Construction Design Thinking in Cost Analysis: The Application of Activity-Based Costing (ABC) for The Efficiency of Costing of Production

Inaccurate costing of goods of production (COGS) can cause distortion of product margins and selling price decisions, especially in manufacturing businesses with a diversity of activities and overhead costs. This article examines how design thinking can be constructed as an approach to designing an Activity-Based Costing (ABC) system that is centered on the needs of cost information users. The locus of the study is the practice of determining HPP in manufacturing companies and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), especially in the context of Indonesian studies. The study used a structured narrative literature review and conceptual synthesis of 13 scientific sources as well as one source of design process guidance that was chosen for its relevance to the ABCs, design thinking, and cost system implementation. The results of the synthesis resulted in a five-stage framework: empathize to map information needs, define to identify cost distortions, ideate to select activity groups and cost triggers, prototype to build HPP calculators, and test to compare output and usability of information. This framework distinguishes the accuracy of cost allocation from actual cost savings: changes in HPP numbers do not automatically mean a decrease in production expenses. Implicitly, the integration of design thinking and ABC has the potential to strengthen user acceptance, transparency of overhead allocation, and the quality of pricing decisions, with effectiveness still requiring empirical testing.