Design Thinking for Entrepreneurial Innovation

Design Thinking for Entrepreneurial Innovation

Delivery institution

Doctoral College

Instructor(s):

Maria Claudia Angel Ferrero

Start date

28 April 2025

End date

29 April 2024

Study field

CHARM priority field

Study level

Study load, ECTS

Short description

• Apply Design Thinking methodology to solve problems.
• Develop problem identification skills so as to respond to user needs with appropriate and creative solutions.
• Form and ask process questions in order to approach a particular problem.
• Use analytical, critical and creative thinking in order to transform ideas into visuals and prototypes.
• Envision and act out user scenarios of an object.
• Have a notion on what it takes to create simple and minimal human-centered products.
• The applications of rapid prototyping.
• Have an understanding of how to publish research done.

Full description

Course Description link

1. Understanding the innovation process

  • Gaining a big-picture view of the innovation process
  • Defining creativity and its essential role in innovation
  • Building the foundation and structure for innovation success

2. Exploring human-centered design

  • Identifying and understanding what customers need and want in a product, service, or process
  • Understanding who your target users are and how to reach them
  • Examining techniques for achieving deep customer understanding

3. Discovering areas of opportunity

  • Overcoming barriers to innovation through problem framing
  • Identifying problem frames using webbing, abstract ladders, and strategy frameworks
  • Opening up new paths of thinking, redefining problems, and finding areas of opportunity

4. Generating innovative ideas

  • Exploring new approaches to innovative thinking and techniques for idea generation
  • Examining the tools of Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT), including task unification, division, attribute dependency, and inversion
  • Applying methods of structured ideation, such as the Nominal Group Technique, Round Robin, Creative Matrix, and Alternate Worlds

5. Developing concepts

  • Focusing on the critical role that prototyping, experimenting, and iteration play in developing ideas
  • Understanding how failed experiments can reveal new options and lead to better final outcomes
  • Examining methods of prototyping, such as wire framing, body storming, think-aloud testing, and simulation
  • Exploring attribute-value mapping, design heuristics, concept poster, rose-thorn-bud, and critique

Learning outcomes

  • The students are able to empathize with a broad group of stakeholders to understand their needs through the ethnographic method.
  • The students are able to define and re-define innovation challenges by asking the right questions, and not necessarily focusing on the right answers.
  • The students are able to develop many creative ideas through structured brainstorming sessions.
  • The students are able to develop rapid prototypes to bring their ideas into reality as quickly as possible, and obtain feedback.
  • The students, more broadly, gain a greater acceptance towards dealing with ambiguity and uncertainty in their professional and personal lives.
  • They also learn to work with many different people in fast-paced, dynamic, cross-disciplinary team settings.
  • Students also gain the competence to approach many different problems and challenges with an open, creative, empathetic, and prototype-driven mindset.

Places available

8

Planned educational activities and teaching methods:

Collaborative and active learning is an integral part of the experience. To maximize the benefit for everyone, students expected to attend every session, complete all assignments, and contribute effectively in the class and in small groups.
Throughout this design course, students will dive into the methodology of design thinking and explore its applications to business strategy. Through a rich learning experience that includes faculty presentations, case studies, small-group workshops, discussions, and hands-on exercises, you will expand your perspective on strategic issues, discover ways to redesign strategy, and learn how to apply design thinking to drive and sustain business success.

Language

Assessment method

Prototype presentation

Final certification

Transcript of records

Assessment date

Modality

Learning management System in use

Microsoft Teams, Moodle

Contact hours per week for the student:

12

Specific regular weekly teaching day/time

Time zone