Design Thinking for Deep Tech
This course is a unique take on the Design Council’s Double Diamond for Deep Tech, taking into account the challenges from high capital costs and long R&D cycles.
In this course, you’ll traverse the design thinking framework and learn a broad mix of knowledge across:
Customer empathy: Understanding problems from customer perspective, not just the technical perspective
Strategic thinking: Ability to make high-stakes decisions under uncertainty with incomplete information
Systems thinking: Understanding how your innovation fits into complex ecosystems (technical, regulatory, commercial)
Adaptability: Comfort with ambiguity and willingness to iterate based on learning
Communication capability: Translating complex science into compelling narratives for non-technical audiences
Execution discipline: Systematic approach to validating assumptions and proving concepts
Continuous learning mindset: Treating your venture as ongoing discovery, not one-time project
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Course Overview
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What is Design Thinking?
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DISCOVER + DEFINE: Understanding the ecosystem
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Lesson 1: Understanding Your Market - Learning from What Exists
From competition analysis, understanding trends to market analysis, you can keep your finger on the pulse on what’s happening in the wider context.
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Lesson 2: The Thinking Before Doing
Observations to interviews to understand the problem and how your solution/innovation fits in and has applications
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Lesson 3: Having the Conversations (Part 2)
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Lesson 4: From Data to Direction: Turning Research into Insights
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Lesson 5: Defining Your Business Model and Value Proposition Early On
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DEVELOP: From ideas to Proof of Concept
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DELIVER: Piloting your technology
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Resource and Wrap-Up
Meet your instructor
DR CHLOE SHARP
Dr Chloe Sharp is the author of Make Products That Matter, a practical guide on implementing design thinking and adjacent frameworks such as Jobs-To-Be-Done and Lean Startup.
Chloe has worked with startups, scaleups and SMEs for over a decade, through the design thinking methodology, seeking problem-solution fit, through research and experimentation.
When Chloe first heard about Design Thinking in 2014, she became fascinated in how to apply this. There was a practical guide on how to use this approach in practice. from beginning to end. Her background in research came in handy, and she applied her skills in psychology and sociology to user and market research.
She has worked in deep tech through the Science Creates accelerator since its early beginnings in 2022 and startups in deep tech, seeing first hand some of the challenges with applying deep thinking in this environment.