Promoting Design-Driven Innovation at Montgomery College

At the Lab, we believe that student-centered design has the power to transform institutions. As such, it is part of our mission to spread that belief and lead the charge in teaching student-centered design philosophies to educators across the nation. This month, the Lab introduced a broad range of stakeholders from staff, faculty, senior vice presidents along with the president at Montgomery College to design-driven innovation through a half-day Introduction to Design Thinking session.

During the half-day design session, participants were introduced to the process and concepts of design thinking through the d.School’s gift giving exercise. Following the exercise, the Lab helped participants discover how design-driven innovation can be used in higher education by sharing our design process and a case study on our work at WGU. Once participants understood the application of design driven innovation to higher ed, they were challenged to explore and and reframe problems that impede student success on campus, create design questions that frame problems as challenges, and develop empathy maps.

Participants pair up during the d.Schools gift giving exercise and share their needs, goals, and motivations with each other.

Dig Deeper: Participants flex their design thinking muscles by stepping into students’ shoes and building empathy maps of stakeholders.

While our work at Montgomery College was a first step towards engaging innovation around campus, the response from attendees re-enforces that, given the opportunity, the campus was enthusiastic about thinking differently in higher education. What are some of the ways you have worked to introduce the concepts of innovation to your campus? Contact us and let us know!
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