Fees

Regular fee: £1100

Location

In person at the Design Museum and the RCA Battersea campus over 1.5 days

Watch the course introduction by Professor Jeremy Myerson

Explore the emergent role of design within the landscape of innovation, the key players in design-led innovation teams, how to combine convergent and divergent thinking, the real world versus the world of ideas, the power of visualisation and ways to scale up your design concept.

Using case studies and innovation stories that draw from current exhibitions and the permanent collection at the Design Museum, the Design Thinking and Innovation masterclass explores the curatorial context and provide a rich and stimulating mixture of new ideas and practical tools. The masterclass is led by Professor Emeritus Jeremy Myerson with guest speakers Clara Gaggero Westaway from the award-winning design and innovation agency Special Projects and Tom Wilson, Head of Collection and Research, Design Museum.

At the core of the masterclass is the opportunity to work as part of a creative team on a real-world project that you bring to the session. Whatever business sector you are in, or level of design interest or expertise, this design thinking executive course will equip you with a robust model to apply in your own working life.

Our approach to design thinking

The Royal College of Art views Design Thinking as a form of people-centred innovation. Design solutions therefore derive from reframing problems from the perspective of the citizen or the customer, not the producer or service provider.

The process is not scientifically neutral – it involves showing empathy and engagement with people’s lived experience. It also means resolving the contradictions between the real world of barriers and constraints and the abstract world of imagination and creative ideas. This design thinking executive course will provide the tools and frameworks to bridge this divide.

About the course

Course structure

This Design Thinking and Innovation Masterclass will take participants through six main phases of design thinking:

Personal and organisational benefits

The benefits to you and your organisation include:

thorough understanding of design thinking as applied across a range of business and organisational challenges
a new model to reframe innovation projects through a design lens
experience of working collaboratively
access to global practice in design thinking
critical, creative and insightful thinking
ideation and visualisation skills to realise design innovations
empathic understanding of users/customers
interact and network with peers from different backgrounds and functions
a certificate of attendance.

What will you learn?

You will learn:

an introduction to design thinking – theoretical principles and practical building blocks
real-world applications of design thinking and its outcomes
strategies for improving decision-making by reframing innovation challenges in a people-centred way
ways to work effectively in teams
global best practice in how other organisations have used design thinking.

How will you learn?

Learning takes place over 2 half-days in person where participants get taught as a group and work in smaller teams.

The sessions include a mix of:

three keynote lectures, e.g. ‘How I Think’ by a leading designer
a series of practical exercises
six ‘sprints’ through the six stages of the Design Thinking model
team creative workshops
a final crit of project presentations by a panel of experts.

After the course, we may offer a session with the course leader, Professor Jeremy Myerson, where participants have an opportunity to discuss key take-outs from the masterclass (optional).

Course outcomes

Participants will come away from this course with:

creative confidence to work in a team on design-led innovation
a clear understanding of the different stages of the design thinking model
practical experience in applying the principles of design thinking on a project relevant to you
a reinvigorated sense of what can be achieved through a people-centred approach.

Who should attend?

Anyone interested in transforming their organisation and professional development through the application of design thinking for innovation, including:

in-house R&D teams across all sectors
public-sector and third-sector business innovation teams
innovation directors
senior business managers
sales and marketing teams
policymakers
entrepreneurs.

About the Design Museum

The Design Museum is the world’s leading museum devoted to architecture and design, encompassing all elements of design, including fashion, product and graphic design. Since opening its doors in 1989, the museum has displayed everything from an AK-47 to high heels designed by Christian Louboutin. It has staged over 100 exhibitions, welcomed over 5 million visitors and showcased the work of some of the world’s most celebrated designers and architects including Paul Smith, Zaha Hadid, David Adjaye, Jony Ive, Miuccia Prada, Frank Gehry, Eileen Gray, Kenneth Grange, Jonathan Barnbrook and Dieter Rams. On 24 November 2016, The Design Museum relocated to Kensington, west London, where leading architectural designer John Pawson converted the interior of a 1960s Modernist building to create a new home for the museum.

Guest talk from Tom Wilson, Head of Collection and Research, Design Museum.

Delegates receive complementary tickets to a Design Museum exhibition.

Disclaimer: The information given is accurate at the time of publication, however, the RCA reserves the right to amend the described course as circumstances dictate.

On campus delivery

This Design Thinking short course will be delivered face-to-face at the Design Museum on the first day (map and addresses here) and at the RCA Battersea campus, Rausing Building on the second day (map and addresses here).

Covid-19

RCA Executive Education will continue to monitor the Covid-19 situation in the period up to the course dates.

Our planning incorporates the latest Government guidance as well as consideration of how best to ensure a safe and inclusive learning space for participants and staff team.

Our participants health, wellbeing and quality of experience while attending our on-campus courses is paramount to us.

Full details of the Covid safe guidelines in place for the course will be provided to you in advance of your start date with your welcome information.

Disclaimer: Change to online delivery

It may be necessary due to Covid-19 restrictions to change the mode of delivery to live online.

We will endeavour to notify all participants in advance of any changes, no later than two weeks before the course start date.

Terms & conditions apply.

“The RCA Design Thinking & Masterclass was a fully immersive deep dive into the design thinking process giving me the tools and confidence to bring change to my organization. The context of starting the course in an institution like The Design Museum helped me to deeply appreciate design in all its forms and left me with a greater understanding and affinity for the impact and potential design can unlock to improve our lives.”
Michelle Mormont World Economic Forum, Innovator Communities Lead, course participant Oct 2023
“Insightful, practical and fun. This course provided me with the basis to take design thinking into my everyday practices and bring new ideas to my clients. From the course leader to the other attendees everyone brought ideas to the table and worked together to build some amazing outputs.”
Jake Krais PwC Manager, course participant Oct 2023
“Learning directly from the RCA, a world-leading college in Art and Innovation was fantastic. In two days we used Design Thinking methodologies to discuss world peace, farming, hospital ICU experiences through a very hands-on approach. I experienced the incredible value Design Thinking brings to structuring ideation and innovation to create value for my company.”
Laura Rosich Director, Digital Service Innovation & Hybrid Tech, McKinsey & Company
“Design thinking is so much more than just about design, I can use this in to my every day role, as well as communicating these concepts to my in house design and marketing team. This really is world class education in a world class organisation.”
William Lloyd, Area Sales Manager
“I enjoyed meeting and collaborating with professionals from other industries, and being able to learn from their varying skills and experiences.”
Mirjam Martinović, Marketing Executive, Online Design Thinking & Innovation Masterclass participant May 2022
“We want people to come away from our executive education courses with achievable insights and a critical path to making change in their organisations and to their own individual working lives.”
Professor Emeritus Jeremy Myerson

Helen Hamlyn Chair of Design

Jeremy has been academic, author and activist in design for more than 40 years. He co-founded the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design in 1999.

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Guest Speaker, Co-founder & Creative Director, Special Projects

Clara is a designer, inventor and educator leveraging human-needs to create meaningful innovation that addresses pressing societal issues. Her mission is to improve lives through hopeful and sustainable design solutions that encourage well-being and a healthy relationship with technology. She is the co-founder and creative director of award winning design and invention agency Special Projects and a thought-leader shaping the narrative on human-centred design. Whether this means empowering the elderly to use their mobile phones, reimagining the playground, or helping us focus on the present through calm technology, Clara’s concepts bring optimism and clarity to where society needs it most. Clara has designed products for the likes of BBC, Braun, the NHS, Google, Samsung, Sonos, Lego, Logitech and she has given talks and led workshops globally. Her critically acclaimed designs have been exhibited at MoMA in NY, Design Museum London and WAGNER:WERK Museum, Vienna. Clara is a Visiting Senior Lecturer at the Royal College of Art, a faculty member of Oxford University Said Business School OSLP. She advises young entrepreneurs on how to transform compelling ideas into successful businesses as Business Coach at InnovationRCA, the Royal College of Art’s centre for entrepreneurship and commercialisation, and has recently been appointed to advise on the Prince of Wales' environmental initiative, Terra Carta Design Lab, mentoring young and emerging designers as they create credible and sustainable solutions to the climate crisis.

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