GRA 8282 Design Thinking (2023/2024)

GRA 8282 Design Thinking (2023/2024)

Course code: 
GRA 8282
Department: 
Strategy and Entrepreneurship
Credits: 
4
Course coordinator: 
Vegard Kolbjørnsrud
Course name in Norwegian: 
Design Thinking (2023/2024)
Product category: 
Executive
Portfolio: 
EMBA Business Administration - Elective courses
Semester: 
2023 Autumn
Active status: 
Active
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching language: 
English
Course type: 
One semester
Introduction

Successful organizations in the digital era excel at rapid-fire development of products and services adapted to user needs. Digital development requires new design methods. This module, provided in partnership with Hasso Plattner Institut in Potsdam, Germany, provides participants with an intense introduction to Design Thinking and the experience of hands-on team-based solution development within short time-frames. Teams will run through the complete Design Thinking process, working on a real-life project and coming up with solutions to an actual problem – including user research and digital prototyping. Upon completing this module, participants will be able to apply Design Thinking to digital development and creative problem-solving efforts, as well as critically asses how to apply Design Thinking in different organizational contexts.

Learning outcomes - Knowledge
  • The candidates will acquire knowledge about Design Thinking methods and practices, digital development, and dynamic strategy processes
  • The candidates will acquire knowledge about ideation, user research, and prototyping techniques for teams
Learning outcomes - Skills
  • The candidates will be able to apply Design Thinking methods to digital and other development efforts
  • The candidates will be able to use a variety of ideation, user research, and prototyping techniques
  • The candidates will be able to lead creative processes with teams based on the Design Thinking approach
General Competence
  • The candidates will be able to asses when Design Thinking methods can be used successfully
  • The candidates will be able to critically assess the barriers and success factors for applying Design Thinking methods in different settings, e.g. startups vs. large organizations and on different types of problems
  • The candidates will be able to critically assess to what extent and how to apply Design Thinking methods in their own organizations/contexts
  • The candidates will be able to critically reflect on how the Design Thinking approach relates to other methods in the process of strategy development
Course content
  • Introduction to Design Thinking
  • Design Thinking solution development project incl. user research, problem formulation, ideation, prototyping, and testing
  • Design Thinking and organizational culture, structure, management, and strategy
  • Facilitated discussions on how to apply Design Thinking methods in the candidates’ own work and organizations
Teaching and learning activities

The course will be centered around a four-day, real-life digital solution development project. It involves conducting a full Design Thinking process in teams with experienced design coaches incl. user research, problem formulation, ideation, prototyping, and testing. It also involves making presentations and demos of the concepts, prototypes, and results of the teamwork and plenary discussions of these. Furthermore, students will participate in instructor-led facilitated discussions to reflect on how to apply Design Thinking methods in their own work and organizations, facing different organizational cultures, structures, and management approaches.

1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours.

The course is conducted through a total of 45 hours of lectures and 105 hours of self-study.

Attendance to all sessions in the course is compulsory. If you have to miss part(s) of the course you must ask in advance for leave of absence. More than 25% absence in a course will require retaking the entire course. It's the student's own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/ It's learning or other course materials.

Candidates may be called in for an oral hearing as a verification/control of written assignments.

The course is a part of a full Executive MBA programme and examination in all courses must be passed in order to obtain a certificate.

In all BI Executive courses and programmes, there is a mutual requirement  
for the student and the course responsible regarding the involvement of the student's experience in the planning and implementation of courses, modules and programmes. This means that the student has the right and duty to get involved with their own knowledge and practice relevance, through the active sharing of their relevant experience and knowledge.

Software tools
No specified computer-based tools are required.
Qualifications

Granted admission to the EMBA programme. Please consult our student regulations.

Disclaimer

Deviations in teaching and exams may occur if external conditions or unforeseen events call for this.

Assessments
Assessments
Exam category: 
Submission
Form of assessment: 
Written submission
Weight: 
100
Grouping: 
Group (2 - 8)
Duration: 
4 Week(s)
Comment: 
Group report, counts 100% of the final grade.
Exam code: 
GRA 82821
Grading scale: 
ECTS
Resit: 
Examination when next scheduled course
Type of Assessment: 
Ordinary examination
Total weight: 
100
Student workload
ActivityDurationComment
Teaching
32 Hour(s)
Prepare for teaching
25 Hour(s)
Student's own work with learning resources
63 Hour(s)
Self study, feedback activities/counselling and exam
Sum workload: 
120

A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 4 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of at least 110 hours.