educational institution in Austin, Texas,
teaching Interaction Design and Social Entrepreneurship.
Offered from June 10th - June 21st, 2013
About This Course
A designerly approach to problem solving emphasizes divergent and non-linear thinking, visual artifacts for driving consensus and decision making, and the ability to hold multiple and competing perspectives in the mind at once. When applied in an executive context, this form of “design thinking” becomes a powerful tool for driving innovation, escaping commoditization, creating strategic roadmaps, and envisioning the future. This program is ideal for middle or upper management interested in leveraging creative thinking to drive future product, service, or system innovations.
This course costs $10,000. The coures fee includes all educational materials, as well as coffee and catered lunch each day.
Skills and Methods Covered
- Divergent Thinking
- Managing the Creative Process
- Structuring, Pricing, and Scheduling Creative Engagements
- Product Roadmapping
- Service Blueprinting
- Customer Journey Mapping
Course Schedule
The following describes the high level course schedule and overview.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Week 1 |
Sources of Innovation, investigating where creative thinking comes from Design Process & Language, describing how designers solve problems and engage in creative discourse |
Visual Thinking, examining how to externalize ideas in order to build on them Lateral & Divergent Thinking, moving from expected to “out of the box” thinking by looking at things in new and unexpected ways |
Structured Brainstorming & Ideation, maximizing the value of group ideation sessions Managing Inhouse Designers & Vendors/Agencies, understanding how to act in a management capacity with creative individuals |
Critique and Encouragement, describing how to respond to creative artifacts in a meaningful way Structuring and Managing a Creative Project, showing how to budget, estimate, and organize a project with creative deliverables |
Plotting a Design Strategy, utilizing the process of design to visualize strategic intent Week 1, Reflection |
Week 2 |
Affinity Diagramming, a method for making sense of chaotic organizational requirements and needs 2×2, a method for reducing complexity and balancing tradeoffs |
Product Roadmap, a visual illustration of future features and requirements, describing how business, technology and creative needs work together |
Service Blueprints, showing how a service-based business can maximize the value of customer touchpoints |
Customer Journey Map, examining a time-based brand interaction from the customer’s perspective |
Putting it All Together, or how to use harness the talents of creative people in your organization in a meaningful way Week2, Reflection |
Class meets each day from 9am - 5pm.
