Course Syllabus

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Innovation Through Design Thinking B

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Semester & Location:

Spring - DIS Copenhagen
Type & Credits:

Elective 3 credits
Major Disciplines:

Architecture, Communication, Design, Entrepreneurship
Faculty:

Mikael Fuhr, mikael.fuhr@dis.dk
Program Director:

Henning Martin-Thomsen, ht@dis.dk
Time & Place:

Tue 13:15-16:10 in F24-302

✏️  Blog

📸  Google photos

 

Course enrollment requirement:

You are required to answer four questions before our first class:

  1. What are your experiences working in collaborative, multidisciplinary projects?
  2. What projects (any kind and context) do you dream to do once you complete your studies using Design Thinking?
  3. What motivates you to participate in this course? What do you expect to be able to contribute?
  4. What is the #1 thing this course should include to be relevant and inspiring to you?

Maximum of 200 words. Deadline for submission is specified in the course calendar. Submit your replies on this Typeform survey.

 

Description of course:

Design Thinking is not actually Design in the classical understanding of the word! Rather, it is a systematic approach to innovation and creative problem-solving — a transferable methodology that can be applied in almost all complex situations. Design Thinking simply applies the methodologies of design to challenges in business and society, which makes it central to innovation and creativity. Therefore, the course is for all professions — not only designers and architects — and has elements of analysis, social science approaches, creativity, complex problem-solving and some 'business thinking'. 

Design Thinking is also described as ‘… a bunch of strategies for how you come up with new ideas!’ [David Kelley]. Or as ‘… the ability to combine empathy for the context of a problem, creativity in the generation of insights and solutions and rationality to analyze and fit solutions to the context’. Some call it Integrative Thinking instead.

The course will help you to:

  • Participate in and lead innovation in a collaborative setting in multidisciplinary teams
  • Master creative thinking and problem-solving
  • Learn techniques to understand users’ motivations and to gather deep insights
  • Learn from failure: Innovation entails taking risks and trying new things
  • Communicate through engaging visual storytelling and video-prototyping
  • Incorporate Design Thinking into your everyday professional activities

The course and the assignments blend:

  • Practice — focused on methods and tools
  • Background — theory and history relevant to Design Thinking
  • Reflection — considering and questioning Design Thinking
  • Multidisciplinary work — exploring your collaborative force and collective intelligence

Learning objectives of the course:

By the end of this course you will:

  • Have fundamental capabilities in the methods used for practicing Design Thinking
  • Understand challenges and benefits of Design Thinking
  • Be able to communicate clearly about Design Thinking
  • Be open to innovating in multidisciplinary teams
  • Have a process and mindset suited to innovation and creative problem-solving

Faculty:

Mikael Fuhr: Architect and Industrial Designer (Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, 1987). +20 years of experience in design management, innovation, communication and leadership. Design manager and project manager in DSB - Danish State Railways, 1998-1999, Head of Design Vision Lab in DSB, Director of Design in DSB, Founding Partner in FUHR, 2011. With DIS since 2013.

Readings:

  • Brown, Tim, and Barry Katz. Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation. Harper Business, 2009.

  • Osterwalder, Alexander, et al. Value Proposition Design. Wiley, 2014.

  • Selected articles and cases

  • Course blog for clips, cases and comments: http://desthink.tumblr.com

Expectations of the students:

Be prepared to participate, contribute, ask and answer questions, and to think creatively:

  • Are you a good listener?
  • Are you willing to test new ideas and new ways of thinking?
  • Do you promote an environment where everyone feels free to express their ideas and stretch their thinking?
  • Do you contribute to the learning environment by sharing your thoughts and experiences?

There will be about three hours of class time a week and you are expected to work an average of six hours per week outside of class (this includes time spend on assignments and field studies).

Assessment and Assignments:

Practice project [team]: Practice Design Thinking in a real-life project that you define yourselves.

Presentations [individual]: Present the Practice project in class, both half-way through and at the end of the course. Your presentation and communication skills are essential: Do you convey your message clearly and convincingly? Do you engage your audience?

Communication project [individual]: Document the process used in your Practice project. Reflect on process and tools (‘What… worked/ …didn't work/ …was surprising/ ---should be done next time/ …didn't get fully addressed?’). The paper should be 1.500 words in length (+10% accepted) and use Chicago-style citations. A highly visual and engaging paper is expected.

Engagement [individual]: This grade is based on your engagement both in and out of class. A form of engagement that is valued is namely also the input, articles and knowledge from other classes that you research on your own and forward before class. Your activity in class activities and in your team is part of the engagement grade too.

Please check my ‘Seven tips for having a good time in Innovation Through Design Thinking’ before first class at http://medium.com/@mikaelfuhr/seven-tips-for-having-a-good-time-in-innovation-through-design-thinking-at-dis-6a130053f206#.kk68p5baf

Notebook [individual]: You are required to have a notebook to record observations and insights throughout the course. Capture in writing, photos, drawings or diagrams. You should capture in photos your activities in class: Group work sessions, brainstorms, exercises, field studies, whiteboards etc — it will come in handy when you have to prepare your assignments and presentation! The notebook is a personal record of your activity throughout the semester and will not be evaluated as part of your course grade.

Grading:

Assignment

Percent
Engagement (individual)

20%

Summarizing readings in class (individual)

10%

Practice project (team)

 30%

Half-way presentation — content and delivery (team)’

 10%

Communication project (individual)

 30%


Individual grades for team assignments may be applied. The course policy is that late assignments are not accepted.

Disability and resource statement:

Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the Office of Academic Support (acadsupp@dis.dk) to coordinate this.  In order to receive accommodations, students should inform the instructor of approved DIS accommodations within the first two weeks of classes.

Academic Regulations

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:

DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org

Readings:

  • Lockwood. ‘6 Key Ways Design Thinkers Approach Problems’ 
  • Fuhr. ‘Seven tips to students for having a good time in Innovation Through Design Thinking’ 
  • ‘Change by Design’, Chapter ‘Putting People First’, pg. 39-62
  • ‘Change by Design’, Chapter ‘These People Have No Process!’ pg. 63-86.
  • ‘Value Proposition Design‘, p. 6- 25
  • ‘Change by Design’, Chapter ‘The Power of Prototyping’, p 87-108
  • Reading F: ‘Change by Design’, Chapter ‘The Design of Experiences’, p 109-128
  • Reading G: Change by Design’, Chapter ‘The Importance of Storytelling’, p 129-154

Course Summary:

Date Details Due