Integrating Design Thinking with Artificial Intelligence to Drive Innovation in Digital Product Development: A Comparative Case Study of Tech Startups and Established Firms

The increasing demand for innovative, user-centered, and technologically advanced digital products has encouraged organisations to integrate design thinking and artificial intelligence into product development processes. This study examined the integration of design thinking with artificial intelligence in driving innovation in digital product development among tech startups and established firms in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study adopted a mixed-methods comparative case study design involving 205 respondents selected from ten technology-based organisations comprising five tech startups and five established firms. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Descriptive statistics including frequency counts, percentages, mean, and standard deviation were used to analyse research questions, while Pearson Product Moment Correlation, Independent Samples t-test, and Multiple Regression Analysis were used to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. Multicollinearity diagnostics confirmed the absence of problematic multicollinearity among predictors. Interview data were transcribed verbatim and subjected to thematic analysis yielding four major themes. The findings revealed that the integration of design thinking and artificial intelligence significantly enhances innovation in digital product development. Significant differences were found between startups and established firms in adoption and application of these approaches. Leadership support, technical expertise, organisational culture, cross-functional collaboration, and employee training significantly influenced successful integration. Challenges including implementation cost, lack of expertise, data privacy concerns, and infrastructure limitation significantly constrained innovation outcomes.