1. Introduction / Process & Mindset
April 6, 2021
You will learn about the design thinking process and aspects that are critical to effective design; especially prototyping and brainstorming.
2. Getting Started with Some Focus
April 13, 2021
You’ll see, first hand, the importance of empathy in the design process. Empathetic behaviors help to define the problem being solved and creating solutions to problems not otherwise understood.
3. Capturing Empathy
April 20, 2021
We delve heavily into cognitive biases and ways to gain empathy about others. Total immersions, interviewing, playing word games, and video-tapping are all ways to gain empathy.
4. Imagine; Prototype & Test
April 27, 2021
A mainstay of design thinking is prototyping – making something visible and tangible. This unique ways of expressing yourself comes naturally after a few practice sessions.
5. More Prototyping; Getting Physical
May 4, 2021
6. Storytelling
May 11, 2021
We will cover the “and, but, therefore” format. We will also talk about the role of story in design thinking.
7. The Launch
May 18, 2021
Ready to go – your design is being market driven. By acting you learn.
8. Project Presentations
May 25, 2021
Participants will present what they’ve discovered through the Design Thinking process and share their project outcomes.
Learning Outcomes
A multi-step process designed to solve one of your real-life challenges,
- A disciplined approach to brainstorming and similar idea generation techniques and the steps to follow to get new ideas off the whiteboard and into production.
- Ways to resolve conflict during ideation and growth and adapt your design process when business conditions demand it.
- Ways to road test the growth potential of new ideas so you can minimize the risks and maximize the rewards inherent in growth and change.
- Stronger innovation and communication skills and the ability to enhance them in various project settings.
Special Experiences
- You will get a chance to work on a specific project and get feedback from the professors and other participants.
- We will experience the arts: listen to a jazz band and discuss their process for making music, talk to designer and learn how he creates journey maps, talk to a person who uses nature as her design criteria, and hear from an expert storyteller about the power of stories in organizations.
- Between sessions, optional experiences that enhance your skills.
- Discuss several examples of using design thinking through actual case studies.
- Each class period will provide time for you to work on your projects and get feedback.
- Discuss your organization’s challenges with strategy implementation with an expert on strategy formulation and implementation.
Career & Industry Outlook
According to a 2010 IBM survey of more than 1,500 Chief Executive Officers from 60 countries and 33 industries worldwide, chief executives believe that — more than rigor, management discipline, integrity or even vision — successfully navigating an increasing complex world will require creativity and creative thinking, which this Certificate will allow managers and executives to improve upon.
Conducted through in-person interviews with senior leaders and consultants from IBM’s Global Business Services division, less than half of global CEOs believe their enterprises are adequately prepared to handle a highly volatile, increasingly complex business environment. CEOs are confronted with massive shifts – new government regulations, changes in global economic power centers, accelerated industry transformation, growing volumes of data, rapidly evolving customer preferences – that, according to the study, can be overcome by instilling “creativity” throughout an organization. More than 60 percent of CEOs believe industry transformation is the top factor contributing to uncertainty, and the finding indicates a need to discover innovative ways of managing an organization’s structure, finances, people and strategy.
Projects
You will have an opportunity to work on your own project or to respond to a client’s project. We will present a client and their project. You will work with others in the program to address the client’s project. This project can include everyone in class or a subset of interested people.
We encourage you to work in a group if you choose your own project. You can include members of your team from outside the course.
Projects can be anything that interests you. These projects can be process redesign, product or service design, or even the design of physical space. Past participants worked on business plans for new businesses, the design of a new product for physically challenged students, alternative energy solutions for people living in emerging markets, and new websites.