Creative and Design Thinking: process and tools for innovation (POK)

The objective is to equip multidisciplinary students with fundamental knowledge on creativity and a toolbox that will augment their creative and design abilities and mindset to face challenges in their own professional fields. The toolbox is constituted by a design thinking process and a series of tools and techniques that will boost their Creative Thinking to reach innovation.

The MOOC provides a tested and proven design process, developed by IDEActivity Center, with some methods and techniques which aim to promote and generate creativity, break established schemes, stimulate the imagination and, regardless of the method, improve the conditions in which creative ideas are produced. Students will learn different creativity tools and established skills in their utilisation over different problems and areas. They will learn how to enhance their creative abilities and to adopt a playful mindset in their everyday work that is fundamental to break the mental walls that inhibit creativity.

The course foresees a learning by doing approach where they will apply the toolbox step by step to face a challenge.

Total workload of the course: 18 hours

This MOOC is provided by Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with Mines ParisTech, AgroParisTech, Arts et Métiers, Chimie ParisTech, ENSTA Paris, Télécom Paris, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Instituto Superior Técnico, Istanbul Technical University.

Learning Schedule

The course is structured in 6 weeks.

Week 1 – Introduction to Creativity

Week 2 – Creative Thinking and Design Thinking

Week 3 – Explore - Step 1 - Clarify Goal

Week 4 – Explore - Step 2 - Define Opportunity

Week 5 – Generate - Step 3 - Idea

Week 6 – Generate - Step 4 - Prototype

In particular, Week 1 introduces the main theories and authors that study creativity from different perspectives. It also introduces the main elements of creativity through both theories and practical exercise: creative process, divergent and convergent modes, lateral thinking, the creative mindset and the creative environment.

Week 2 discusses the relationship between Creative Thinking, Design Thinking and Innovation, highlighting the importance of adopting a process and a Human-Centred approach to reach innovation. Design Thinking is explained and the IDEActivity process, structured in 4 main steps, will be presented.

Week 3 to 6 are entirely dedicated to deeply explore and practice the 4 steps of the IDEActivity process. From Clarify Goal to Prototype moving through Define Opportunity and Idea. Each week will focus on a specific step, presenting its main goal and a selection of design and creativity tools that support the activities within the steps and obtain powerful results.

There are also some additional resources, collected in the Materials page, so you reach a greater level of detail in some topics of your interest and/or tackle some specific tests that can give you some further indication on your attitude.

By actively participating in this MOOC, you will achieve different intended learning outcomes (ILOs).

1. Remember basic concepts of human creativity and creativity tools

2. Remember the potentialities of creative thinking and design thinking process to reach innovation

3. Understand the importance of creative thinking and lateral thinking when facing a design problem/challenge

4. Comprehend the explore and generate phase of the design thinking process and related tools

5. Apply creative thinking and creativity techniques to solve challenges through the application of a design thinking process and its tools