Design Thinking for Business

Design Thinking is a human-centered creative approach to innovation and problem solving, drawing from the designer’s ability to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for businesses to succeed.

Incorporating design tools into everyday practice helps develop an exploratory and creative skill set critical for discovery and innovation. Participants will acquire the unique design thinking toolkit, including:

1. empathizing – understanding the unmet need,
2. defining – the challenge and reframing it,
3. ideating – solutions in joint sessions, and
4. rapid iteration & insight based on inquiry.

Design Thinking for Business is an immersive course that presents students with real life challenges, allowing them to explore the entrepreneur inside of them. Using design tools, brainstorming solutions with a team, creating an MVP prototype and presenting it to investors, course participants create tangible outcomes including initiatives & startups that address real life challenges.

This program can be offered as a course (8 sessions) or as a 3-day sprint.

The sprint encompasses 3 full days, including practical methodology training and lectures, research on challenge topics, defining unmet needs, teaming, ideating and co-creating solutions. The sprint will culminate in a pitch event, evaluation and selection of winning teams.

Participants in the course will team with Israeli counterparts in the fields of Engineering and Design, to address unmet needs and create viable solutions.
Teams will propose and prototype a solution that involves engineering and product development, accompanied by a business strategy for possible commercialization.

Each program will center around real-life challenges. The goal of the course of the sprint will be to utilize the tools of design thinking, to produce tangible outcomes and innovation, including start-ups and ventures in response to the challenges.