Critical Brainstorm: Design Thinking Bootcamp

Design Thinking is a popular framework for using design methods to solve a wide range of business problems. It emphasizes empathy building, information visualization, and brainstorming, among other techniques to solve problems and find solutions within groups and organizations.

With this brain-based approach to design thinking, you’ll learn a framework grounded in science that helps you understand why it works and techniques for effective practice. This workshop grounds design thinking in scientific findings about the brain, cognition, and emotion for a range of fields, including: clinical and cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral economics.

In this workshop, students will learn how the brain and body work to prevent you from finding creative solutions to problems. Participants will work in teams to solve simple familiar problems, scenarios you are given, and also real work problems that you’re dealing with in your current work.

Design thinking stresses the involvement of entire organizations; participants will gain insight on how to solve problems using design-centric techniques that are applicable regardless of the industry.

Takeaways

• List benefits of brain-based design thinking.
• Explain the scientific reasons behind common issues that prevent creative problem-solving.
• Interview clients and team members using research-based facilitation and focusing techniques to identify user-based project goals.
• List key information types and organize information about the problem or project using them.
• Visualize and interpret project data to disclose patterns and articulate their meanings.
• Brainstorm using controlled daydreaming to discover creative rather than analytical solutions.
• Identify what’s happening in your own body and brain and self-regulate to find a state that’s more effective for the work you’re doing.
• Identify elements of brain-based design thinking most relevant to your work and teams.

Prereqs & Preparation
None. You don’t have to be a designer to attend this bootcamp: all disciplines are encouraged to participate.