Design Thinking is not really about design! Rather, it is a systematic approach to innovation and creative problem-solving that can be used in many disciplines. Design Thinking applies the methodologies of design to challenges in business and society—which makes it central to innovation and creativity. So this course is for all professions, not only designers and architects.
Design Thinking has also been described as ‘…a bunch of strategies for how you come up with new ideas!’ [David Kelley]. Or as ‘…the ability to combine empathy for the context of a problem, creativity in the generation of insights and solutions and rationality to analyze and fit solutions to the context’. Some call it Integrative Thinking.
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
- Have fundamental capabilities in the methods used for practicing Design Thinking
- Understand challenges and benefits of Design Thinking
- Be able to communicate clearly about Design Thinking
- Be open to innovating in multidisciplinary teams
- Have a process and mindset suited to innovation and creative problem-solving
The course will help you to:
- Participate in and lead innovation in a collaborative setting in multidisciplinary teams
- Master creative thinking and problem-solving
- Learn techniques to understand users’ motivations and to gather deep insights
- Learn from failure: Innovation entails taking risks and trying new things
- Communicate through engaging visual storytelling and video-prototyping
- Incorporate Design Thinking into your everyday professional activities
The course and the assignments blend:
- Practice — focused on methods and tools
- Background — theory and history relevant to Design Thinking
- Reflection — considering and questioning design thinking
- Multidisciplinary work — exploring your collaborative force and collective intelligence