MBA 2437 Design Thinking for Digital Development

MBA 2437 Design Thinking for Digital Development

Course code: 
MBA 2437
Department: 
Strategy and Entrepreneurship
Credits: 
4
Course coordinator: 
Vegard Kolbjørnsrud
Course name in Norwegian: 
Design Thinking for Digital Development
Product category: 
Executive
Portfolio: 
MBA China
Semester: 
2020 Autumn
Active status: 
Active
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching language: 
English
Course type: 
One semester
Introduction

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 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.

Specific information regarding all aspects of student evaluation will be provided in class. It is the student's responsibility to obtain this information. Please note that whilst attendance is not compulsory, it is the student's responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on It's learning. 

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

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

Granted admission to the BI-Fudan MBA programme. Please consult our student regulations.

Assessments
Assessments
Exam category: 
Submission
Form of assessment: 
Written submission
Weight: 
100
Grouping: 
Group (2 - 6)
Duration: 
4 Week(s)
Comment: 
Group report, counts 100% of the total grade.
Exam code: 
MBA 24371
Grading scale: 
China
Resit: 
Examination when next scheduled course
Type of Assessment: 
Ordinary examination
Total weight: 
100
Sum workload: 
0

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.