Type of Credit: Elective
Credit(s)
Number of Students
“It’s very satisfying knowing that I am not alone in this journey, I have a group to share my daily achievements and we can support each other. Either listening to each other’s struggles, accomplishments, or giving feedback, cheering up our teammates. Seems like a life consultation, each class allows us to reflect on our path more and more. Thanks for this amazing journey!!”
“Thank you for all the support and guidance throughout the course! I’ve really appreciated the way you’ve made the material engaging and accessible. I’m excited to apply what I’ve learned and see how it all comes together. Looking forward to seeing all of you next week!!”
“I’m not quite good at speaking in public or talking to someone new, but in the class everyone is very welcoming and warm. The vibes are great, so I can make new friends and try to talk more without pressure. Thanks a lot for having this insightful class!! “
# For introverts:
About ⅓ of students identified themselves as being introverted before entering the class, and eventually all of them found their own pace and navigated their ways throughout the course journey successfully. In addition, everyone is kind of surprised for being able to make a lot of new friends along the way!
# For those who have a lot of credits to finish and tons of extra-curricular activities to participate in the upcoming semester:
“I really appreciate the interesting courses that you’ve designed, I never thought I would have this much fun in a college classroom. Thank you!!”
This is a course for you to rest, to have fun and to create something inspiring for yourself, your team and the world. Most students found it relaxing and recharging to attend our classes.
# For those who doubt their own attendance rate (Am I able to attend most classes of this course?):
Last year 50% of the students attend almost all the classes (100%, or only missed 1 class due to medical reasons).
Only 5% of the students struggled a lot to meet the course standard (Which is, absence for 3 times is a red flag. The 4th time of absence will make you fail in this class => no credit !!).
In the AI era where uncertainties and ambiguities are our daily routine ,this course equips students with the design thinking (DT) principles and innovative problem-solving tools to build effective teams and thrive in their life and career. The course features five weeks of DT booster, five weeks of life and career design and six weeks of teamwork with DT. The main objective of this course is to empower students to put DT learning into practice. Individually, students can apply DT mindsets and tools to design their own future life. At the team level, students walk through a startup process with team members to tackle important challenges and form potential business. Guest speakers from corporate and startup ecosystems will be invited to our classes to deliver insights and tips of problem-solving and opportunity-finding.
能力項目說明
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Classroom Observation |
Oral Presentation |
Delivery of Final Report |
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Students can effectively understand people and context that matter to the real world challenges by applying DT mindsets |
V |
V |
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Students can precisely identify the priority of the core issues by using DT tools |
V |
V |
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Students can collaboratively communicate with team members and co-create innovative solutions following DT process |
V |
V |
|
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Students can courageously translate ideas into tangible artifacts/prototypes in their life and career |
V |
V |
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Week |
Topic |
Instructional Objectives |
Content and Activities |
|
1 |
Introduction of design thinking (DT) |
Become familiar with the process, mindsets and tools of DT Get engaged in the team-based innovative process with team members |
Lecture: introduction of DT - process, mindsets and tools Hands-on activities: immersion into the collaborative atmosphere of DT Group discussion: reflection on the pros and cons of DT activities in comparison with the past learning experiences |
|
2 |
“Empathize” in DT |
Gather information and map the correlation to better understand users Reframe problems and identify hidden pain points |
Lecture: the importance of “empathize” Hands-on activities: interview users, extract critical information and form unique perspective |
|
3 |
“Define” in DT |
Identify several needs from the “empathize” session Finish users’ need statement after prioritization |
Lecture: the art of “define” Hands-on activities: write down several need statements and discuss with peers |
|
4 |
“Ideate” in DT |
Become familiar with the mindset and process of idea generation in DT Generate ideas and solutions for a certain topic |
Lecture: the magic of “ideate” Hands-on activities: brainstorming activities to generate tons of ideas |
|
5 |
“Prototype & Test” in DT ; Group formation |
Cultivate the mindset of “Fail fast, cheap and often” Implement the iterative process of prototyping in DT |
Lecture: the implementation of “prototype and test” Hands-on activities: build prototype with team effort and test it with potential users |
|
6 |
Life and career design- who you are & what you have |
Empathize with yourself and discover who you are and what you have in the past and now |
Lecture: principles of life and career design Hands-on activities: explore self identities and interact with peers to broaden one’s perspective on the relationship among self, others and the world |
|
7 |
Life and career design- where you go & why |
Define where you want to go and the why behind it |
Lecture: application of life and career design Group activities: design one’s future trajectory of life, with the assistance and company of peers |
|
8 |
Celebration party for LCD |
Celebrate the devotion of the life and career design process for every student |
Group discussion and reflection: students share what they have experienced and learned during the life and career design process |
|
9 |
Teamwork with DT- explore and empathize |
Allocate responsibilities and assign roles within teams to maximize team momentum Explore potential topics, issues and users’ needs in a specific field and empathize with the users with DT tools |
Facilitation from teachers: effectively form teams according to students’ backgrounds and interests Hands-on activities: meet team members and explore possible trajectories of the team project |
|
10 |
Teamwork with DT- prioritize and define |
Prioritize and define a critical need to address in the following sessions for each team Allow back-and-forth discussions and decision makings during the innovative process |
Lecture: strategies and tactics that promote prioritization and definition of users’ real needs. Hands-on activities: use 2 by 2 tables and post-it to practice prioritization |
|
11 |
Teamwork with DT- brainstorm and ideate |
Ideate to generate adequate amount of ideas and solutions for team members to discuss Converge to form less than three solutions for team members to build |
Lecture: the mindsets and tools of ideation Hands-on activities: drills that facilitate the generation of ideas Group discussion: discussion on the process of idea generation and the benefit from the huge amount of ideas |
|
12 |
Teamwork with DT- make a prototype and test it |
Make prototype with available resources and materials Test the artifact with the potential users |
Lecture: the mindsets and tools of prototype / test Hands-on activities: make prototype with team effort Group discussion: present the artifact to other groups, gain insights from feedbacks and reflect the whole process |
|
13 |
Prototype of team presentation |
Teams present their primitive ideas and plans Students learn and discuss with each other when walking through every projects |
Group presentation Discussion in Q&A sessions |
|
14 |
Booster session: |
Communicate and collaborate with team members to reach consensus when facing decision-making points Establish effective strategies and meaningful activities to foster enjoyment, satisfaction and purpose in personal life |
Lectures, hands-on activities & Group discussion for team and talent |
|
15 |
Group presentation week (I) |
Students are empowered to effectively present their creative works and demonstrate their progress Knowledge, mindsets and tools of DT are utilized to solve a problem / challenge that is pertinent to the real world needs |
Group presentation (I) |
|
16 |
Group presentation week (II) Deadline of individual final report (via email) |
Students are empowered to effectively present their creative works and demonstrate their progress Knowledge, mindsets and tools of DT are utilized to solve a problem / challenge that is pertinent to the real world needs |
Group presentation (II) Individual final report: Students are capable of integrating their learning experiences and generating meaningful reflections . Formats are flexible and not limited to PDF or PPT files |
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Week |
Topic |
Instructional Objectives |
Content and Activities |
Absence for 3 times is a red flag. The 4th time of absence will make you fail in this class => no credit !!
Evaluations
• Individual attendance and active participation : 30%
• Team performance : 30%
• Presentations : 20%
• Final report : 20%
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Individual attendance and active participation |
Team performance |
Presentations |
Final report |
|
|
優 A 10～9 |
Attendance above 90% with active participation |
excellent |
outstanding |
comprehensive |
|
佳 B 8～7 |
Attendance above 85% with decent participation |
decent |
good |
good |
|
普通 C 6～5 |
Attendance above 60% with acceptable participation |
acceptable |
fair |
fair |
|
待改進 D 4～3 |
Attendance below 60% |
incoherent |
suboptimal |
suboptimal |
Criterion
• Attendance and active participation: quality and frequency of contribution to class discussions
and intervention. Excellence is marked by active and continuous contributions to class discussions.
• Team performance: team performance is evaluated according to the following two aspects: (1) team atmosphere and interpersonal interaction within the team; (2) team’s contribution to the whole class with regard to the provision of ideas and the participation of group activities
• Presentations: presentation is assessed in the following two aspects: the personal life and career design project and the team project
• Final report: this report is reviewed based on the following two perspectives: (1) how the student has evolved after participating in the class. Every student can define his/her own evolution or accomplishment without the possibility of being judged; (2) to what extent the student understands the mindsets, tools and process of DT. This perspective is better supported by demonstrating the implementation of DT in certain domains of his/her own life.
Auernhammer, J., & Roth, B. (2021). The origin and evolution of Stanford University’s design thinking: From product design to design thinking in innovation management. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 38(6), 623-644.
Brenner, W., Uebernickel, F., & Abrell, T. (2016). Design thinking as mindset, process, and toolbox: Experiences from research and teaching at the University of St. Gallen. Design thinking for innovation: Research and practice, 3-21.
Burnett, B., & Evans, D. (2016). Designing your life: How to build a well-lived, joyful life. Knopf.
Lewrick, M., Link, P., & Leifer, L. (2018). The design thinking playbook: Mindful digital transformation of teams, products, services, businesses and ecosystems. John Wiley & Sons.
Greenberg, S. S. (2021). Creative acts for curious people: How to think, create, and lead in unconventional ways. Ten Speed Press.
(Chinese Version: 作者： 莎拉‧史坦‧葛林伯格。史丹佛設計學院：把好奇心化為點子的81個創意練習-重現史丹佛設計學院的教學場景｛近百個難忘的課堂案例＋新潮的指定作業｝