Foundations of Design Thinking

online course

Design thinking is a powerful holistic process that focuses on people and their needs and experiences. The process is iterative and flexible, emphasizing the collaboration between innovators and users. The design thinking aims to shift the paradigm from the innovation centered on technology and economy towards the one on human needs and experiences.

In the course, the students will learn and develop the essential skills behind design thinking. The course will enable the students to empathize with people, identify their needs, and systematically ideate, prototype, and test ideas. Through a series of practical and accumulative exercises, the students will create a design-thinking project.

Course leader

Stefanie Holzheu, Dipl.-Ing., M.Arch. is a media architect, creative technologist, and consultant at Futurium. Dr. Sang Lee is an architect with PhD in Architecture, he teaches architectural and sustainable design at the Delft University of Technology.

Target group

This course is designed for current university students, working professionals and any individuals interested in or studying in the fields of humanities, liberal arts, architecture, design, and engineering.

Course aim

Learning Goals:

Upon successful completion of the course, the students will gain solid understanding of design thinking. They will be able to apply the five-stage model of design thinking defined by d.school of Hasso-Plattner Institute:

(1) Empathize – understand people and their needs and the problem to solve to meet such needs

(2) Define – analyze observations and synthesize them into a human-centered problem statement

(3) Ideate – identify new solutions

(4) Prototype – investigate the hypothetical solutions through low-cost, scaled down prototypes

(5) Test – test the best solutions identified during prototyping

Credits info

3 EC
ECTS

Fee info

EUR 720: Fee for students.
The fee covers the course, course materials, and a digital cultural program.
EUR 1120: Fee for working professionals/non- students.
The fee covers the course, course materials, and a digital cultural program.