Creative Problem Solving: Design Thinking in Health and Social Care (FutureLearn)

Design thinking is an innovative approach that offers valuable strategies for creating ‘user-centred care’. On this course you will learn the core principles of design thinking including visualisation, iteration, and collaboration. You will explore how it can be applied to the healthcare sector, analysing recent case studies across a range of health and social care settings.

What topics will you cover?

• Core principles of design thinking (user-centred design, visualisation, iteration and collaboration)
• The design process, from understanding and reframing a problem, through testing and rapid prototyping, to launching a minimum viable product/service and continuous optimisation
• Introduction to key design methods and how to apply them
• Learning and discussion about design thinking as a highly relevant tool for problem solving in healthcare
• Analysis of recent case studies in a range of health and social care settings
• Regular opportunities for discussion of how design methods could be applied in learners’ working environments

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

• Demonstrate methods by which complex problems can be reframed as opportunities
• Apply design thinking as a creative force to drive and foster innovation and change
• Interpret systemic, intractable challenges through the eyes of users (people, patients, staff)
• Explore the use of prototypes to test solutions with minimum cost and risk
• Identify opportunities for using design methods within your own health or social care environment
• Reflect on insights from successful design-led innovation projects in a range of health settings