What is the Houston Design Thinking Workshop?

The Houston Design Thinking Workshop is a free, community-based short course that will be held in the Spring of 2017. In this course, teams will assemble to solve problems sourced from the surrounding community.

Who is the target audience for this workshop?

This workshop welcomes a wide range of interests. You may be interested in pitching your own project and having a team tackle it. You may want to learn the design process to teach your friends and community to solve their own problems. You may have a deep seeded interest in improving the conditions of your local community by working with others.

What types of problems will this workshop tackle?

The design process is capable of tackling a wide range of problems, from developing educational tools for non-profits, to promotional materials for local governments, to new tools for surgeons. In this workshop we will solicit ideas from the community and form teams around those ideas.

How long is this course and when will it be held?

This course will run 6 weeks in the Spring of 2017 – March 23 to April 27, every Thursday, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm.

How will this course be taught?

This class will be taught using principles from Human Centered Design, Design Thinking, and Engineering Design. Each team will be assisted with the right step at the right time based on their individual project and needs. Each session will start with exercises that instruct and practice that specific step of the design process. Following this practice teams will work through that step in their own teams.

How much DOES this course cost?

This course is free for attendees and participants. A small stipend will be provided to the mentors and guest lecturers.

Who is providing funding for this course?

Funding for this course has been provided by Sketch City, a Houston non-profit that advances technology and data in decisions that affect the public.