As digital engineers reinvent our every-day lives in the process of digital transformation, the world changes rapidly. This is a tremendous challenge and opportunity, for which many technology-centred engineering approaches provide only limited support.
Language: English
Course information
As digital engineers reinvent our every-day lives in the process of digital transformation, the world changes rapidly. This is a tremendous challenge and opportunity, for which many technology-centred engineering approaches provide only limited support. Often-observable limitations in design processes include:
An unbalanced dedication of resources: beginning quickly with the development of whatever solution, skipping initial processes of understanding life domains and human needs that call for novel solutions
The use of rational-analytic tools in the design process only, neglecting the important role of personal experiences as prompts for better designs
An overreliance on coded representations of phenomena – such as verbal descriptions, statistical data or mathematical models – instead of working with real-life phenomena, whose ambiguity supports numerous viewpoints, each being a door towards different potential solutions.
Design thinking is a holistic approach to innovation, both with regard to the process and the outcomes. In the creative process, means of reason and means of experiencing are used in conjunction to advance worthwhile innovations. Outcomes are generated that do not only expand humanities technical possibilities (feasibility) and open up business opportunities (viability), but aim at changing people's lives for the better (desirability).Many design thinking classes provide practical introductions to the work approach; this lecture specifically conveys the theoretical background of why and how design thinking works. Participants are familiarised with design thinking research on behalf of the three "pillars" of creative work:
(1) the innovation process,
(2) people who collaborate and
(3) creative places.
Participants learn how to benefit in their own work from making better-informed choices in all three domains: with regard to the process they use, the collaboration strategy they pursue and the environments they seek out or actively design to support and advance their work. Moreover, two defining characteristics of innovation are discussed in detail: novelty and effectiveness. Participants learn about the challenges of developing novel solutions, as many audiences strongly prefer conventional (non-novel) ideas and innovation-attempts often encounter resistance. Participants also learn to assess the effectiveness of technological developments in design thinking frameworks, attending to user needs. All in all, the class provides an overview of design thinking research results and lets participants take part in current design thinking developments.
Course contents
01_Introduction:
Introduction to design thinking as an innovation paradigm02_Achieving Novelty :
Innovations are novel and effective solutions03_Achieving Effectiveness
04_Innovation as a Basis of Culture Development
05_Creative Process
06_Creative People
07_Creative Places
08_Mid Term Presentations
09_Case Studies:
In this week we invoke design thinking theory to reflect on two case studies: mobility and Tele-Board MED.10_Working With Prototypes
11_Design Thinking the Semester Project
12_Strategic Perspectives
13_Final Presentations of Innovation Models
Quoted Literature
Presentation Tasks and Grading
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Learners
This course is offered by
Julia von Thienen, PhD, studied psychology at the Free University of Berlin. She received her doctorate in the field of comparative research methodology, spanning psychology, neuroscience and medicine. She has taught research methodology and philosophy of science at the Free University of Berlin, the University of Chicago and the University of Potsdam. Since 2008 Julia von Thienen has worked as a design thinking researcher at the Hasso Plattner Institute, at Potsdam University. Her studies explore the theoretical background of why and how design thinking works, design thinking history, curriculum design and applications of design thinking in the healthcare sector.
Hanadi Traifeh is a Design Thinking researcher at the Hasso Plattner Institute and a Design Thinking coach at the HPI School Design Thinking. Her primary research interests include the digital transformation of education, learner-centric education design, and the effective use of Design Thinking in education. She led and contributed to the design and implementation of several educational and capacity building programmes around the world for organizations that include the University of Cambridge, BBC World Trust, the International Development Research Centre of Canada, and the World Affairs Council of North California. Hanadi holds an MA in Fine Arts from the University of Wales (UK) and a Certificate in Instructional Design from George Brown College (Canada).