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The 3-Day Design Thinking Intensive is a unique opportunity for you to learn design thinking principles and practices that can help you identify and prioritize strategic business opportunities, improve customer satisfaction, break down silos, and energize teams. At DesignThinkers Academy, we believe in learning by doing and the power of human-centered design as a strategic and competitively differentiating tool. The DT Intensive is a high energy, deep-dive training, combining hands-on learning with personal coaching. You will walk away equipped with the tools and methods needed to implement design thinking in your organization.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND THIS COURSE?

This course is designed for people who want to kick-start their learning journey to become proficient design thinkers, and for experienced designers and innovation professionals. The course will help you to sharpen your knowledge and acquire new tools and perspectives on human-centered design. For newbies to the world of design thinking the DT Intensive course will serve as a deep-dive immersion in a new way of working and thinking, and equip you with the tools you need to lead innovation initiatives in your career.


Participants in this course typically include a diverse set of product managers, innovation leads, change management professionals, HR leaders, university professors, consultants, freelancers, business coaches and many more. If you are in a role where you need more engaged teams, deeper customer insights, faster time to market and a proven methodology to drive innovative solutions to complex problems, this course will help boost your progress in those areas and more.


HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TRAINING

During this 3-day experience, you’ll learn why, when, and how to conduct ethnographic research, build personas, create customer journey maps, identify value exchange among stakeholders, analyze product-service ecosystems, develop design prototypes, run field tests and rapidly iterate on concepts.

You will also work closely with two different expert day-coaches and your fellow participants to grapple with questions like:

How to successfully implement design thinking in a fast-paced business environment, especially if there’s little capacity or appetite for change?

How to build greater empathy in your organization in order to identify and address the needs & wants of your customers, employees, and other stakeholders?


How to increase your tolerance for failure and create an environment where you learn faster?

How to create a sustainable culture of innovation by design?


The 3-Day DT Intensive course has been crafted for leaders who are seeking new ideas, methods, and strategies for addressing the complex challenges facing their organizations and communities.

Often described as a human-centered approach to innovation, design thinking and human-centered design are being used across the globe in a wide range of settings and industries, including public and private corporations, non-profits, universities, and government agencies. We will share stories and case studies of how this methodology has been applied, such as:

Co-creating solutions with partners and customers.

Developing new products and services that meet the real needs of real people.

Designing experiences focused on attracting and retaining customers and/or employees.

Solving complex, multi-stakeholder problems where the traditional approach simply doesn’t work.


PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Pre-Course – WELCOME WEBINAR (2 weeks prior to course)

Introduction to design thinking and human-centered design

Get to know your facilitation team, course overview

Homework: suggested pre-course reading and research


Day 1 – RESEARCH DAY

Introduction to DT Intensive design challenge

Research Masterclass

Research analysis, develop insights, identify opportunity areas, debrief the day


Day 2 – DESIGN DAY

Design Masterclass

Reframe the design challenge

Ideation, idea selection, prototype concepts


Day 3 – BUSINESS DAY

Business Masterclass

Develop product-service system and business model

Field test concepts, iterate prototypes, final concept presentations

Personal development planning, course debrief


Post-Course – FOLLOW-UP WEBINAR (4 weeks after course)

Concept review with course coaches

Open Q&A

Personal development sharing

COURSE COACHES

Our team of expert coaches and facilitators will share their experiences during the Bootcamp and will guide you and your workshop team as you solve a real-world design challenge, from the research phase to designing concepts. We will cover strategies for implementing new solutions using Design Thinking in organizations.


Dr. Emma Jeffries is a design researcher and strategist who has co-authored two books on design thinking. Her prior work includes organizational design, user research and service design in six countries, where she guided organizations of different sizes to develop continuous learning and growth-focused cultures. She recently completed a four-year project with the UK government building innovative empathy programs to foster inclusive cultures and improve employee experience. Emma recently relocated to Portland, OR, where she is focusing on design research and empathy programs.


Chris Baer is an expert in human-centered design at the intersection of leadership, innovation and talent development. He has led complex global initiatives spanning brand creation or revitalization, digital product design, enterprise innovation strategy, and talent development solutions. Chris held executive positions at a global hospitality company, an international marketing firm and consulted to Fortune 500s and start-ups on product and UX strategy. In addition to his consulting, executive coaching and entrepreneurial work, Chris is an accomplished artist and deejay.


COURSE FACILITATORS

Our team of facilitators will focus continuously on your teams’ progress as you go through the different activities of the Design Thinking process.


Marc Bolick leads the US office of DesignThinkers Group, working to help clients find creative solutions to complex problems and to embed design thinking as a strategic advantage in their organizations. With over 20 years of experience in various aspects of product and service design, Marc has worked in a variety of sectors and clients including General Electric, Michelin, SAP, Coca-Cola, Qualcomm, Bank of America, Electrolux, Master Card, the US Agency for International Development, the US Food and Drug Administration, and a variety of early-stage companies.


Steve Bosak is an innovation facilitator and instructor for DesignThinkers Group based in Washington, DC. He has helped non-profit and private sector clients learn and apply design thinking to their organizational challenges. Steve earned a Masters in Environmental Management and has more than 20 years of experience with national and international environmental non-profits, U.S. and foreign government natural resource agencies, and private sector energy firms. He has applied his innovation facilitation skills to develop biodiversity policies, education programs, internet outreach tools for advocacy groups, and new services and products.

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