Design Thinking Landscape in Entrepreneurship Research: A Bibliometric-Based Systematic Review

Design thinking has emerged as a prominent approach to problem-solving and innovation, increasingly adopted by organizations and individuals to address complex challenges and improve outcomes. Its collaborative, creative, and human-centered nature makes it a powerful tool for generating innovative solutions. Yet, consensus on its core features, definitions, and applications remains lacking. To clarify its role within entrepreneurial scholarship, this study systematically reviews 106 conceptual and empirical works. Using descriptive and bibliometric analysis, it maps conceptualizations, tools, models, and links to entrepreneurship, offering a foundational overview of design thinking’s evolution and future research directions.