DESIGN THINKING UNIT STUDENT OVERVIEW

Introduction to Design Thinking: Empathize, Define, Ideate, & Pitch 

Developed by Dr. Heather Braun, Associate Professor of English, University of Akron

The purpose of this optional unit is to introduce you to the design thinking tools and mindsets to increase engagement, inspire creative confidence, and build collaborative, problem-solving skills by observing design thinking in action and engaging in the process.

Access these resources by going to ProjectBoard, select the Ohio STEP tab, then select “Resources”. Go to the “Design Thinking Unit” header.

Part 1: Introduction to Design Thinking: In the Intro to Design Thinking video, you will explore the process of Design Thinking and learn about Design Thinking Mindsets.

1. Play this video: Ohio STEP Intro to Design Thinking.mp4 video.
   

1. Explore methods to develop Creative Confidence through activities like the One-Word Story.
   

1. Play this video: ABC Nightline - IDEO Shopping Cart https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M66ZU2PCIcM 

Part 2: Empathize & Define: The purpose is to understand the importance of empathy and active listening in defining a problem fully before attempting to solve it. You will explore the difference between sympathy and empathy, learn effective interviewing tips, and construct an Empathy Map.

1. Play the video Ohio STEP Empathize and Define.mp4 video
   

1. Interview a partner.
   

1. Open the Empathy Map Activity & Problem Statement Worksheet and use this to:
   
1. Create an Empathy Map
   
2. Define a problem.
   

Part 3: Introduction to Ideation: The purpose is to show students how to move from empathizing with another person and defining a problem to ideating for a potential solution. This process requires participants to defer judgment and encourage fresh ideas to select the best idea to pitch and prototype. The goal is to produce many ideas, which can include “wild” ones, following the rules of brainstorming before filtering then selecting from the results to construct a new solution.

Action Steps:

1. Play Ohio STEP Ideate and Pitch.mp4 video.
   

1. Open the Ideation Activity Worksheet and use this to:
   
1. Brainstorm ideas from the video prompt.
   
2. Select a solution for that problem.
   

1. Pitch your solution to that problem.
   

Part 4:  For Further Reading and Discussion about Design Thinking:

1. Why Design Thinking Works by Jeanne Liedtka, (2018), Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2018/09/why-design-thinking-works .

1. What is Design Thinking and Why Is It So Popular? By Rikke Friis Dam and Teo Yu Siang (2023), Interaction Design Foundation, https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/what-is-design-thinking-and-why-is-it-so-popular.

1. Design thinking was supposed to fix the world. Where did it go wrong? By Rebecca Ackermann (2023), MIT Technology Review, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gpdxDBucT0TvsTUqjRLYgpnSXLy-OwAVJv9TfNFatns/edit?usp=sharing.