Design Thinking Workshops

Overview

As a University Innovation Fellow, I designed and facilitated Design Thinking workshops at multiple universities, reaching over 5,000 students. These weren't lectures — they were hands-on, high-energy sessions where students solved real problems using the design thinking framework.

Workshop Format

Each workshop followed the Stanford d.school's five-stage design thinking process:

1. Empathize — students conducted rapid interviews and observation exercises to understand real user needs
2. Define — synthesized research into clear problem statements using empathy maps and "How Might We" framing
3. Ideate — brainstorming sessions with techniques like crazy eights, mind mapping, and SCAMPER to generate solutions
4. Prototype — built low-fidelity prototypes using paper, cardboard, and digital tools to make ideas tangible
5. Test — presented prototypes to peers for feedback, iterating in real-time

Scale & Reach

• Facilitated workshops across multiple universities
• Impacted over 5,000 students from diverse academic backgrounds
• Adapted workshop content for different audiences — from first-year undergraduates to graduate students
• Trained student facilitators to scale the program beyond my direct involvement

What I Learned

Running these workshops taught me as much as it taught the participants. Facilitating for large groups sharpened my communication skills, and watching students go from "I don't know where to start" to building prototypes in under two hours showed me the power of structured creative processes. This experience directly influences how I approach building AI systems today — always starting with the user's problem, not the technology.