Design Thinking Driven Innovations in Organisation as a Result of the Groundswell Effect

Abstract

According to the OECD, soft skills and abilities such as analytical and creative thinking, the ability to organize time and manage a stressful situation, working in teams, working with information, critical thinking, communication skills, initiative, programming and technological design, complex problem solving are currently important for employment on the labor market. The need to secure and implement new techniques and methods leading to innovation are becoming a necessity for every organization. It is Design Thinking that provides an approach towards the creation of innovations, and its use and application can be beneficial in the search for effective solutions to problems occurring across different organizations. The contribution focuses on the interpretation of the Design Thinking application in the field of innovation in the university environment as a result of the groundswell effect from the labor market and consumer environment. The interest of every organization is prosperity and offering services and products that best meet the needs of customers. If the organization does not succeed, its reputation and prosperity are at risk. It is the innovations driven by Design Thinking that make it possible to create better solutions that can repair, maintain and continuously improve the reputation of the organization. The first part of the paper focuses on the explanation of the groundswell effect and the Design Thinking concept, its process and phases from problem identification, idea generation, prototyping and testing to the final implementation of the solution, as well as its tools and techniques. The second part of the paper will focus on the concrete examples presentation of the Design Thinking usage in the field of improving university education, as the forms and methods that students use in university education are just as important as the content they acquire through their studies. The paper also presents inspiring examples of innovations in the university environment that arose as a result of design thinking workshops.