In today’s business world, design has become a mindset; a framework for innovation, driven by the desire to deeply understand user needs, map their behavior, and crack the motivations and deep emotions driving their actions or inactions.

Design-led companies such as Apple, Coca-Cola, IBM, Nike and Procter & Gamble have outperformed the S&P 500 over the past 10 years by an extraordinary 219%, according to a 2014 assessment by the Design Management Institute. At the core of each of these successful design stories is a state of customer intimacy, a deep understanding of users’ or customers’ unarticulated needs. Because of the remarkable success of design-led companies, design has evolved beyond aesthetics, and moved from the drafting table to the boardroom. More and more organizations nowadays want to learn how to think like designers to solve their most complex problems and drive innovation.

• Understand problems from a human-centered perspective
• Apply the design thinking methodology to solve problems more creatively
• Plan and conduct effective design research, including user interviews
• Guide groups to effectively brainstorm innovative ideas
• Create prototypes to communicate and test your creative ideas
• Experience a hands-on application of design thinking to a selected problem

Upon successful completion of the Masterclass, you will receive your personal verifiable Certificate of Completion from the American University of Dubai’s Executive Education Program.

Day 1:

• Introduction to the Design Thinking Methodology
• Adopting Human-Centered Design Principles and Mindsets
• Unpacking the Design Challenge
• Planning Design Research
• Empathy Research I

Day 2:

• Empathy Research II
• Insight Finding
• Leading and Managing Group Design Activities
• Effective Brainstorming and Innovative Ideation
• Low Fidelity Prototyping

Day 3:

• Idea Validation
• Iterative Prototyping
• Communicating Ideas Creatively
• Journey Reflections & Next Steps

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