Changelog

Product updates and new features.

v1.9.96September 19, 2026 · 16:15 HKT (September 19, 2026 · 08:15 UTC)

Fixed: saving now tells you the truth

  • •If the app ever fails to save something, you will now be told, and it will try again with your next change. Previously a rejected save could be quietly treated as done — this review closed that gap before it could cost anyone work.
  • •If a project fails to open properly, the app no longer starts saving an empty version of it over your real work. It stops, shows you the error, and leaves your saved data untouched.
v1.9.95September 19, 2026 · 16:07 HKT (September 19, 2026 · 08:07 UTC)

Improved: faster, lighter saving behind the scenes

  • •Your work now saves only the parts you actually changed, instead of re-saving the whole project each time. Pages feel the same, but the app does far less work in the background — which keeps everything quick and responsive as projects grow.
  • •Your project list loads faster, and we've tightened the behind-the-scenes rules that keep every account's data private and tidy.
v1.9.94September 12, 2026 · 12:04 HKT (September 12, 2026 · 04:04 UTC)

Improved: every page now has one clean web address

  • •Page addresses no longer end in “.html”. A guide that used to live at two addresses now lives at one clean address — for example /guides/journey-mapping — which is tidier to share and stops search engines from splitting one page's reputation across two versions of it.
  • •Every old address still works: visiting one now forwards you permanently to the clean version, so existing links, bookmarks and search results keep working and carry their history over.
  • •This finishes a clean-up from the recent platform upgrade: several behind-the-scenes workarounds that only existed to help search engines read the old site have been removed now that pages are fully built on our servers.
v1.9.93September 3, 2026 · 22:02 HKT (September 3, 2026 · 14:02 UTC)

Fixed: web research is working again

  • •Web research was failing with an error because the research engine it had been pointed at does not support live web search. It now runs on an engine we verified against the live service — it returns answers grounded in real, dated sources with citation links.
  • •Credits were already being refunded automatically on every failed attempt, so no research credits were lost while this was broken. Pricing and credit costs are unchanged.
v1.9.92September 3, 2026 · 18:11 HKT (September 3, 2026 · 10:11 UTC)

Fixed: research AI now uses the corrected model reference

  • •The web-research assistant was pointed at a research engine reference that was not the intended one; it has been corrected.
  • •Pricing, credits, and error handling are unchanged. If an engine is ever unavailable, your credits are still automatically refunded.
v1.9.91September 3, 2026 · 17:48 HKT (September 3, 2026 · 09:48 UTC)

Improved: prototype visuals now generate faster and cheaper by default

  • •Prototype visual generation now starts with our fastest, most cost-efficient image engine, with the higher-quality engine kept as an automatic fallback if the first one is unavailable.
  • •Your credits are still only charged on success and automatically refunded on any failure — nothing about pricing or reliability has changed.
v1.9.90September 3, 2026 · 07:40 HKT (September 2, 2026 · 23:40 UTC)

Fixed: pages were sending search engines two conflicting sets of page details

  • •Every page was sending two competing titles and descriptions to search engines and social networks — the homepage's, plus the page's own — because two separate systems were both writing them after the recent platform upgrade.
  • •There is now one system that writes each page's title, description, address, and social preview, so every page describes itself exactly once. Guide pages also regained their article details (author, publish and update dates, topic) for search results.
  • •Our verification tool was checking a file the upgrade removed, so it could not see any of this. It has been rebuilt and now checks the actual served pages: all 82 public pages pass.
v1.9.89September 3, 2026 · 06:49 HKT (September 2, 2026 · 22:49 UTC)

Fixed: guide pages were showing the guides index instead of the guide

  • •Every one of the 70 guide pages was loading the guides directory page instead of the guide you clicked. The pages returned a normal 200 response, which is why routine checks did not catch it — only a page-by-page content comparison did.
  • •Cause: after the recent platform upgrade, the guides directory page sat in the slot reserved for a shared wrapper around all guide pages, so it displayed itself instead of letting each guide render. The directory page has been moved to its correct slot.
  • •Verified across all 85 public URLs: each page now shows its own heading and its own canonical address. The guides directory, all marketing pages, and the app itself are unaffected.
v1.9.88July 4, 2026 · 14:30 HKT (July 4, 2026 · 06:30 UTC)

About page rewritten to focus on the product

  • •The About page now tells the story of Design Thinker Labs itself — how it began as a university lecture demo in 2025, the access problem it was built to solve, and how the six-stage learning environment works today.
  • •Founder credentials remain, anchored to the methodology behind the tool. The page is written in the product's voice, not the founder's.
v1.9.87July 4, 2026 · 14:13 HKT (July 4, 2026 · 06:13 UTC)

Author identity: Keith Li's company Allytic AI now credited across the site

  • •The About page and the new Editorial Policy page now name Allytic AI — Keith Li's company, founded December 16, 2025 — as the parent organization behind Design Thinker Labs' authorship.
  • •Design Thinker Labs remains the product brand; the Allytic AI mention is an author-identity trust signal, not a rebrand.
v1.9.86July 4, 2026 · 14:13 HKT (July 4, 2026 · 06:13 UTC)

New guide: Systems Mapping in Design Thinking

  • •New guide: Systems Mapping in Design Thinking — actor maps, causal loops, stock-and-flow diagrams, the iceberg model (events → patterns → structures → mental models), when it supplements journey mapping, and explicit boundaries for AI-assisted synthesis.
  • •Wired into the guide hub, sitemap, internal-link rails, and the Synthesis & Ideation cluster.
v1.9.85July 4, 2026 · 14:13 HKT (July 4, 2026 · 06:13 UTC)

Every guide now shows its author, last-updated date, and how it was made

  • •Every guide now carries a visible byline in the header — author name, credential, and a link to the About page — so you always know who wrote what you're reading.
  • •When a guide has been revised since publication, it now shows a 'Last updated' date beside the publish date.
  • •A compact 'About this guide' block at the end of every guide names the author, discloses that guides are drafted with AI assistance and reviewed by a human before publication, and links to the new Editorial Policy.
  • •New Editorial Policy page (linked from the site footer) explains our authorship, AI-assistance policy, fact-checking, corrections process, and sources policy.
v1.9.84June 27, 2026 · ~17:50 HKT (June 27, 2026 · ~09:50 UTC)

Two new guides: POV Statement Template + Design Thinking vs Six Sigma

  • •New guide: POV Statement Template — the User+Need+Insight framework with 10 industry-specific point-of-view statements (Healthcare, Fintech, SaaS, EdTech, Mobility, Retail, B2B SaaS, Non-profit, Government, DTC), 4 copyable templates, and a common-mistakes section.
  • •New guide: Design Thinking vs Six Sigma — innovation vs optimization compared across 10 dimensions, with a DMAIC primer for designers, a quick decision guide, three combination patterns, and common misconceptions.
  • •Both guides are fully wired into the guide hub, sitemap, internal-link rails, and the relevant topic clusters (Synthesis & Ideation; Foundations).
v1.9.83June 18, 2026 · 13:35 HKT (June 18, 2026 · 05:35 UTC)

Report button and the cross-AI lock now enforce the same rules end-to-end

  • •The Test stage's "Generate Report" button now shares the exact same readiness check as the rest of the workspace — including the minimum-research threshold — so the button can no longer look enabled while the system refuses to run it.
  • •When any AI action is already running, every other AI action is now blocked at the engine level too, not only at the button. Programmatic triggers, fast double-clicks, and future surfaces all fail closed with a clear "Paused — <operation> in progress" message.
  • •The missing-stage helper text under the Report button is now produced by the same source of truth, so it always lists exactly the stages the engine considers incomplete.
v1.9.82June 18, 2026 · 13:19 HKT (June 18, 2026 · 05:19 UTC)

Add-Step modal now honours the same upstream-context gate as the rest of the workspace

  • •The "AI Suggest Next Step" button inside the Add Step modal is now disabled until a first journey step exists and your research is in place — matching every other AI button in the workspace. Its tooltip names exactly what's missing.
  • •Manual entry inside the same modal stays available at all times, even when AI suggestion is gated.
v1.9.81June 18, 2026 · 13:11 HKT (June 18, 2026 · 05:11 UTC)

AI buttons now refuse to run on empty context

  • •Every AI-assist button across Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test is now disabled until the upstream context it needs is actually in place — no more silent fabrication when a prior step hasn't been completed.
  • •Each disabled AI button now tells you in its tooltip exactly what's missing (for example, "Disabled — needs a problem statement or selected pain point first"), so you always know which step to complete next.
  • •Manual editing — journey notes, pain-point selection, adding stages, removing visuals — stays available at all times. Only AI generation is gated.
v1.9.80June 18, 2026 · 12:46 HKT (June 18, 2026 · 04:46 UTC)

Cleaner Image Notice and Friction-Free Manual Journey Steps

  • •The image-generation notice now states only what we can guarantee — size, typical duration, automatic credit refund on server-side errors, and the tab-close caveat — without naming an implementation detail that may change.
  • •Adding a manual step to your user journey is no longer blocked while another AI action is running. The AI-suggest path still pauses to keep generations context-consistent.
v1.9.79June 18, 2026 · 12:46 HKT (June 18, 2026 · 04:46 UTC)

Context-Consistent AI Across Every Stage

  • •Only one AI action runs at a time across the workspace, and the page tells you which one — so downstream generations always see the freshest context from prior steps.
  • •Every paused AI button now shows a tooltip naming the operation currently in progress, so you always know what to wait for.
  • •The 'Generate Full Journey' action now produces actions, thoughts, emotions, pain points, and opportunities in one consistent pass for each stage.
v1.9.78June 18, 2026 · 11:49 HKT (June 18, 2026 · 03:49 UTC)

Clearer Loading Feedback Everywhere

  • •Every place the app is thinking — sign-in, profile, admin, project workspace, journey mapping, and every AI assist button — now shows an animated spinner paired with rotating status messages so you always know something is happening and roughly what step is running.
  • •Honest microcopy on non-AI loads (for example, sign-in shows 'Verifying session…', autosave shows 'Saving…') instead of generic 'Loading…' text.
v1.9.77June 18, 2026 · 11:48 HKT (June 18, 2026 · 03:48 UTC)

Sharper Default for Prototype Image Generation

  • •The default image-generation model for prototype visuals has been upgraded for higher fidelity. Existing fallback models remain available and surface a clear error before any automatic retry.
v1.9.76June 17, 2026 · 12:02 HKT (June 17, 2026 · 04:02 UTC)

Smoother First Paint on the Home Page

  • •Eliminated the visible text reflow when web fonts finish loading — text now appears in the right size and position on first paint, and the brand font swaps in without nudging the layout.
v1.9.75June 16, 2026 · 00:55 HKT (June 15, 2026 · 16:55 UTC)

Security Hardening

  • •Stripe checkout, credit purchase, and customer-portal sessions now only redirect back to the official Design Thinker Labs domains; an attacker cannot craft a checkout link that bounces you to an outside site.
  • •Internal database helpers used for credits, role checks, and admin reporting are now reachable only by the trusted backend — no signed-in or anonymous session can call them directly.
v1.9.74June 11, 2026

Research Quality

  • •Live market research and journey-mapping evidence now run on a newer model for clearer, more reliable output.
  • •Error messages remain specific when a research request can't complete, so you always know what happened.
v1.9.70May 24, 2026

Security Hardening

  • •Account, billing, and admin surfaces hardened across the platform.
  • •Stronger password protections at signup and password change.
v1.9.69May 24, 2026

Homepage and Guide Improvements

  • •Added a Popular Guides row to the homepage for quicker access to the most-read articles.
  • •Rewrote the openings of two flagship guides for clearer titles and summaries.
v1.9.61May 13, 2026

New Diagrams in the Tools and Software Guide

  • •Added two new illustrated diagrams to the Design Thinking Tools and Software guide: a three-tier toolkit model and a four-question adoption filter.
v1.9.59May 13, 2026

Faster First Paint

  • •Pages now render faster on first visit by removing render-blocking font loads.
  • •Improved text contrast on the Guides hub for better readability.
v1.9.57May 13, 2026

Author Byline on Guide Articles

  • •Every guide article now carries a verified author byline: Keith Li, founder of Design Thinker Labs.
  • •Author identity is reflected consistently in social-share previews.
v1.9.55May 13, 2026

Related Guides

  • •Every guide now suggests three related guides from the same topic cluster.
v1.9.41April 11, 2026

Research-Backed Guide Enhancements

  • •Six guide articles enriched with published research data, named case studies, and measurable outcomes for deeper practitioner value
  • •Customer Experience guide now includes longitudinal ROI data and global consumer behavior research
  • •Healthcare guide expanded with hospital innovation lab case studies and national patient satisfaction research
  • •Education guide strengthened with peer-reviewed meta-analysis findings on design thinking effectiveness
  • •User Testing guide now features ROI benchmarks from 863+ real projects and enterprise-scale impact studies
v1.9.36April 7, 2026

Mobile Navigation Upgrade

  • •Mobile hamburger menu now available on all marketing and guide pages; navigation is fully accessible on every screen size
  • •Navigation consolidated into a single shared component for consistency across the entire site
  • •Dashboard header optimized for narrow screens to prevent layout overflow
v1.9.30April 7, 2026

Sharing and Navigation Polish

  • •Per-page social sharing images for richer link previews when sharing on social media
  • •Smooth scrolling for the Guides hub category navigation
v1.9.25April 6, 2026

Google Sign-In & Security Enhancements

  • •'Continue with Google' button added to login and signup pages; sign in with one click using your Google account
  • •Google users automatically get their real name as their display name
  • •Profile creation works seamlessly for all sign-in methods
  • •Enhanced file security with owner-scoped access; your uploaded files are private and accessible only to you via time-limited links
  • •Subscription data fully secured on the server side
v1.9.20April 6, 2026

Navigation & Login UX Improvements

  • •Clear 'Log in' link now visible on all navigation headers alongside 'Get Started' for easy access
  • •Hero and call-to-action buttons upgraded with high-contrast styling for stronger visual hierarchy
  • •Header streamlined: single 'Log in' button replaces duplicate auth buttons
  • •'Design Thinker Labs' brand name visible on all viewport sizes with responsive text sizing
  • •Backend infrastructure modernized for improved reliability and long-term maintainability
v1.9.12April 6, 2026

Billing & Payment Reliability

  • •Payments now process instantly via event-driven billing; no more delays after checkout
  • •Credit purchases are protected against browser closures or network interruptions; your credits always arrive
  • •Subscription status detection expanded to handle trials, payment retries, and cancellations accurately
  • •Usage analytics now show detailed per-feature breakdowns in the admin view
  • •Billing infrastructure upgraded for improved consistency and reliability
v1.9April 5, 2026

AI Reports & Export Tools

  • •Generate Report button in the Test stage; produces a comprehensive Design Thinking report synthesizing all 6 stages
  • •Reports stream in real-time with live formatting so you can read as they generate
  • •Download as PDF with professionally formatted headings, tables, bullet lists, and page numbers
  • •Download as DOCX (Word) with full formatting preserved
  • •Copy, DOCX, and PDF export buttons available at both top and bottom of long reports
  • •Brand logo now appears consistently on all app pages
  • •Markdown tables and line breaks render correctly in all AI-generated content
v1.8April 5, 2026

AI Quality & About Page

  • •AI models upgraded for better quality, faster responses, and more reliable image generation
  • •All AI errors now show specific, actionable messages instead of generic codes
  • •AI suggestions include full project context for more relevant outputs and only fill empty fields
  • •Educational popups appear before AI generation so students learn methodology first
  • •Prototype stage labels updated to work for any industry, not just software
  • •About page tells the full origin story: Keith Li's decade of teaching Design Thinking at universities and facilitating corporate workshops
  • •Custom brand favicon deployed across all formats
  • •About link added to navigation for better discoverability
v1.6April 5, 2026

Design System Overhaul

  • •New primary color: deep royal blue, distinct from all stage identity colors
  • •Workspace layout widened for better content density
  • •Sidebar narrowed to reclaim space for content
v1.4April 5, 2026

Educational Content Expansion

  • •48 educational guide articles covering design thinking methodology, stages, methods, and audiences
  • •16 inline diagrams for visual method articles: empathy maps, journey maps, stakeholder maps, service blueprints, and more
  • •9 guide articles expanded with practitioner-level depth: worked examples, frameworks, case studies, and decision matrices
  • •Guides hub page with organized categories: Foundations, Stages, Methods, Audiences, Advanced & Integration
  • •All page navigations now consistently start at the top of the page
v1.1April 5, 2026

Guide Articles & Legal Foundations

  • •38 initial guide articles with enhanced search result metadata
  • •8 inline diagrams for visual learning
  • •Comprehensive Terms of Service with 21 sections including Hong Kong governing law
  • •Signup agreement checkbox with Terms and Privacy links
  • •Refund policy disclosure on Pricing page
v1.0April 4, 2026

Public Launch

  • •All 6 design thinking stages complete: Initialize, Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test
  • •32 AI-powered functions across all stages
  • •AI-generated visual mockups in the Prototype stage
  • •Comprehensive project export and reporting
  • •Credit-based usage system with 20 free monthly credits
  • •Pro subscription tier with expanded limits
  • •Credit pack purchases for additional AI usage
  • •User authentication with email verification
  • •Admin dashboard with usage analytics
  • •Educational popups with stage-specific guidance
  • •Comprehensive guide library and documentation