Design Thinking

Introduction to design thinking, traditional problem solving versus design thinking, history of design thinking, wicked problems. Innovation and creativity, the role of innovation and creativity in organizations, creativity in teams and their environments, design mindset. Introduction to elements and principles of design, 13 Musical Notes for Design Mindset, Examples of Great Design, Design Approaches across the world.

Understanding humans as a combination of I (self) and body, basic physical needs up to actualization, prosperity, the gap between desires and actualization. Understanding culture in family society, institution, startup, socialization process. Ethical behavior: effects on self, society, understanding core values and feelings, negative sentiments and how to overcome them, definite human conduct: universal human goal, developing human consciousness in values, policy, and character. Understand stakeholders, techniques to empathize, identify key user problems. Empathy tools- Interviews, empathy maps, emotional mapping, immersion and observations, customer journey maps, and brainstorming, Classifying insights after Observations, Classifying Stakeholders, Do’s & Don’ts for Brainstorming, Individual activity- ‘Moccasin walk’

Defining the problem statement, creating personas, Point of View (POV) statements. Research-identifying drivers, information gathering, target groups, samples, and feedbacks. Idea Generation-basic design directions, Themes of Thinking, inspirations and brainstorming, inclusion, sketching and presenting ideas, idea evaluation, double diamond approach, analyze – four W’s, 5 why’s, “How Might We”, Defining the problem using Ice-Cream Sticks, Metaphor & Random Association Technique, Mind-Map, ideation activity games - six thinking hats, million-dollar idea, introduction to visual collaboration and brainstorming tools - Mural, JamBoard.

Fundamental concepts of critical thinking, the difference between critical and ordinary thinking, characteristics of critical thinkers, critical thinking skills- linking ideas, structuring arguments, recognizing incongruences, five pillars of critical thinking, argumentation versus rhetoric, cognitive bias, tribalism, and politics. Case study on applying critical thinking on different scenarios.

The argument, claim, and statement, identifying premises and conclusion, truth and logic conditions, valid/invalid arguments, strong/weak arguments, deductive argument, argument diagrams, logical reasoning, scientific reasoning, logical fallacies, propositional logic, probability, and judgment, obstacles to critical thinking. Group activity/role plays on evaluating arguments.