Connecting Designing and Engineering Activities

This article aims to demonstrate the design thinking methodology applied in a specific challenge and its inherent problems. Nowadays, with the common concern of climate change issues, design assumes a global responsibility to change habits and behaviors. Universities as living laboratories of ideas and an-swers are called to action. In the work presented here, students were challenged to develop a project under the theme, seeds. With sustainable design and circular economy at the base of the creative process, in a thinking oriented towards truth, honesty, clarity and respect for people, 3 seeds are born. A hand-made clothing brand with dyeing based on three seeds: Paprika, Saffron and Pink Pepper. From the result were part not only the garments, but also communication strategy and graphic pieces that accompanied the whole concept and process of the project. For the development of the project, we intend a methodology that integrates practice as part of the method has come to characterize our action – practice-based and practice-led (Candy, 2006) - considering: wants to practice and reflection on the results of practice, as a source of new knowledge.Move forward from this knowledge about the practice and within of practice we adopted design thinking methodology not only because is a flexible methodology but also because can be used in any work field, since it as valuable elements, such as iterating frequently based on continuous feedback from all the intervenient. Through rapid low-resolution prototyping, ideas are continuously tested with the potential users. “Fail early in order to succeed sooner” is the Design Thinking principle that helps to maximize learning and insights, crucial for human centred innovation. Collaborative work in a small groups scenar-io map, leads to the discussion of solutions, and to the innovation that emerges from the different perspec-tives given by each person.In this context, it will be important to realize that, as a methodological resource in the development of a project, design thinking is able to provide an effective approach to problem solving, naturally facilitating the development of innovative approaches to problem solving, from the perspective of prototyping, rapid analysis and potential selection of end-user-focused solutions. Design thinking, besides guiding as a meth-odology, emerges as a unifying element of visual thinking and the creative process. Our aim with the students involved, based on active research and expression, is give them with skills capable of complementing their expertise, behaviors and methodologies in real work context since this methodology offered focuses on a practical approach.

The rapid development of science, technology, and digital multimedia has made adjustments in all areas of design. Its ramifications and forms are deeply influenced by digital media, making new demands on teaching. A renewed society regulates new modes of teaching to produce applicants capable of adapting to the development of modern society and responding to the needs of the market. The article aims to present the impact of the development of modern digital media technologies on the teaching of modern fashion design at Kyiv National University of Culture and Art and to analyze the methodological problems of design thinking. The novelty of the work is the consideration of a new mode of teaching that is suitable for digital media art design from the perspective of design thinking methodology. The result of the work is the connection between the modes of design and the development of creative projects in the perspective of the model of homogeneous synthesis of the use of design thinking methodology and digitalization. The feasibility of the methodology synthesis is revealed in the results of the experiment, which involved 30 students from three faculties of Kyiv National University of Culture and Art. The groups took a combined bachelor's and master's degree course in design engineering, aimed at developing the best final project. Students combined this course with incorporating a design thinking approach. The best project was demonstrated by the group that focused the most on the use of design thinking and creativity and was guided in the design development by one of the basic components of design thinking, empathy. Taking the perspective of incorporating design thinking into the learning process can identify the next steps that can assess a future professional's life trajectory as well as address topics such as recognition, memory, and future development perspectives.

Design thinking is a process based on a set of tools that encourage innovation and is advocated to be used to solve abstract and complex problems (Brown, 2019). It is a human-centered approach to innovation, the concept is based on understanding customer’s needs (IDEO, 2022). This interactive, creative, experimental, collaborative, and explorative can play very important role in designing assistive technologies. In this article, we present case study research where design thinking methodology is used to develop accessible technology- Morphic auto personalization. Morphic is a tool that helps to discover features in computers that make them easier to use, allows anyone to make frequently used features and functions easily available and allows accessibility settings to follow users to other computers (Morphic, 2022). Through this case study, we identify how the use of design thinking methodology supports the development IT accessible technology. This work implemented a protocol of guidelines developed by a group of experts in disability research, information technologies, design, and management. The team conducted 5 phases of design thinking: 1. Empathize—research users’ needs, 2. Define—state users' needs and the problems, 3. Ideate—challenge assumptions and create ideas, 4. Prototype—start to create solutions, 5. Test—try solutions (Kelley, Kelley, 2013).Design thinking approach helped to develop a holistic understanding of the problems that users deal with when they use computers. Thanks to this project research participants were provided a grounded basis on assistive technologies built into the computers. The research revealed knowledge gap that the development of assistive technology should enhance the voice of participants and consider their ideas, desires and needs. Design thinking approach can develop a holistic understanding of the problems that users deal with when they use computers. Thanks to this project research participants were provided a grounded basis on assistive technologies built into the computers.

This research explores the innovation of traditional salvadoran sweets through the application of the Food Design Thinking methodology to adapt them to the tastes and interests of a young generation (18 to 28 years old) while maintaining their traditional character. Based on the application of methods from the 6 stages of the Food Design Thinking methodology, two innovative proposals were designed and evaluated: Diablitos de Agosto Kit and Palitos Bañados. This study reveals that traditional salvadoran sweets can be adapted to the tastes of younger generations by enhancing the traditional characteristics they most resonate with, such as their soft texture and the combination of contrasting flavors, and by evolving aspects such as shapes and colors. Likewise, the narrative and culture incorporated into a gastronomic product emerge as an added value, highlighting the importance of designing foods that, beyond meeting the sensory needs of the target audience, activate collective emotions and memories, turning food into a means of expressing identity. In conclusion, this study demonstrates how the Food Design Thinking methodology enables a comprehensive and complete analysis of the context of food products, offering a way to consciously redesign products of high cultural value, integrating sensory, cultural, emotional, and social dimensions that respond to the needs of younger generations. This approach can be replicated by academics, artisans, designers, and entrepreneurs in the region to revitalize and innovate traditional food products while preserving their cultural component.

Questioning the importance and impact of design thinking methodologies in the architectural design studios is a backbone of architectural education in twenty first century.3D printing and digital manufacturing are disruptive technologies that are changing architects and designers daily lives.These trends require new skills, based on a deep understanding of digital continuum from design to production, from generation to fabrication.This continuity transcends the merely instrumental contributions of a person-machine relationship to praxis, has begun to evolve as a medium that supports a continuous logic of design thinking and making.Design thinking methodologies associated with digital fabrication emerged as a leading technological and design issue of digital research and design.As designers, we are witnessing a no frontier between computational design and digital fabrication.For this paper is taken into consideration the work of two architecture studios that share a unique background on new methodologies by embracing the digital technology in their own practice.Their work reflects on new design methodologies facing the expansion of digital technology in architectural practice.This paper discusses the possibility of new design thinking methods driven by digital fabrication.

Design thinking, recognised as a human-centred approach to problem-solving, has garnered attention as a pedagogical framework across various disciplines, including higher education, for its potential to cultivate innovation, creativity, and problem-solving skills. In chemical engineering education, integrating design thinking methodologies holds promise for enhancing students' problem-solving skills and innovation capabilities. However, despite its potential benefits, its specific application and impact within chemical engineering education have not been extensively explored. Hence, this critical review paper aims to comprehensively analyse the application of design thinking pedagogy in chemical engineering education within higher education settings. This study contributes a systematic review and a case study from DUT, demonstrating the integration of design thinking pedagogy in chemical engineering education. The methodology involved in this review encompassed systematically searching academic databases, selecting relevant studies based on specific criteria, extracting data, synthesising findings, and reporting adapted from Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The overarching question that guided this investigation was: How could the integration of design thinking pedagogy in chemical engineering education enhance student learning outcomes and prepare them for the challenges of the engineering profession? Integrating design thinking pedagogy in chemical engineering education aims to improve student learning outcomes by fostering a holistic approach to problem-solving, emphasising empathy, creativity, and collaboration. By incorporating design thinking principles into the curriculum, educators seek to cultivate a mindset of innovation and critical thinking among students, preparing them to tackle complex engineering challenges in a dynamic and rapidly evolving global context, such as the shift towards ‘green engineering’. Design thinking pedagogy could potentially bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application of engineering principles, concurrent with developing essential soft skills such as communication, teamwork, and adaptability, which are crucial for success in the engineering profession. Through active learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, and realworld application of engineering principles, design thinking in engineering education could equip students with the skills and mindset to become creative problem solvers, effective communicators, and ethical leaders. It is evident that design thinking offers a promising avenue to concurrently enhance student engagement, develop conceptual learning, critical thinking skills, promote interdisciplinary collaboration, and prepare students for the demands of the chemical engineering profession. The findings highlight the importance of integrating design thinking principles in chemical engineering education to cultivate a culture of innovation, creativity, and adaptability among students. Moving forward, further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of design thinking pedagogy in enhancing student learning outcomes and to identify best practices for its implementation in chemical engineering education. Furthermore, researchers are encouraged to conduct empirical studies to assess the impact of design thinking pedagogy on student learning outcomes, engagement, and professional development in chemical engineering education.

Due to the significant effect the COVID-19 epidemic had on employment and education within the tourism and hospitality sectors (Cameron et al., 2022; Carr, 2020; Fletcher et al., 2022) the purpose of this research project was to identify whether a different approach to vocational learning could better equip learners with the skills necessary to be work-ready. This research aimed to explore the application of a design thinking methodology to the development of a work-based learning programme for hospitality and tourism that serves the needs of industry and learners. The following fundamentals formed the basis of the research. • Explore the insights that can be gained by applying Design Thinking theory as a critical lens to evaluate teaching and learning initiatives in Tourism and Hospitality • Independently apply knowledge and implement this into the development of work-based learning pedagogic approach in tourism and hospitality education. • Evaluate the use of Design Thinking as a tool for pedagogic development through rigorous intellectual analysis, reflective practice, criticism and problem-solving. Initially, the methodology was Design Thinking incorporated into a work-based learning environment. However, the structure of the project had to be modified as a result of my transition to another role outside of Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology. As this was a major pivot, I realised that by creating a reflective case study, I could discover how Design Thinking might feature in the study. Therefore, Design Thinking was used to explore the insights of how Design Thinking could be applied to a living event in an educational setting. The key insights were that a Design Thinking approach to hospitality and tourism education enables learners to grow holistically because the skills are not technical rather 21st Century skills whereby the learners develop both soft and core skills. Additionally, there was evidence of increased levels of student confidence, motivation, whanaungatanga and interdisciplinary collaboration. However, there were challenges and the following recommendations were made. Design Thinking can be messy and for Design Thinking pedagogy to be implemented into a curriculum there needs to be collaboration across a variety of sectors and you need tutorial staff with agile ability to cope with different needs. Moving away from a prescribed delivery dictates the need to develop a toolbox of resources and as traditional education is highly structured and prescribed compared with Design Thinking which responds to ‘just in time’ teaching there-needs to be flexibility without time constraints. Through my experience as a practitioner, I have gained invaluable insights from completing my Master of Professional Practice. A key outcome from my research project is the ability to view and formulate innovative pedagogic concepts by approaching it through a Design Thinking perspective. My development has spanned the kaiako role I held within Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, to the role as Ringa Whanake (Qualifications Development Facilitator) and a researcher. My new learning was a lived experience, unfolding and empowering changes to my practice.

Design thinking is an approach typically used in product innovation and marketing that puts empathy for the end-user at the centre of the design process. Design thinking is a human-centred process that emphasizes creativity and collaboration, leading to facilitation of citizen engagement through improved recruitment and retention of participants. Here we present two case studies that use design thinking methodologies to better understand the citizen scientists involved.CityCLIM (a European Union Horizon 2020 funded project) applied a stakeholder analysis technique called the Value Proposition Canvas (VPC) to better understand the motivations of the citizen scientists participating in a data collection campaign for urban climate. The project specifically identified a target group consisting of citizens who ride a bicycle primarily for commuting or as a hobby, with specific requirements in terms of route, duration and frequency. Using the VPC allowed organisers to formulate a targeted recruitment, participation, and communication strategy. This strategy is beneficial for retaining and motivating citizen scientists, but also for ensuring high quality spatial and temporal environmental data for the project.The ICEBERG project (a European Union Horizon 2020 funded project) applied a product design technique called Empathy Mapping, which provides deeper insights into the citizen’s and community’s needs, rather than thinking from the researcher's point of view. Empathy Mapping was used to identify barriers to implementing a community-based environmental monitoring program, in order to brainstorm solutions and opportunities for participation. These insights (some of which draw from experiences of the consortium members working with the case study communities) were used to reflect on researcher conduct when engaging the community and planning citizen participation activities.

Currently, the interest in design thinking in the world has made it possible to add many techniques and visual schemes that can solve various kinds of problems, including for building a strategy to achieve the company’s goals, its corporate spirit and the development of creative skills of its employees. Already today, it is possible to call the merit of design thinking the shift of emphasis in corporate goals to customer orientation, to the mobilization of collective intelligence to solve problems, to understanding the importance of empathy, creativity and entrepreneurship. A comparative analysis of existing design thinking frameworks is given, including from researchers of companies and design centers such as Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University (d.school), The HPI-Stanford Design Thinking Research Program, Stanford d.school’s Design Thinking framework (IDEO), Google, Intel. Frameworks structure the process of design thinking in 5-6 phases: from empathy, when the needs and requests of consumers are studied, to testing an innovative product or service being created. The place of “design thinking” approach in the general concept of human-centered design is shown. The task of design thinking, the development of innovative products or services focused on human needs, is to provide a solution to a specific problem of a certain target audience. The paper outlines the principles of designing a digital innovative product. The five steps of designing a new product are described and the features of using various visualization techniques are given. The study uses such tools as the “Persona” model, Job Stories and User Stories frameworks. The creating process features of an innovative product based on the integration of design thinking, Lean Startup methodology and the theory of Jobs to Be Done are described. The life cycle of the innovation development “Creation – Evaluation – Training” is presented which is based on the process of validated learning. Changes in the outline of the business model in the lean startup methodology are presented. New segments have been added to the Lean Canvas business model – “Key Partners”, “Key Activities”, “Key Resources”, “Consumer Relations”.

This study, presented at the IV Primary Education Conference: Transforming Education in the Face of Current and Future Challenges examines a workshop on the use of Constructionism and a STEAM approach to create educational projects with Makey Makey equipment from the perspective of teacher trainees who participated in the workshop. The objective was to evaluate the feasibility of conducting such workshops as an effective way of promoting creative thinking and fostering technology skills for teacher training purposes. Research was based on a quantitative methodology with surveys to track project progression. Workshops were created using a Design Thinking methodology and implemented with three cohorts from a Creativity and Talent course during 2022, 2023 and 2024. Course participants were either Primary Education, English for Primary Education or Early Childhood Education majors at the Guanacaste Campus of the University of Costa Rica (UCR). Workshops were facilitated by Educational Technologies for Learning Program, PROTEA staff from the UCR Rodrigo Facio Campus in San José, Costa Rica. The factors that were analyzed include the environment and materials, the pedagogical approach, the impact of the innovation and practicality of implementing this teaching method in a classroom setting. Students evaluated the workshop favorably and expressed a strong inclination to adopt a Design Thinking methodology through Makey Makey technology together with the resources learned in the workshop for classroom projects. The workshop proved to have a positive impact on teacher training by fostering creativity, innovation and integration of new technologies. Study limitations included the sample size and absence of a control group. Expanding educational settings to implement this technology and further research for its integration in classrooms, supported by a systematic pedagogical approach is recommended.

أثر إدارة تصميم العمليات على اتخاذ القرارات من خلال التفكير التصميمي (دراسة تطبيقية على المنظمات الأهلية المحلية في قطاع غزة (The Impact of Design Management Processes on Decisions Making through Design Thinking)

246 Background: Cone Beam Computed Tomography(CBCT) is the cornerstone of image guided radiotherapy(IGRT) which is an integral part of pelvic cancers like prostate cancer. Each pelvic radiotherapy (RT) session is preceded by a planned CBCT to ensure target localisation and organ at risk avoidance. When these criteria are not met, an unplanned CBCT is performed until the CBCT is satisfactory. Possible reasons for an unsatisfactory CBCT include an under filled bladder, distended rectum or prostate gland movement. Repeated unplanned CBCT results in unnecessary excess radiation for patients. We aimed to reduce the incidence of unplanned CBCT from a baseline of 21% to 9% over 5 months. Methods: We conducted the project using both conventional quality improvement methodology and the design thinking methodology. In the diagnostic phase up to March 2017, the baseline incidence of CBCT in patients receiving pelvic RT was 21%. We hypothesized that there were reversible factors leading to a higher incidence of unplanned CBCT and sought to identify and rectify these reversible factors to reduce the incidence of unplanned CBCT. Using human centred design, we designed a new process of performing a bladder ultrasound prior to CBCT to ensure a full bladder prior to RT using the steps empathy, define, ideation, prototype, testing, sharing. Results: A total of 97 patients that underwent pelvic radiotherapy were included in this study, 40 patients were pre intervention and 61 patients received the bladder ultrasound intervention implemented from April 2017 onwards. After intervention, incidence of unplanned decreased from 21% to 5.8%. A 2 sample t test was used to compare the unplanned CBCT pre and post intervention. We found the mean pre and post intervention difference in pooled mean incidence of unplanned CBCT to be significantly different by 13.3%. The reduction in unplanned CBCT translated to saving each patient on average equivalent to 3000 chest x rays worth of unnecessary radiation. Conclusions: Design Thinking is a feasible strategy in quality improvement. We report the first design thinking project in radiation oncology quality improvement. An automated ultrasound bladder is a feasible strategy to screen for bladder filling prior to each CBCT to reduce reliance on CBCT and also patient exposure to radiation in IGRT of pelvic cancers.

Innovation in Newborn Hearing Screening in Peru: Applying Design Thinking to Improve Health Policy

In order to model the use of design thinking technology in accordance with the stages of involving this methodology in solving local government problems, the article analyzes the features of its application at the level of local government, in particular under martial law. It is found that under martial law, local government bodies need methodological support to solve numerous problems and adhere to the principles of decentralization, legality, non-interference, etc., so that the process of community development in Ukraine continues. It is noted that this requires new innovative methods and technologies that will allow solving issues caused not only by population migration, destruction of infrastructure, but also by the requirements of European integration. Among the innovative technologies, design thinking is identified as a possible basis for the transformation of public administration, for which scientists are developing relevant methodological recommendations. The stages of applying design thinking technology are defined as understanding the existing problem, observing its development and reflection by local residents, determining one`s attitude and ideas for its solution, creating a certain prototype (idea) of solving the problem and offering it to citizens, testing the prototype to determine its effectiveness. It was concluded that the use of design thinking methodology occurs according to the following scheme: studying the problem – proposing options for its solution – creating a solution model – final development of a solution (idea) that solves the initial problem. To this, it is proposed to add a stage of explaining the proposed options to the residents of the community, which requires certain educational activities with the involvement of relevant specialists, as well as the availability of relevant competencies among managers.

Reducing Time to Chemotherapy Administration in the Outpatient Setting of a Tertiary Cancer Centre Using a Design Thinking Approach