Dates: To be advised

Course Overview

Solving complex, human-centered challenges benefit from applying a Design Thinking approach. Design Thinking places people at the heart of the creative problem-solving process, allowing new insights to be uncovered and solutions to be designed that meet the needs and aspirations of the stakeholders and the organisation serving them.

By working directly with stakeholders, non-profit organisations can more clearly understand their beneficiary motivations and pain points, allowing solutions to be developed that resonate with users, and get sustained traction, thereby improving the return on investment and ultimate impacts.

This two-day programme teaches participants how to design solutions to the real-world complex challenges non-profit organisations are facing, with concepts that can be piloted and implemented.

Course Objectives

By the end of the two-day programme, participants would have:

• Learned to define and frame a design challenge, generate ideas for tackling it, and build solution concepts in alignment with the non-profit organisation’s strategies and values

• Developed the capabilities to synthesise patterns from user research data, in order to uncover insights that will inform the solutioning process
• Built rapid solutioning and testing abilities by understanding the role of user research in the design process, how to undertake low- fidelity prototyping to inform design enhancements, and how to integrate user inputs into the iteration of design concepts
• Built their creative problem-solving skills by challenging their assumptions through developing empathy-based user research skills and disruptive ideation techniques
• Developed communications capabilities that allow them to present and articulate their proposed solutions for buy-in and stakeholder feedback
• Built mindsets for resilience and innovation by increasing their creative confidence to challenge assumptions, uncover insights, and experience failure as a positive design input through prototyping, user testing, and iteration

Learning Outcomes

• Understanding how to frame a design challenge, and align design concepts with the organisation’s strategies and values
• Understanding pain points, needs, and opportunities for applying Design Thinking to meet the organisation’s needs
• Tackling obstacles to implementing Design Thinking within the organisation
• Understanding how to apply Design Thinking processes to help colleagues and other stakeholders tackle complex challenges in the future
• Understanding human-centered design and empathy-based user research
• Conducting ethnographic research and synthesising information from stakeholders to fully understand the needs of different users
• Understanding how to cluster trends, uncover insights and engage stakeholders during the Design Thinking process to uncover the motivations behind actions and behaviors
• Developing creative confidence to challenge assumptions, uncover insights and promote Design Thinking as a tool for solving problems and challenges for the organisation
• Determining the value proposition of their concept
• Understanding how to facilitate the development and execution of design concepts through prototypes, and conducting user testing
• Presenting and communicating the design outcomes and process for design ideas

Who Should Attend

The program is applicable to anyone working on a complex, human-centered challenge that doesn’t have a single, clear solution. In particular; the program is designed for those working in social service settings, seeking to improve organisational performance and outcomes for vulnerable communities through digital transformation.

Prerequisites

Minimum Diploma Holder.

Course Convener

(Click their photos to view their short biographies)