Design Thinking for the Greater Good: Innovation in the Social Sector

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/uva-darden-design-thinking-social-sector

Introduction

### Course Review: Design Thinking for the Greater Good: Innovation in the Social Sector In today's rapidly changing world, organizations within the social sector are continuously challenged to innovate and adapt to better serve their communities. If you're working for a nonprofit or within a social organization, you might often find yourself grappling with complex issues that demand creative solutions. Enter the Coursera course, **"Design Thinking for the Greater Good: Innovation in the Social Sector."** This course presents a unique opportunity to harness design thinking—a human-centered approach to problem-solving—to elevate your impact and effectiveness. #### Overview **Design Thinking for the Greater Good** is tailored specifically for those engaged in social services, nonprofits, and related fields. It teaches how design thinking can help unearth profound insights about the problems faced by the populations you serve, enabling the generation of innovative solutions that truly meet their needs. Through case studies and expert insights from diverse sectors including healthcare, education, and government, the course rounds out a comprehensive learning experience framed around a clear methodology. #### Course Structure and Content The course is structured over four weeks, each building on the last to guide participants through the design thinking process: 1. **Design Thinking Fundamentals**: The journey begins by introducing participants to the foundational principles of design thinking. You’ll explore its differential characteristics and its necessity in addressing challenges within complex organizations. Insights from experts like Angela Meyer and Dan Pink enrich your understanding of fundamental design tools and the mindset required for effective problem-solving. 2. **Asking "What Is?"**: The second week dives deeper into identifying problems suitable for a design thinking approach. Focusing on the first core question, “What Is?” you’ll learn how to identify insights and establish design criteria. Real-world examples, including success stories from the Kingwood Trust and Monash University Medical Centre, highlight practical applications of journey mapping and repertoire as essential tools. 3. **A Mindset for Innovation—Asking "What If?"**: Week three is all about expanding your horizons. By examining possibilities through the question “What If?” you’ll foster innovative thinking. This week introduces brainstorming techniques and includes engaging stories from the FDA and community members in Iveragh, Ireland. Additionally, tools like storytelling and stakeholder mapping are introduced to enhance user understanding. 4. **Asking "What Wows?" and "What Works?"**: The final week transitions from ideation to practical testing of solutions. Here, you will explore how to prototype ideas and assess their viability in real-world contexts. This section emphasizes the intersection of stakeholder desires and organizational capabilities, ensuring that your solutions are both impactful and sustainable. You will also contemplate your own challenges and how to apply design thinking methodologies in your unique situation. #### Key Takeaways - **Human-Centered Approach**: Learners will grasp the significance of putting people at the center of problem-solving, which is crucial for social impact. - **Practical Tools and Techniques**: The course equips participants with useful design thinking tools, such as journey mapping and stakeholder analysis, making it applicable to a wide range of social challenges. - **Real-Life Applications**: By featuring global stories, participants can see firsthand how diverse organizations have successfully employed design thinking. #### Recommendation If you are involved in any capacity within the social sector, **“Design Thinking for the Greater Good”** is a highly recommended course. It’s not just about learning theoretical concepts; it’s about applying a proven methodology to create meaningful change. The insights provided through expert stories and case studies cultivate a rich understanding of design thinking’s power. Engaging with this course will not only enhance your problem-solving toolkit but also empower you with the mindset necessary for making impactful decisions. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting your journey in social work, this course provides indispensable knowledge that can transform the way you approach challenges and work towards solutions that truly benefit the communities you serve. Overall, this Coursera course is a valuable resource for anyone looking to innovate within the social sector, and I highly encourage you to enroll and take your first steps toward effective, user-centered design thinking.

Syllabus

DESIGN THINKING FUNDAMENTALS

Welcome to the first week of Design Thinking in the Social Sector! This week, we provide an overview of design thinking: what it is, why it is different, and why we need it in these uncertain times, especially in complex organizations. We’ll examine the four simple questions at the heart of the design thinking methodology, and illustrate that approach with a visit to the Kingwood Institute in the UK. We’ll conclude this module by giving you a chance to hear from some other experts – Angela Meyer on the visualization tool and Dan Pink on six abilities that matter most.

Welcome back! This week, we’ll examine the types of problems that are well-suited for design thinking. We'll recognize what we need to do before we begin a project, and then take a deep dive into the first question in the design thinking process, “What is?” and the concepts of insights and design criteria. You’ll see how asking “What is?” helped improve daily living for adults with autism, their families, and the staff of the Kingwood Trust. Then we’ll look at the Monash University Medical Centre in Australia and how it asked this same question to make patient-centered care a reality. Along the way you’ll learn about two design tools: journey mapping and repertoire.

Welcome back! This week, we'll continue our exploration of repertoire and a "mindset for innovation" through two personas we call George and Geoffrey. We'll examine the question "What If?" as a way to think about possibilities. You'll look closely at how brainstorming within the design thinking process helped organizations as different as the Federal Drug Administration and the leaders of a small town of Iveragh, Ireland. This week's tools, storytelling and stakeholder mapping, illustrate ways to gather more information about projects and users.

Welcome to our final week! This week we transition from idea generation to testing by examining the intersection of what stakeholders want and what the organization can sustainably offer. We'll consider the role of prototypes as a way to test our assumptions about a solution, and consider what it takes to launch a solution into practice, and see real-life examples of prototyping and testing in social sectors as diverse as healthcare and agriculture. You'll begin to think about your own social sector challenge you could tackle with design thinking. We end this week with some advice and actions for impact.