Abstract:

Everyone has the capacity to be creative. The truth is, that we all have far more creative potential in ourselves to be discovered. Creativity is the driving force of innovation in the business world, giving companies a competitive advantage to succeed in highly competitive markets. When we consider creativity it is much broader than people usually think. It uses imagination in order to create something new in the world.

The paper shows our experience in using the Design Thinking methodology in the classroom. Design Thinking starts with the right mindset. We teach our students to use the Design Thinking methodology to create new solutions using specific tools. Students learn to develop creativity through brainstorming and prototyping, which spurs their creativity potential. First, students try to understand the problem, observe it and then define their point of view. They learn to build empathy with the customers to better address their needs. Through the ideation phase, students generate as many ideas as possible and later, they select the preferred ideas by evaluation and voting on the team. Students build prototypes, which are then tested in the interaction with a potential user.

The paper describes the Design Thinking process and shares our practical experience in the classroom, which can be used by other educators when realizing students projects.

Keywords:

Creativity, Design Thinking, Student Projects.