Design thinking training

Design thinking is an approach to problem-solving and creativity that leans heavily on collaboration and user-centeredness. It’s a workflow for finding innovative solutions — while also bringing people together.

“The course itself was incredibly well presented, very interactive, and very motivational. I would absolutely recommend Domain7 to other people, internally and externally.”

“This course is in the top three of all the courses that I have attended over the course of my career. Well done.”

“The framework in its entirety provides a very practical formula for a structured approach to brainstorming, I feel this is something I can immediately use with my team to improve our collaboration.”

“Incredibly engaging and delivered from a point of excellent knowledge on the subject. I left with a better understanding of design thinking, and with ideas already percolating.”

The tradition of design thinking is now more than 65 years old. In recent years human-centered design has been introduced into BC’s K-12 curriculum as a critical way of problem-solving. And yet, many working adults have never been properly introduced to or trained in design thinking. Meanwhile, the world has grown in complexity, technology has accelerated change, and the need for teams to be adaptive, innovative and user-centric is greater than ever. The time for these mindsets and methods is now.

When you begin to use design thinking in a collaborative setting for problem solving, you’re practicing with a toolset that designers have used with proven impact for decades. You’ll find that…

• Customers and users can become more connected to your process.
• Ideas can become more creative and divergent, helping you see intractable problems in a new light.
• Your teams can become more connected, involved, and engaged in their daily work.
• Your organization can discover new opportunities for growth not previously seen.
• Individuals’ newfound ability to dialogue and explore translates outside of the workplace.
• Teams begin to prefer diverse perspectives, and to authentically explore new directions.

Domain7’s design thinking curriculum walks through each aspect of the design thinking framework, offering theory and tools for each moment:

Creating a clear brief
Finding a user-centric focus by developing a clear “How might we?” question, returning the problem to a frame of addressing human needs.

Listening to users & experts
Planning for user interviews and field research: creating questions for users and experts, and conducting interviews.

Synthesizing input
Gathering feedback into summaries and journey maps.

Revisiting the brief
Looking ahead at the original brief to refocus our understanding of the core problem.

Creative ideation
Generating many new possibilities through divergent thinking.

Prototyping & sketching
Choosing options to begin giving more clarity, detail, and structure.

Testing & feedback
Getting early draft concepts back in front of users for input; designing meaningful tests for prototypes.

Decision-making and synthesis
Arriving at alignment on a possible directions.

We’ve seen that participants and facilitators in a design thinking process aren’t just practitioners, they are leaders. We’ve augmented the traditional design thinking toolkit with some perspectives that are uniquely our own, to help leaders thrive in these processes:

Self-leadership: understanding the way you’re showing up on an issue

Collaboration and co-creation methods: ways to accelerate progress with partnership

Problem-framing techniques: practical shifts to help you see new ways forward

We customize our learning path for the environment you’re working within, and the number of team members you’re looking to move through the training:

The one-day design thinking taster (live and in-person)
Bring your teams together for a full-day session to get an introduction to the framework and some of the basic tools.

Virtual/remote design thinking training
Use your home or office space as a launchpad for virtual learning: bring your own supplies, and connect to live facilitation through a design thinking workflow. This provides the basics of the methodology and exercises to try on your own.

Applied design thinking training (project-based)
Extend your learning from “just the basics,” to your own learner-led project. This activation sends you into your organizational environment to begin working on an applied design thinking project. Supported by both up-front framework teaching, and along-the-way digital check-ins, this is ideal for teams or individuals who are ready to get their hands dirty with the methods.