Design Thinking for Sustainable Development
Learn how to use Design Thinking principles to develop innovative and user-centric solutions to complex issues of sustainability.
Duration
4 weeksWeekly study
4 hours
Design Thinking for Sustainable Development
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Improve your decision-making skills
To tackle the global-scale problems of sustainability, we need original and creative solutions.
On this four-week course, you’ll discover how you can use the Design Thinking methodology for a human-centred problem-solving approach.
You’ll build confidence in your decision-making as you use Design Thinking techniques to overcome barriers in sustainability, with a focus on the people you are trying to help.
This course allows you to experience how Design Thinking works in a safe environment, before implementing these techniques to help develop sustainable solutions.
Explore the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
You’ll be introduced to the SDGs before choosing one to conduct high-level research to help you solve a sustainability challenge.
This practical exercise will help you understand effective techniques such as creating meaning from interview and secondary data and how to expand ideation.
Learn from the experts at Wintec
Guided by the specialists at Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec), you’ll learn to identify each stage of the Design Thinking process to help you understand which stage a project is in.
By the end of the course, you’ll feel confident in your decision-making skills to help you develop solutions that advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and other areas of social good.
Syllabus
Week 1
Design Thinking and Empathy
Introduction to the course
To start with, lets find out a little bit about the course facilitator, Aidan Bigham, and what the course will cover.
Design Thinking and Sustainability goals
This section will introduce you to the Design Thinking process and the 5 stages: Empathy, Define, Ideate, Prototyping and User Testing. We'll also introduce the Sustainability Goals as a topic to investigate using the process.
Empathy
The first stage of the design thinking process is Empathy. In this stage we collect research from secondary sources and data from interviews and observations. This is a DIVERGENT stage.
Reflection
Reflect on your learning in Week 1 and see what is in store for Week 2.
Week 2
Define and Ideate
The Define Stage
How do you make sense of data? Especially interview data? The Define stage helps us do this.
The Ideation Stage
Now that we have clearly defined our challenge we can move into the Ideation stage.
Reflection of Define and Ideation
What have we learnt about these two processes?
Week 3
Prototype and User Test
Introducing Prototyping
Prototyping is the fourth stage of the Design Thinking process - though we tend to iterate back and forth with User Testing. In this stage we are building a representation of our idea to gather feedback from our users.
User Testing
User testing is the fifth stage of the design thinking process and is usually in iteration with prototyping. In this stage we test with our users to improve, refine, validate or throw out our ideas!
Reflection
Reflect on your learning in Week 3
Week 4
Refine and Reflect
Refine and Communicate
Lets see how we can communicate our solution back to the stakeholders
Reflection's and next steps
Congratulations and well done
Learning on this course
On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.
Who is the course for?
This course is designed for anyone wanting to explore how Design Thinking can be used to drive sustainable change.
This course will help you experience the full process of the methodology and show you how Design Thinking can be applied to any business and role.
Who will you learn with?
I am a Principal Academic Staff member at WINTEC with 20 years experience in tertiary education. Most recently I have been successfully leading Design Thinking teams in solving industry challenges.
Who developed the course?
Wintec
The Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) is a leading tertiary education provider and one of New Zealand’s largest Institutes of Technology. Established in 1924, Wintec delivers technical, vocational, and professional education across a broad range of qualifications, domestically and internationally.
Te Pūkenga
Te Pūkenga – New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology is the New Zealand governmental network of 16 subsidiary tertiary education providers, which were formerly known as institutes of technology and polytechnics. The network delivers world class professional, vocational, and applied learning from certificate through to PhD level.
What's included?
This is a premium course. These courses are designed for professionals from specific industries looking to learn with a smaller group of like-minded individuals.
- Unlimited access to this course
- Includes any articles, videos, peer reviews and quizzes
- Certificate of Achievement to prove your success when you're eligible
- Download and print your Certificate of Achievement anytime
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- Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
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