Innovation by Design Thinking

This course is a deep dive into the tools, methodology, and mindset of design thnking. Design thinking is a practical, human-sentered, and prototype-driven process for innovation. It helps teams of diverse people tackle fuzzy, ill-defined challenges in creative ways. These challenges can arise for example in the development of new products and services, in the design of business models, or in the structuring of organizational systems.

As a student, you will be offered design challenges by leading organizations in both the private and public sector. The student teams will then tackle these challenges by leveraging the design thinking methodology on behalf of, and in collaboration with, the organizations.

Design thinkers, begin by focusing on the human experience. We understand that the most impactful innovations ar ethose that address important human needs in meaningful ways.

Design thinkers build rough and rapid prototypes and test them early on. At first this can feel chaotic and risky. design thinkers quickly adopt trial and error, and value the immediate feedback that it provides. We're open to small, early failures, which eventually pave the way to success. We train ourselves- and our teams-to embrace failure fot the learning opportunity that it really is.

Design thinkers focys more on asking the right questions than coming up with the rigt answers. Because there is no single "right future", but instead many "possible futures" asking the right questions helps us explore multiple possibilities- eventually honing in on the most appropriate one.

Design thinkers constantly seekopportunities for radical collaboration and co-creation. We acknowledge that micromanaging the innovation process is not only futile, but also counterproductive. Design thinkers revel in uncertainty, improvise constantly, trust their gut feeling, and laugh a lot.

After completion of this course in design thinking, the student has/can:

Knowledge

• Bread knowledge about human-centered and design-driven innovation
• an understanding of how empathy dirves innovation processes.
• knowledge about how problems are discovered, ideas are shaped, and prototypes are developed and tested.

Skills

• Put herself/himself in the shoes of others and adopt an empathic perspective by observing and immersing
• interview people to elicit meaningful responses
• craft a strong Point of View, which will synthesize empathy research and give it direction
• come ut with creative ideas that will serve as solutions to complex, ambiguous challenges
• use many different ideation tools like brainstorming, bodystorming, brainwriting, and quick sketching
• build all sorts of rapid and rough prototypes that tests ideas quickly and cheaply
• expose prototypes to the world, ask the relevant questions, receive good feedback, learn, and iterate repeatedly

General competencies

• Collaborate with people with different backgrunds, and tap into the creative potential of diversity
• play, have fun, laugh, and not take herself/himself too seriously, while taking her/his creative work extremely seriously
• concoct innovative solutions to important human challenges in a real-life context
• learn and innovative under conditions of extreme volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA)

The course is offered both dyring the autumn and spring semester. Access to the course is offered by the following priority:

1. Students admitted to selected Integrated Master's programs at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences have first priority for admission to the course in both semesters. furthermore, the various programs have priority in different semesters as follows:
   

a. Spring semester: Students admitted to the Integrated Master's programs in energy, ocean technology and medical technoogy have first priority for access to the course

b. Autumn semester: Students admitted to the Integrated Master's programs in aquaculture and in data science have first priority for access to the course

2. Students admitted to a study program at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences or the Integrated Master's program in Information Technology and Economics. It is a minimum requirement that the students have completed 60 ECTS

3. Students admitted to other study programs at UiB than those mentioned above. It is a minimum requirement that the students have completed 60 ECTS.

This course has a limited capacity, enrolment is based on application. Application deadline is wednesday in week 33 for the autumn semester or wednesday in week 2. Please see this page for more information: https://www.uib.no/en/matnat/53431/admission-courses-limited-capacity . The nimber of places made available to students in group 2 and 3 will normally be very limited. Please also refer to information under Access to the course.

It is mandatory to attend the first lecture. The schedule tme for this lecture is listed on the course website or on the Mitt UiB learning platform.