Course Syllabus
Lesson 01 – Design Thinking
Introduction to Design Thinking
5D Design Thinking framework
Design Thinking Case study
Differentiate with Design Thinking
Design Thinking for everyone in the organization
Lesson 02 – Discover – Discover design problems
Overview of the Discover phase
Define project stakeholders
Methods within Discover
Lesson 03 – Define – Frame the design problems
Overview of the Define phase
Methods within Define
Lesson 04 – Dream – Come up with multiple solutions
Overview of the Dream phase
Methods within Dream phase
Lesson 05 – Design – Design the solutions
Overview of the Design phase
Methods within Design
Lesson 06 – Dry-Run – Validate the solutions
Overview of the Dry-Run phase
Methods within Dry-Run
Some of the world’s leading brands, such as Apple, Google, Samsung, and General Electric, have rapidly adopted the design thinking approach, and design thinking is being taught at leading universities around the world, including Stanford d.school, Harvard, and MIT.
Design Thinking is not exclusive to designers—all great innovators in literature, art, music, science, engineering and business have practiced it. So, why call it Design Thinking? Well, that’s because design work processes help us systematically extract, teach, learn and apply human-centered techniques to solve problems in a creative and innovative way—in our designs, businesses, countries and lives. And that’s what makes it so special.
The overall goal of this design thinking course is to help you design better products, services, processes, strategies, spaces, architecture, and experiences. Design thinking helps you and your team develop practical and innovative solutions for your problems. It is a human-focused, prototype-driven, innovative design process.
Through this course, you will develop a solid understanding of the fundamental phases and methods in design thinking, and you will learn how to implement your newfound knowledge in your professional work life. We will give you lots of examples; we will go into case studies, videos, and other useful material, all of which will help you dive further into design thinking.
This course contains a series of practical exercises that build on one another to create a complete design thinking project. The exercises are optional, but you’ll get invaluable hands-on experience with the methods you encounter in this course if you complete them, because they will teach you to take your first steps as a design thinking practitioner.
What’s equally important is you can use your work as a case study for your portfolio to showcase your abilities to future employers! A portfolio is essential if you want to step into or move ahead in a career in the world of human-centered design.
Design thinking methods and strategies belong at every level of the design process. However, design thinking is not an exclusive property of designers—all great innovators in literature, art, music, science, engineering, and business have practiced it. What’s special about design thinking is that designers and designers’ work processes can help us systematically extract, teach, learn, and apply these human-centered techniques in solving problems in a creative and innovative way—in our designs, in our businesses, in our countries, and in our lives.
That means that design thinking is not only for designers but also for creative employees, freelancers, and business leaders. It’s for anyone who seeks to infuse an approach to innovation that is powerful, effective and broadly accessible, one that can be integrated into every level of an organization, product, or service so as to drive new alternatives for businesses and society.
“The main tenet of design thinking is empathy for the people you’re trying to design for. Leadership is exactly the same thing-building empathy for the people that you are entrusted to help.”-David Kelley, Founder of IDEO Design thinking is not a buzzword or a fad, but a necessity, a need of the hour. With so many products and services appearing and disappearing in a fast world, the only tenet that stands the test of time is the underlying human need.
Humans are back in the centre of the universe, our product/service universe. This is why design thinking is referred to as human centred design. This course will be an introduction to employees and managers in a company and an experience of an empathy led approach to creativity in the context of an organization. The facilitator will use live projects to demonstrate and apply the method.
Who this course is for:
- Individuals who have heard about design thinking but don’t know exactly what it is or how it works.
- Those who need to refresh and solidify their understanding of design thinking.
- Business leaders wanting to better understand what the designers at your company do, or how design can help your company achieve their goals
What you’ll learn:
- Apply the design thinking framework to solve problems more creatively
- Understand problems from the customer’s perspective
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Plan and conduct effective design research, including user interviews
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Identify your design research objectives
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Create prototypes to test your idea early, before making a big investment of time and money
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Guide groups to effectively brainstorm innovative ideas
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Make and use a storyboard to communicate your design ideas
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Make a plan to iterate your idea forward