Tag: empathy

  • Setting the stage for creative freedom

    Setting the stage for creative freedom

    By Heidi Aho, Shahida Parvin, & Eduardo Solorzano Tejeda. Design Thinking (DT) and Innovation require a lot of creativity. Creativity is often described as a spark of inspiration, but it is far more complex and deeply human. It happens at the intersection of emotions, environments, and culture. To truly nurture creativity, we need to look…

  • Designing with Empathy: Turning Small Crises into Meaningful Solutions

    In our Design Thinking masterclass with Katja Tschimmel, we explored how empathy can transform crises, big or small, into into human-centred solutions.

  • Why, why, why Design Thinking? 

    “It’s not ‘us versus them’ or even ‘us on behalf of them.’ For a design thinker it has to be ‘us with them’”.  –Tim Brown  Reflections by Marita Ruotsalainen and Katja Räisänen The workshop days of Design Thinking with engaging pracademic Daniela Marzavan felt like looking at something familiar through a pair of new glasses…

  • Let us unlock new tools with Design Thinking

    Reflections by Tuukka Savinainen & Showmen Rudra The themes of the days became noticeably clear during the teaching, and the understanding of why something grew during the teaching also increased. We went through the entire design thinking process in service design and experienced the power of activating thinking through various exercises.   Design Thinking is a…

  • Who can be a designer?

    Who can be a designer?

    Reflections on empathy and inclusion in the design field By Rosa Yang and Stinne Vognæs Neither of us are designers, so what does it mean to do a part-time service design degree as an adult? Will we ever be able to claim the “title” or “identity” of a Designer? After our first two-day workshop on…

  • Design Thinking Journey: From Head to Heart to Hand with a Skill Bag

    Reflections by Judyta Kontoniemi and Namrata Sethi Design Thinking. Sounds simple, right? Just follow the classic 6-stage Design Thinking process, reserve a couple of hours, get a room with a whiteboard and brainstorm a solution. Without involving real end users. There is much more to it. Let’s find out what Design Thinking is really about.…

  • Empathy in action – how to protect toddler naps in extreme circumstances

    You know the Fazer chocolates, right? You have seen them at the airports at least.   Some years ago, a construction company called NCC in Finland had to renovate an office above a nursery at the Fazer chocolate factory. This created a challenge: how to keep the noisy construction from waking up the toddlers during their…

  • Empathy – a Core Competence for Design Thinkers

    The modern business world is fast-paced and highly competitive. Companies must stay innovative to answer the complex demands of the ever-changing market and business needs. Design thinking has found its’ way to larger organizations as an answer to simplifying the challenges of both modern business and technology. (Kolko 2015.)   For business success, an empathic approach of design…

  • Empathy is the superpower you need to design truly innovative services

    In today’s world of complex systems and processes, people seek simplicity and real value. At the same time, companies’ competition for people’s attention is fiercer than ever. They face the challenge to differentiate themselves from competitors to gain the loyalty of their customers. Design Thinking might be the way we can add real and lasting…

  • Who are you designing for?

    For yourself? For the leadership who asked you to drive a new project? Think again. One of the first phases of applying Design Thinking is understanding who your audience is by building a deeper understanding of who you are designing for. Steven Portigal shares a great reminder by saying; “You may be a user but…