FEAFN2002 Design Thinking: A Creative Approach to Problem Solving
Design thinking is an iterative problem solving process of discovery, ideation, and experimentation that employs design-based techniques to gain insight and yield innovative solutions for virtually any type of organizational or business challenge. The word "design" has traditionally been used to describe the visual aesthetics of objects such as books, websites, products, architecture, and fashion. Yet increasingly design as a discipline is expanding to include not just the shaping of artifacts but also the ways people interact with systems, services, and organizations. As the challenges and opportunities facing society grow more complex, and as stakeholders grow more diverse, an approach known as "design thinking" is playing a greater role in finding meaningful paths forward. In Design Thinking: A Creative Approach to Problem Solving, students will develop skills as ethnographers, visual thinkers, strategists, and storytellers through a hybrid of seminar discussions and collaborative projects. Case studies from different organizations that use design thinking to understand design process and outcomes are examined. Students will unpack each step of the design thinking process and become familiar with the design thinker's toolkit. An overview of design thinking is provided and students will work with a model containing tools to help them understand design thinking as a problem solving approach. Over the course of the semester, students will directly apply what they have learned to public service and social entrepreneurial challenges about which they are passionate by producing a product in response to an articulated problem.
Commonwealth supported place (CSP)
A CSP is subsidised by the Australian Government and students pay a contribution amount. Each unit is classified into a band, depending on the study area of the unit (this discipline may be different from the study area of your course).
2025 contribution amount* $1,655
2025 grandfathered contribution amount* $1,655
Grandfathered contribution amount - if you are a continuing student, who commenced your course before 1 January 2021, you will continue paying the same amount as you would have, had legislative reforms not been implemented, for any units that would otherwise have an increased student contribution amount.
* For Clinical Psychology & Professional Pathways bands the unit fee amount is determined by accredited courses. Students in Postgraduate Clinical Psychology, Professional Pathway Psychology or Professional Pathway Social Work accredited courses should refer to the information below.
