Seminar Title: Digital Innovations and Design Thinking
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Seminar Title: Digital Innovations and Design Thinking
Faculty: Dr. Balaji Rajagopalan, Professor of MIS and Dean
College of Business, Northern Illinois University
email: balaji0667@gmail.com
Course Overview (i.e. What is the course about?)
Just before I left my office to get home, I opened my iHome app on my smart phone and set the
temperature to be a comfortable 71F, turned the lights on in my living room, set up my pasta dinner
to be made by my robot iChef, asked my robot iAttire to get my black suit ironed and ready for
tomorrow, and finally, checked the traffic condition report written by an artificial intelligence bot to
find the fastest way to get home. OK, I don’t do all of this right now, but much of this is already
commonplace and the others will surely follow. Soon, much of this course will be taught by my
digital assistant iBalaji.
From Uber to Airbnb, digital technologies are transforming business models and industries. The
choice for firms is clear – disrupt or be disrupted. While there is no magical recipe on how to
disrupt, there are lessons we can learn from disruptions that have already shaken industries and
understand principles that can help increase the chances of being a disruptor. With technology
disrupting firms and increasingly, entire industries, the imperative is for students to have a deep
understanding of digital innovations that are likely to shape the future and have the capacity to
innovate.
This project-based interdisciplinary course positioned at the intersection of digital innovations, design
thinking and entrepreneurship is aimed at delivering the competencies demanded by
businesses, non-profits and government agencies alike – an understanding of transformational
opportunities created by digital technologies and the capacity to innovate.
To deliver on the capacity to innovate, the course uses the design thinking framework developed at
Stanford University (see http://dschool.stanford.edu/dgift/) and widely used across the world today.
Materials used for the course will also draw from the work of IDEO founder and CEO Tim Brown who
is a thought leader in this space (see his recent article in HBR
https://www.ideo.com/images/uploads/news/pdfs/DesignForAction.pdf).
This course is designed with the fundamental premise that innovative problem solving and design
thinking can be learned through repeated practice. As conceptualized, design thinking is an approach
to innovation that uses deep customer understanding, problem framing, a range of ideation
techniques, iterative prototyping, experimenting and critique to generate and develop implementable
concepts that meet user needs.
A significant part of the learning in this course will happen through immersive learning as students
work on their projects. Although coming into the course with an identified project is not a
prerequisite, there is no doubt that the learning is most effective when students have a project
idea that they would like to work on during the semester.
Projects will be the primary platform on which students practice the techniques and approaches the
course introduces. The course will orient students to the design thinking approach early in the
semester, with a focus on tools and techniques that can be directly applied to the project topics.
Class meetings will largely be working meetings and feedback sessions as students develop their
concepts. While all project ideas are welcome, the course is designed to specifically focus on digital
innovations.
Page | 1At the end of this active-learning based seminar, the student is expected to:
Comprehend the opportunities created by digital innovations
Understand and apply the tools and techniques based on human centered design / design
thinking
Demonstrate the ability to design digital solutions to meet customer needs
Design and evaluate entrepreneurial actions
Relevance of the course (i.e. Why is this topic important to almost everyone?)
“52% of the Fortune 500 companies have gone bankrupt, been acquired or ceased to exist
since 2000 due to digital disruption.” (EY Report, 2015)
Students from a variety of backgrounds will benefit from this course. In particular, those in
technology, engineering, computer science/software engineering, digital media and arts, business and
information systems will find this to complement their education.
How many firms or industries can you name that have been the victim of digital disruption?
Some have successfully transformed to survive and thrive but others were not so lucky. Think
Blockbuster. The disrupter Netflix. In fact, the entire video rental industry and movie industry in
general have been disrupted by Netflix. Some of you may recall that IBM was a hardware firm
and then, a PC firm. Today, it is in the business of helping firms transform to the digital age.
Amazon launched as an online bookstore but today it’s a digital platform for the world of online
commerce on the verge of destroying the physical retail store and at the forefront of deploying
digital technologies to transform logistics and consumer experience. The early deployment of
digital technologies in the 80s and 90s was to improve productivity and later, the 2000s saw the
power of digital connectivity but today they play a transformational role. This course provides
critical insights for managers and business leaders -- the strategic thinking to successfully
deploy digital technologies to upend competition and industry. Simply put, those that do not
have this competency will be in the history books sooner than later.
Page | 2Course Design & Schedule
(i.e. How is the course structured and delivered?)
Module 1
Overview of Course
Learning Model: Learning by doing, Peer Learning
Inspiration
Overview of digital innovations & their transformative impact
Framing design challenge and building solutions
Module 2
Ideation
Themes, Insights, Brainstorm, Prototype & Build Business
Model
Implementation
Module 3 Prototyping, Ways to grow, Funding strategy,
Creating a pitch
Page | 3Resources
The resource list below is for you to use individually and as a group. In particular, these might
be useful for your project and your individual assignments. We will not be going over each of
these in the course of our discussions.
Module 1:
Nike: From Separate Digital Initiatives to Firm-Level Transformation
AI Comes of Age
Firm Exemplars
o SafeinHome (http://www.safeinhome.com/)
o Narrative Science (https://narrativescience.com/)
o Azeti (http://www.azeti.net)
o Tado (http://www.tado.com)
Module 2:
http://dschool.stanford.edu/dgift
The field guide to human centered design (http://www.designkit.org/)
How Design Thinking Is Improving Patient-Caregiver Conversations, Roel van der
Heijde; Dirk Deichmann, Nov 03, 2017, HBR
Idea Generation and Selection, UV7313-PDF-ENG, Jeremy Hutchison-Krupat, Harvard
Case Collection
Module 3:
The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically
Successful Businesses Hardcover – September 13, 2011 by Eric Ries (Author)
Page | 4Module 1: Overview of course, Problem Formulation
May 25, 2021: Watch Video at your convenience
Introductions
The learning model in the course
Examples of ideas generated in the course (watch video)
Rapid fire generation of ideas
Overview of the course structure
How digital transformation is transforming businesses
Foundations of Design Thinking
May 28, 2021: Live Session (3-5 pm)
First round of initial idea generation
INSPIRATION
May 31, 2021: [Watch Video at your convenience + 1.5 hour session live 3-4.30 pm]
Platforms
AI
Internet of Things
Data Analytics
Social Media
Problem formulation – individual presentations
Refinement
Group formation
June 1, 2021: [Watch Video at your convenience, Meet as a group]
Choice of group problem
Frame your design challenge – initial presentation by group
Interview
Group Interview
Expert Interview
Extremes and Mainstreams
Group Deliverables: Frame your Design Challenge, Interview Questions
Group Homework: Conduct Initial Interviews and bring results to next class
Page | 5IDEATION
June 4, 2021 [Watch Video at your convenience, Meet as a group]
Card Sort
Themes
Create Insight Statements
How Might We
Create Frameworks: Journey Map, 2X2
Group Deliverables: Card Sort, Themes & Insight Statements
Group Homework: Journey Map, 2X2
June 7, 2021 [Watch Video at your convenience, Meet as a group]
Brainstorm
Bundle Ideas
Create a concept
Determine what to prototype
Storyboard
Group Deliverables: Results of brainstorming ideas, What to prototype
Group Homework: Storyboard
June 11, 2021 [Watch Video at your convenience, Meet as a group]
Rapid prototyping
Business Model Canvas
Group work
Group Deliverables: Rapid prototype build plan, Business Model Canvas
Group Homework: Build a working/conceptual prototype
Page | 6IMPLEMENTATION
June 15, 2021 [Watch Video at your convenience, Meet as a group]
Ways to grow framework
Funding Strategy
Pilot
Define Success
Create a Pitch
Group work
Group Deliverables: Ways to grow framework, funding strategy, Pitch
Group Homework: Pitch video plan, Project Presentation
June 18, 2021 [1.5 hour session live 2-3.30 pm; Professor available]
Group meetings to work on:
Project Presentation
Pitch Video
Project report
June 23, 2021 (Final Presentations, Live from 2-3.30 pm)
Final Presentation (20-minutes presentation, 10 minutes Q & A)
Pitch Video (~3 minutes)
Group Deliverables: Project Presentation, Pitch Video
Group Homework: Project Report
June 30, 2021:
Final Project Report Due
Group Deliverable: Project Report
Page | 7Student Evaluation Methods [Total points: 1000]
Due: June 11, 2021
1. a) Problem Formulation b) Brief analysis of 5 firms and the problems they solved
(15%) (~ 3 pages, Individual)
Due: June 18, 2021
2. 5-page, 1.5 spacing, report highlighting understanding of key concepts (35%)
Due approximately end of the semester, students are required to highlight key concepts
that form the foundation for learning in the course. (~ 6-7 pages, Individual)
In your own words, explain the following concepts/ideas using examples of your own:
Platforms
Internet of Things
The purpose and value of “interview” techniques
The purpose and value of “card sort” method
The purpose and value of “brainstorm” method
The purpose and value of “storyboard” technique
The purpose and value of “business model canvas”
It is important that you explain the above concepts/ideas in your own words
and use real world examples. If your response is only definitions from the
book or articles, you will get no credit.
Due: June 23, 2021
3. Thesis/Project & Presentation, Video Pitch (50%) [Team Project, Graded Individually]
Due at the end of the course, students will apply one digital innovation to develop a new
product or service. Students will report their analysis using the design thinking
framework discussed in the course. Each individual will write one -page
contribution to the thesis/project that will be used to assign the individual grade.
Peer evaluations (each member of the team asked to rate the contribution of
other members of the team) may also be factored into the grade assignment.
Due: June 30, 2021
Final Project Report (Group)
Page | 8SUMMARY OF CLASS SESSIONS
May 25, 2021: Watch Video at your convenience
May 28, 2021: Live Session (3-5 pm)
May 31, 2021: [Watch Video at your convenience + 1.5 hour Live Session 3-4.30 pm]
June 1, 2021: [Watch Video at your convenience, Meet as a group]
June 4, 2021 [Watch Video at your convenience, Meet as a group]
June 7, 2021 [Watch Video at your convenience, Meet as a group]
June 11, 2021 [Watch Video at your convenience, Meet as a group]
June 15, 2021 [Watch Video at your convenience, Meet as a group]
June 18, 2021 [1.5-hour Live Session 2-3.30 pm; group meetings; Professor available]
June 23, 2021 [Final Presentations, Live Session from 2-3.30 pm]
Page | 9You can also read
