Design Thinking for Higher Education
Educators STOP! How often do we allow ourselves to stop, pause, gather our thoughts. Feeling rushed and urged leads to decisions that may not always be based on understanding our challenge thoroughly. Design thinking facilitates the moments of inquiry and insights encouraging us to make sure we are addressing the right thing, we are in the right space. Without relying on assumptions, thinking like a designer means to behave a bit like a detective, employing curious mindset of a beginner, involving empathy and concern for the people around and being brave in asking those questions that no-one dared to ask before. To put it simply, do the research! [ Image created by @tashwillcocks ].
Solutions have their placeDesign thinking will ultimately direct you to solutions, don’t worry. The solutions will feel good. They will be informed by the research and by your curiosity. The solutions will feel playful, creative and inspired by the people you listened to. Design thinking will take you out of your comfort zone, away from recycling the old ways to re-imagine and re-think and perhaps even step out from education and let your daily life be your influence. You may explore how “Alexa” concept could add value to education, what it could be like to podcast lectures, or even let students to co-create content and share it on Instagram. The solutions will become fit for those who helped your figure out the problem in the first place. [ Image created by @tashwillcocks ].
Understand the hiddenDesign thinking guides you to look deeper and question whether there may be more to what people say. Surveys and questionnaires uncover only a small percentage of what people really think. In design we are are curious about what people actually do, how they feel, what they dream about, what makes them anxious and happy. We look below the surface and without judgement we explore the context, rational content and emotional wrap around, the obvious and the hidden. The wholeness matters! [ Image created by @tashwillcocks ].
Love the problemDesign thinking takes us to the place where we learn to love the problem. We simply cannot get enough of it! When people come to us and say: Give me the solution, not the problem! …. we laugh and say: STOP! For we know that understanding the problem will accelerate our solutions’ sustainability, feasibility and desirability. We are in it to do the right thing right. So what’s the problem? Join us to explore how Design thinking may transform Higher Education with empathy and co-creation. [ Image created by @tashwillcocks ].
