The Service Design Thinking course is more than a usual lecture. You will learn what it really takes to be an innovator. You will receive education in the human-centric innovation approach Design Thinking, work in small but interdisciplinary and international teams on real business challenges over the course of nine months (September to June). You will collaborate directly with mentors from a partner company as well as with fellow students from renowned universities from the SUGAR network, e.g. the University of St. Gallen, the Trinity College Dublin or the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). Along the way, you will visit international destinations known for being innovation hotspots and will be on stage at innovation events that draw an audience of several hundred participants.

What students will learn:

• Deep knowledge of the innovation method "Design Thinking", as introduced and promoted by Stanford University.
• Development of new, creative solutions through extensive observation of oneself and one's environment, in particular with regard to the relevant service users.
• Know-how to use prototyping and experimentation to visualize one's ideas, to test and iteratively develop them, and to converge on a solution.
• Learn to apply the method to real innovation projects issued by industry partners.
• Communicate, work and present in an interdisciplinary and international project setting.

Course phases (roughly 4 weeks each):

• Paper Bike:
  Learning about the basic method elements by building a paper bike that has to fulfill a given set of challenges. The bikes will be tested in a race during an international Kick-Off event with other universities of the SUGAR network (internally known as Design Thinking network).
• Design Space Exploration:
  Exploring the problem space through customer and user observation as well as desk research.
• Critical Function Prototype:
  Identification of critical features from the customer's perspective that can contribute to the solution of the overarching problem. Building and testing prototypes that integrate these functionalities.
• Dark Horse Prototype:
  Inverting earlier assumptions and experiences, which leads to the inclusion of new features and solutions. Developing radically new ideas are the focus of this phase.
• Funky Prototype:
  Integration of the individually tested and successful functions to a complete solution, which is further tested and developed.
• Functional Prototype:
  Selection of successful scenarios from the previous phase and building a higher resolution prototype. The final solution to the challenge is laid out in detail and tested with users.
• Final Prototype:
  Implementing the functional prototype and presenting it to the customer as well as the SUGAR network.

• Design Thinking: Das Handbuch; Falk Uebernickel, Walter Brenner, Therese Naef, Britta Pukall, Bernhard Schindlholzer
• The Design Thinking Playbook: Mindful Digital Transformation of Teams, Products, Services, Businesses and Ecosystems; Michael Lewrick, Patrick Link, Larry Leifer
• The Design Thinking Toolbox: A Guide to Mastering the Most Popular and Valuable Innovation Methods; Michael Lewrick, Patrick Link, Larry Leifer
• Frame Innovation: Create New Thinking by Design (Design Thinking, Design Theory); Kees Dorst

Bei der Vorlesung handelt es sich um eine zweisemestrige Veranstaltung, die jährlich im September startet.