Introduction

In a rapidly evolving business landscape, innovation is critical for sustaining competitive advantage and meeting customer needs. This training course introduces participants to the principles and methodologies of design thinking, a human-centered approach to problem-solving and innovation. Participants will engage in hands-on activities to develop their design thinking skills, enabling them to generate creative solutions to complex business challenges and drive innovation within their organizations.

Objectives

By the end of this training course, participants will:

1. Understand Design Thinking Principles: Recognize the core principles and stages of the design thinking process.
2. Empathize with Users: Learn techniques for gaining insights into user needs and experiences.
3. Define Problems Effectively: Develop skills to articulate and define problems clearly and concisely.
4. Ideate and Prototype Solutions: Generate creative ideas and build prototypes to test solutions.
5. Implement and Iterate: Learn strategies for implementing solutions and iterating based on feedback.
6. Create an Action Plan for Innovation: Develop a personal action plan to apply design thinking methodologies in their work environments.

Who Should Attend?

This training course is ideal for:

• Business leaders and managers seeking to foster a culture of innovation.
• Product developers and designers involved in creating user-centric products and services.
• Marketing and sales professionals looking to enhance customer engagement.
• Anyone interested in learning how to apply design thinking to drive business innovation.

Course Outline

Day 1: Introduction to Design Thinking

• Morning Session: Understanding Design Thinking
  • Definition and importance of design thinking in business innovation
  • Overview of the design thinking process: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test
• Afternoon Session: The Design Thinking Mindset
  • Characteristics of a design thinker (empathy, collaboration, experimentation)
  • Group discussion: Examples of design thinking in successful businesses

Day 2: Empathize – Understanding Users

• Morning Session: Techniques for User Research
  • Methods for gaining insights (interviews, surveys, observations)
  • Workshop: Conducting user interviews to gather insights
• Afternoon Session: Analyzing User Insights
  • Synthesizing research findings to understand user needs
  • Creating empathy maps and user personas based on research

Day 3: Define – Articulating Problems

• Morning Session: Problem Definition Techniques
  • Strategies for clearly defining problems (problem statements, point-of-view statements)
  • Group exercise: Developing problem statements based on user insights
• Afternoon Session: Framing the Right Challenges
  • Techniques for reframing problems to inspire creative solutions
  • Workshop: Reframing challenges using design thinking techniques

Day 4: Ideate and Prototype Solutions

• Morning Session: Brainstorming and Ideation Techniques
  • Techniques for generating ideas (brainstorming, mind mapping, SCAMPER)
  • Group activity: Ideation session to generate solutions for defined problems
• Afternoon Session: Prototyping Solutions
  • Understanding the role of prototypes in the design thinking process
  • Hands-on activity: Creating low-fidelity prototypes of proposed solutions

Day 5: Test, Implement, and Iterate

• Morning Session: Testing Prototypes and Gathering Feedback
  • Techniques for testing solutions with users and gathering feedback
  • Workshop: Conducting user testing and refining prototypes based on feedback
• Afternoon Session: Creating an Action Plan for Innovation
  • Developing a personal action plan to implement design thinking in participants’ organizations
  • Closing reflections and commitment to fostering a culture of design thinking and innovation