…Study at Laurea? The swift deep dive into Design Thinking with Katja Tschimmel also marked the start of the Master Degree Programme in Service Innovation and Design.

I was happy to discover during these two days, that the theory behind Design Thinking can provide the Tools will enable me to take a more professional and structured approach to complex problem solving. Design Thinking is a human-centred approach enabling, among other skills, to develop empathy for the target group and observe behaviours that, as Tim Brown puts it, are “never right or wrong, but they are always meaningful”. This is further reflected in the methodology, that Design Thinking shifts the point of view from “The Problem” to “The Project” and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration.

To tackle more complex projects, Design Thinking comes with a variety of models that have developed over time and show that each customer’s journey is individual, which doesn’t make the process easier.

1… 2… 3…

My entry question “How might we study at Laurea” was the core project, through which we swiftly applied the design thinking process, based on the Mindshake Design Thinking Model Evolution 6² model.

The process has touched each stage of the Design Thinking Process and gave an overall feeling of what will come during the next 1.5 years.

Starting with the first step of Evolution 62, E1, Emergence, the opportunity map visualised the thoughts and set us in the right mind set of “draw as much as you can”. Seeing the map afterwards, shows that even when being open to the idea, it is not easy.

E2, Empathy, showed us the network we are connected to and put the studies in context of personal, private and further context and correlations. Here it becomes important to understand what empathy stands for and see the process with another pair of eyes and an angle that is different from yours.

Running through E3, Experimentation, provided us with the notes “Work with Datanerds” and “Understanding digital development better” and led to E4, Elaboration.

A prototype showing a Design Thinker riding an elephant, keeping all information together and connection various stakeholders was born. And a service blueprint for an overarching online platform providing easy access and overview of all the various tools in the Laurea e-environment.

 

As weird as it looks, but the modelling helps with the thinking.

The E5, Exposition, provided the story of a student entering Laurea on the 1st day, logging on to “Elephant”, the online platform, for everything he needs to know.

…GO!

After applying Design Thinking to the Project “studying at Laurea”, the message is – keep calm. Back in the office, I realised how mind-opening the start of the journey has been. I am looking forward to dive deeper into the theory and material behind the topic Service Innovation and Design and start entering the final step of E6 and implement.

 

 

 

References

Brown, Tim 2009. Change by design: how design thinking can transform organizations and inspire innovation. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Brown, Tim 2008. Design Thinking. Harvard Business Review, June, 84-95. http://www.ideo.com/images/uploads/thoughts/IDEO_HBR_Design_Thinking.pdf

Tschimmel, Katja 2012. Design Thinking as an effective Toolkit for Innovation. In: Proceedings of the XXIII ISPIM Conference: Action for Innovation: Innovating from Experience. Barcelona. http://www.academia.edu/1906407/Design_Thinking_as_an_effective_Toolkit_for_Innovation