Course Information

Business strategy. Plan and secure success.

In contemporary workplaces, innovation is necessary to keep up with change. Design thinking helps organisations develop innovative solutions that not only resonate with their target audience but also deliver meaningful impact.

The design thinking methodology adopts a human-centred approach to problem-solving and innovation, prioritising an understanding of user and stakeholder needs and experiences. By embracing human-centred design, even the most complex problems can be solved. This approach asserts that individuals facing these complex problems play a key role in devising solutions. Taking a human-centred design enables problem solvers to develop empathy for their target audience, to continuously frame and reframe their understanding of the problem based on insights, and to ideate and test solutions that address these needs. This methodology helps design innovative products, services, experiences that are more likely to be adopted and used because it keeps people’s deeper needs at the centre of problem-solving.

Design thinking methodology was originally used by designers; however, it is now used in various fields beyond design, including business, education, and social innovation to facilitate creative problem solving. Design thinking unlocks team creativity by supporting the team’s generative thinking (refraining from judgement), assisting teams in developing tangible prototypes of their ideas, and enabling them to test their idea and iterate until they achieve the desired outcome (embracing rapid learning and user feedback).

This is a practical course, where you will learn about design thinking while practising it. The process is designed to facilitate direct learning from people, open yourself up to a breadth of creative possibilities, and focus on what’s most desirable, feasible, and viable for the users you’re designing for. You will be working in a team to learn how to frame a problem as a design challenge, how to ideate, and ultimately, how to prototype and test your solution. You will also learn to prototype a business model that underpins your new product or service. 

Aims

This course will give you a practice-based experience of design thinking. You will apply the methodology to a problem you have identified within your own professional practice, and will utilise a variety of problem-framing, ideation, and prototyping methods to bring your idea to life and test it.

Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• apply design thinking methodologies to creative problem solving
• frame a complex challenge into a design challenge
• ideate, prototype, and test your idea
• develop an initial Proof of Concept.

Content

Practising design thinking

• Design thinking practice
• Design thinking principles
• Reflections

Problem discovery and framing

• Exploring problems relevant to your professional practice
• Framing problems from a human perspective
• Problems as design challenges

Ideation and prototyping

• Ideation methods
• Prototyping and testing

Pitching

• Pitching for influencing

Intended audience

This course is intended for anyone in business, government or creative industries, seeking to innovate with design solutions to better meet the needs of customers.

Prerequisites

None

Delivery mode

• Face-to-face, presenter-taught workshop
• Online workshop via the platform Zoom

Materials

Course materials are distributed electronically using Dropbox.