Design Thinking: An Innovative Approach to Program Design
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Date
2019-04
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ohio State University. Office of Outreach and Engagement
Abstract
Design thinking is an innovative approach to program or product design that includes five stages: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. This workshop-style session will provide participants with an introduction to design thinking, examples of how it is currently being implemented in higher education, and many hands-on design-thinking activities for an immersive experience. Participants will leave with a better understanding of the non-linear process necessary for designing solutions to complex challenges and opportunities. They will be armed with activities to utilize right away in their work with colleagues, partners, and community members. Additional information will be provided for continued learning and development opportunities in design thinking.
Description
Collaboration is vital in effectively driving innovative solutions to complex community issues. Creativity and the art of experimentation have been lost in our current culture of efficiency. Design thinking, born from research by Tim Brown (IDEO) and the Stanford D School, provides an actionable step-by-step process for creative design that can help Ohio State faculty and staff develop creative solutions to current complex challenges and opportunities while fostering robust community partnerships. This innovative approach includes five stages of design – empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test – and is ideal for land-grant universities because it offers a human-centered approach to issues identification and program planning. Design thinking is of particular importance to land-grant institutions because it fosters successful community needs assessments through direct observation and interviews with key stakeholders. The insights gained through observation and interviews help drive creative and effective solutions to society's greatest issues while forcing program designers to leave their assumptions at the door. While traditional models of program planning, like the logic model, are still very much relevant to how we plan and identify resources and objectives, design thinking offers a more robust and agile method to plan engagement opportunities by moving evaluation up in the planning process and guaranteeing a higher level of impact. Design thinking leans heavily on empathy and incorporates ways to actively engage stakeholders and partners in the program design process. Even more, design thinking encourages validating assumptions, identifying gaps in knowledge, failing early, and pivoting where necessary to ensure every idea will be met with success. This workshop-style session will provide participants with an introduction to design thinking, examples of how it is currently being implemented in higher education, and many hands-on design thinking activities for an immersive experience. Participants will leave the workshop with a better understanding of the non-linear process necessary for designing solutions to complex challenges and opportunities. Participants will be armed with daily habits and activities they can utilize right away in their work and with colleagues and community members. Additional information will be provided for further design thinking collaborative learning opportunities for continued learning and development.
AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Danae Wolfe, OSU Extension educational technology specialist, wolfe.540@osu.edu (Corresponding Author)
AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Danae Wolfe, OSU Extension educational technology specialist, wolfe.540@osu.edu (Corresponding Author)
Keywords
design thinking, program design, innovation, collaboration
Citation
Engaged Scholars, v. 7 (2019).