DESIGN THINKING Short Course by Chris Mattson
OBJECTIVE: Learn about the practice and history of Design Thinking. Develop strength in Design Thinking.
FORMAT: Free, Self-guided.
WHAT TO EXPECT: Five Design Thinking Articles articles with exercises to practice on your projects.
TIME COMMITMENT: 20 minutes of reading per week, and exercise practice for 5 weeks.
LESSONS
Design Thinking Part 1: Basic Concepts and Principles
In this lesson, you’ll learn about basic definitions of Design Thinking, including how it can be viewed as both a tool set and a mindset. You’ll learn about a basic 5-step process for Design Thinking, and about the origins of Design Thinking.
ASSIGNMENT: Read the body of the article (10 minutes), and do the 6 exercises over the course of a week (10 minutes per day).
THOUGHT QUESTIONS: After reading the article, self-reflect by asking yourself these questions:
What is the main message of the article? Summarize the main point(s) in approximately 30 seconds.
What is Design Thinking, in your opinion?
What do you believe makes Design Thinking different from regular design, if anything?
TIPS: Although Design Thinking can be a trendy topic, try to be open to its core concepts.
Design Thinking Part 2: Design Thinking as a Step-by-Step Process
By the end of this lesson you will have learned about Design Thinking as tool set. The article presents each of the 5 steps of Design Thinking in detail, and lists Key Design Activities for the step and Key Attitudes to cultivate. At the completion of the exercises you will have designed something that meets real human needs.
ASSIGNMENT: Read the article (20 minutes), and do the 10 exercises over the course of two weeks (10 minutes per day).
THOUGHT QUESTIONS: After reading the article, self-reflect by asking yourself these questions:
What is the main message of the article? Summarize the main point(s) in approximately 30 seconds.
What is the Step-by-Step Process of Design Thinking? Try to describe this using more than just one word per step.
To what extent has Design Thinking been a part of your process in the past? And in what way to you plan to make it part of your process in the future?
TIPS: Really try the exercises. Don’t worry about getting a perfect outcome, do the exercises to experience Design Thinking. To get the most out of it, be disciplined and avoid jumping to conclusions, hearing only what you want to hear, or leaving assumptions unvalidated.
Design Thinking Part 3: Design Thinking as a Mindset
By the end of this lesson you will have learned about Design Thinking as mindset. You’ll also learn about what kinds of problems Design Thinking is good for as well as a bit more history on Design Thinking’s origins.
ASSIGNMENT: Read the article (10 minutes), and do the 2 exercises (10 minutes per day for 3 days).
THOUGHT QUESTIONS: After reading the article, self-reflect by asking yourself these questions:
What is the main message of the article? Summarize the main point(s) in approximately 30 seconds.
What is your Design Thinking mindset? You have one, what is it?
Which of the 10 Design Thinking believes do you agree with, and which do you not agree with, why?
TIPS: Use the reading, and Exercise 1 as a way to really evaluate your personal approach to design. Be open to discovering patters that should be continued and those that should be replaced by something more effective.
Design Thinking Part 4: Framing and Reframing Design Problems
In this lesson you will learn what is arguably the most important (and often missed) concept of Design Thinking — Problem Framing and Reframing. You’ll also learn some specific design tools for framing/reframing.
ASSIGNMENT: Read the article (15 minutes), and do the two exercises (50 minutes per exercise).
THOUGHT QUESTIONS: After reading the article, self-reflect by asking yourself these questions:
What is the main message of the article? Summarize the main point(s) in approximately 30 seconds.
What projects are you working on now that may benefit from reframing? How might you go about reframing it?
What barriers do you face to accessing insights from a greater pool of stakeholders? What is the nature of those barriers, and what would it take to remove them?
TIPS: There is an unhealthy approach to reframing that may result in endless reframing. Use this article to become better at striking a balance between reframing and staying unnecessarily dedicated to an earlier understanding of the problem.
Design Thinking Part 5: Design Thinking Tips and Anecdotes
In this last lesson you’ll review the core concepts from the first 4 parts of the short course, and be introduced to 6 pitfalls that often keep people believing Design Thinking is useful. Unlike the previous lessons there is no exercise for this lesson.
ASSIGNMENT: Read the article (15 minutes).
THOUGHT QUESTIONS: After reading the article, self-reflect by asking yourself these questions:
Which of the 6 pitfalls have you experienced in the past? What approaches can you take to avoid the pitfalls in the future?
What are your top-level takeaways from this short course — the small number of things you don’t want to forget during your next project?
In what ways has learning and practicing Design Thinking changed the way you approach design, if at all?
TIPS: Try to determine how Design Thinking will be part of your approach going forward. Will it be in your toolbox? Will you use it on every project? Will it become or has it already become a part of your mindset?