GRA 8282 Design Thinking
GRA 8282 Design Thinking
Digital organizations 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 (HPI) 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 assess how to apply Design Thinking in different organizational contexts.
Upon completion of the course, the candidate will be able to:
- Explain core principles, phases, and key tools in Design Thinking (DT) for digital product/service development such as user research, problem framing, ideation, prototyping, testing).
- Discuss the relationship between Design Thinking and organizational culture, structure, and management approaches in organizations.
- Analyze and compare DT with adjacent approaches to digital development and change (e.g., Agile and Lean Startup), including typical complementarities and tensions.
- Analyze common critiques, limitations, and evidence-based success conditions for DT and what this implies for effective and responsible application.
Upon completion of the course, the candidate will be able to:
- Apply Design Thinking methods to digital and other development efforts
- Select and use appropriate techniques for ideation, user research, and prototyping, and justify method choices based on the problem, constraints, and evidence gathered.
- Facilitate and lead creative processes with teams based on the Design Thinking approach.
Upon completion of the course, the candidate will be able to:
- Asses when Design Thinking methods can be applied successfully
- 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
- Critically evaluate to what extent and how to apply Design Thinking methods in their own professional contexts.
- Critically reflect on how the Design Thinking approach compares and interacts with other strategic and organizational development methodologies to drive innovation.
- 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
The course will be centred 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.
Granted admission to the EMBA programme. Please consult our student regulations.
Disclaimer
Changes in exam type can be made until the course starts. In addition, unforeseen events or external conditions may call for deviations in teaching and exams.
| Assessments |
|---|
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Submission PDF Weight: 100 Grouping: Group (2 - 8) Duration: 4 Week(s) Exam code: GRA 82821 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
| Activity | Duration | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Teaching | 28 Hour(s) | |
Prepare for teaching | 25 Hour(s) | |
Student's own work with learning resources | 67 Hour(s) | Self study, feedback activities/counselling and exam |
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.
The group report concerns evaluating or planning a Design Thinking project for a specific organization. The assignment requires deep contextual knowledge, and groups must apply course literature and techniques to justify their choices.