Masterclass in Design Thinking, Innovation & Creativity

Explore the discovery phase of design thinking by widening horizons, mapping user challenges, and uncovering the root problem before solving it, an approach backed by real-world startup insights.

Masterclass in design thinking, innovation & creativity explains empathy as the capacity to place yourself in another's position, understand their experience, and see through their eyes in human centered design.

Unlearning opens space for insight that drives innovation, as we move from what we know to what we don't know we don't know, uncovering 80 percent of unknown possibilities.

Explore three design thinking principles—humility, openness to being wrong, and curiosity—through real user insights, including a $25 travel incubator that saves hundreds of thousands of babies.

Learn active listening by being present, reading body language, and uncovering stories to connect and reveal deeper values; practice via the five ways exercise to uncover rich insights.

Explore the art of unlearning in design thinking by embracing humility and curiosity, learning to observe and talk to users, and grounding insights through human centered design.

Master interviewing as a lifelong art by conducting proper user research and reading what people say and don't say. Uncover underlying needs behind expressed requests to design better solutions.

Set a comfortable interview setting, plan a flexible question map, capture data via video, audio, or notes, read body language, listen deeply for stories, and stay kind throughout the conversation.

Explore the discover phase of design thinking by empathizing with users, unlearning, embracing humility, openness, and curiosity, and using the five ways to observe and interview to define the problem.

Define unpacks qualitative data to reveal insights and a clear point of view, guiding how might we questions in design thinking to craft game-changing solutions.

Review your notes and recordings from qualitative research, highlight key ideas, and place each idea on a sticky note as a data point; display on a wall to reveal trends.

Cluster the sticky notes by categorizing recurring and surprising ideas into groups to reveal the story they tell, using a quick ten-minute sprint and optional online tools like neuro and Mirro.

Identify frequent data points, outliers, surprising claims, and contradictions to reveal design intervention opportunities. Embrace the messy haze of discovery as you make sense of qualitative data.

Take a break to let your brain incubate and spark big innovations by resting, enjoying a favorite food, reconnecting with a friend, or taking a nap.

Learn how reframing in design thinking turns challenges into opportunities by cultivating a flexible mind and seeing things from angles. Practice with an embarrassing story that becomes a superhero narrative.

Develop insights by reframing problems and analyzing data through five whys in design thinking. Dive into case studies like fizbo and we move to prototype and test ideas with users.

Define your point of view as a northern star in design thinking, using how might we questions to turn insights, like for extreme audience, into focused options.

Conclude the defining stage by narrowing to one point of view and one how might question, then prepare for ideation with data unpacking and insights.

Explore ideation by generating many ideas for your problem, sparks of creativity within the double diamond design thinking framework, and try the 30 circles challenge as a creativity enhancer.

Master ideation guidelines to boost creativity, standing up, capturing every idea on sticky notes, chasing quantity, embracing yes and, cultivating collaborative or remote brainstorming with walls or online tools.

Generate 100 ideas in four seven-minute rounds, starting with free ideas, then a one-dollar constraint, then money no issue, and finally role-model inspired approaches.

Take break after ideas to recharge and spark creativity. Call your best friend, shower, walk, or enjoy something joyful like ice cream to reset and return ready for design thinking.

Learn to cluster 100 ideas by grouping them into categories and themes, distinguishing digital solutions from services, and creating a playful 'wild ideas' group to reveal patterns.

Apply the fid framework to pick the most feasible, innovative, and delightful idea from a hundred ideas, using a two-minute wall evaluation.

Review ideation guidelines, run the hundred ideas challenge, and cluster ideas to choose one. Preview prototyping and testing with real users, and reflect with questions to boost innovation.

Enter the final stretch of prototyping and testing in this masterclass. Begin with prototyping and then testing to complete the last step of the masterclass.

Explore prototypes as early product models that test concepts, compare high fidelity and low fidelity approaches, and embrace rapid prototyping for quick feedback.

Explore four prototype types: diagram, mockup or wireframe, acting it out, and a quick physical model, to represent processes, interactions, and service experiences.

Participants play an association game to shift thinking from a potato peeler to potential prototypes for improvement, embracing quick, creative links to spark design thinking.

Select your prototype type, plan 10 minutes, test chosen steps and scenarios, then build for 25 minutes, keep it quick and dirty, photograph it, and post to the Q&A.

Reflect on how your idea evolved during prototyping and what changed as you built it. Then take a joyful break to recharge and return with fresh insight.

Test your prototype with real users to gain objective feedback, because we often fall in love with our own ideas and miss the user’s perspective.

Demonstrate how not to test by presenting a prototype to users and pushing biased enthusiasm; instead, learn effective testing with user feedback from your target audience.

Apply testing guidelines to your prototype: let ego rest, hand it over for users to play, observe actions, ask why, and test with five users from one segment to improve.

Conclude the design thinking process by prototyping and testing your product, reviewing diagram, mockup, circuit, and physical prototype types, following testing guidelines, and reflecting on three changes after testing.

Wraps up the design thinking masterclass by revisiting user research, ideation, prototyping, and real-world testing. Emphasizes a flexible, iterative process with validation and ongoing insights from the target audience.

Advance to a high-fidelity prototype, then develop a business model and pitch it internally or externally with user research to move the idea forward.

Express gratitude for joining the masterclass, and encourage ongoing exploration, curiosity, and notebook-driven idea generation to fuel design thinking, creativity, and innovation.