LEARNING LAUNCH

Challenge & Selection

Challenge: Introduce a new post graduate program with Design Thinking as  one of the subjects.

I work for a higher education institute that gives Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM).

We launched a new program that introduced the topic Design Thinking with some liberal arts  subjects.

It is a relatively new topic for all the stakeholders involved in the institute. The staff, the potential  students and their parents, the staff and the faculty.

The challenge was how to introduce Design Thinking to the potential students in a short span of time  like few hours of interaction during the interview process.

Application

We decided to hire Design Thinking practitioners in the country to create a small intro (LAUNCH) of  the term Design Thinking itself.

We decided to use Design Thinking workshop before we formally interview the candidates. It would  also give them a trailer of the term as it would be a subject in their course for the coming 2 years.

The candidates were called to the institute in a group of 15-20 people at once.

We grouped them in small teams of 3-4 and start some ice breaking activities. They were introduced  to the very basic definition of the term Design Thinking and were given a problem statement.

They were sent to the local nearby market area and were supposed to record (in their minds, or on  paper or maybe taking photographs with prior permission) customer journey at an undergarment  store.

How comfortable/uncomfortable were men and women while buying the undergarments at the  shop? What were the pain points? etc

After carefully observing the customers, they came back to the venue to discuss how would they  come to new solutions after brainstorming for better experience for the customers.

Also, they did a roleplay by enacting as the stake holders like shop keeper, customer, sales  representative. This helped us identify the hidden talents in the candidates.

Insight & Approach

We realised that the students loved the institutes’ approach to involving Design Thinking in the  selection process. Also, it was a great tool for our institute as it helped us to identify different traits  in the candidates that could not have come out in a normal face to face interview environment.


LEARNING LAUNCH Challenge & Selection Challenge : Introduce a new post graduate program with Design Thinking as one of the subjects . I work for a higher education institute that gives Post Graduate Diploma in Management ( PGDM ) . We launched a new program that introduced the topic Design Thinking with some liberal arts subjects . It is a relatively new topic for all the stakeholders involved in the institute . The staff , the potential students and their parents , the staff and the faculty . The challenge was how to introduce Design Thinking to the potential students in a short span of time like few hours of interaction during the interview process . Application We decided to hire Design Thinking practitioners in the country to create a small intro ( LAUNCH ) of the term Design Thinking itself . We decided to use Design Thinking workshop before we formally interview the candidates . It would also give them a trailer of the term as it would be a subject in their course for the coming 2 years . The candidates were called to the institute in a group of 15 - 20 people at once . We grouped them in small teams of 3 - 4 and start some ice breaking activities . They were introduced to the very basic definition of the term Design Thinking and were given a problem statement . They were sent to the local nearby market area and were supposed to record ( in their minds , or on paper or maybe taking photographs with prior permission ) customer journey at an undergarment store . How comfortable / uncomfortable were men and women while buying the undergarments at the shop ? What were the pain points ? etc After carefully observing the customers , they came back to the venue to discuss how would they come to new solutions after brainstorming for better experience for the customers . Also , they did a roleplay by enacting as the stake holders like shop keeper , customer , sales representative . This helped us identify the hidden talents in the candidates . Insight & Approach We realised that the students loved the institutes ’ approach to involving Design Thinking in the selection process . Also , it was a great tool for our institute as it helped us to identify different traits in the candidates that could not have come out in a normal face to face interview environment .