starts with the end user in mind. It focuses on what users need, not what designers think they should need. Design thinking is about solving problems, not creating them. It involves empathy, collaboration, iteration, and experimentation. Design thinking helps us understand the needs of customers, employees, and other stakeholders. It also helps us create products and services that solve real problems.
Design Research
The process designers employ to understand better a project's underlying and occasionally concealed demands and challenges is called design research. In this process, along with attempting to learn more about the Stakeholder, designers also seek to investigate the environment and its people. Unlike more traditional forms of market research, design research (at least in its early phases) is not about confirming a hypothesis or finding a solution. Instead, it is about having an open conversation with people to understand them better. It is about finding stories, understanding motivations, uncovering unmet needs, and most importantly, trying to understand how others perceive the world.