LEARNING JOURNEY
BUSINESS DESIGN THINKING PROGRAMME
The Business Design Thinking ( BDT ) Programme in SJI is based on the BDT model of the University of Toronto ’ s Rotman School of Management , where this designthinking model envisions the process as three gears founded on the centrality of ‘ Empathy and Deep Human Understanding ’ ( Gear 1 ). In Gear 2 ‘ Concept Visualization ’, students prototype and refine their ideas . And in Gear 3 ‘ Strategic Business Design ’, the implementation of the idea is put through a rigorous process of strategic business planning .
Experiential and Collaborative Learning in Classrooms BDT in SJI is learnt through iterative hands-on experimentation and collaboration . Students are given the space and opportunity to make empathetic connections to the users through the application of the mindsets and tools learnt in their BDT lessons . Under the guidance of teacher facilitators , the students worked in teams where they realized the interdependence in decision-making when choosing a design challenge and establishing the approaches to solving the challenge . The final assessment criteria emphasizes not only the essential understanding of the big ideas in Design Thinking , but also the acquisition of life-skills and dispositions necessary to gain deep human insights to stimulate high-value and sustainable user-centric solutions .
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Learning Journeys Learning Journeys were organized to extend and enrich the students ’ learning experience . Students visited a variety of Singapore SMEs such as Greenviron , Witching Hour Studios , Four Seasons Gourmet Market , Cups N Canvas and Shebrews Cafe . More importantly , they had the opportunity to interact with the business owners to understand how Design Thinking is used to enhance the customer experience , design sustainable business practices and create the value propositions of their businesses . The learning experience is not only rich and diverse but is unique to each individual .
“ I learned how Witching Hour Studios create games . They focus on the game experience of the players and what they think about afterwards .”
“ Firstly , I learnt that businesses have to consider two things in their business strategy : ethics and profit .”
“ We also discovered ways shops used to attract customers and the ways shops evolve to fit the customers ’ needs .”
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1 Business Design Thinking Model 2 Learning about mobile game application from Ian Gregory , co-founder and games programmer of Witching Hour Studios
3 A team inferring the needs of users from the interview data 4 Figuring how the needs of customers are created and met through the shop ’ s unique product line
5 Trying to understand Friar Michael ’ s needs and gather insights 6 Conducting an interview to comprehend a user ’ s needs