Address:

Dr. Julia von Thienen
Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Engineering
at the University of Potsdam
Prof.-Dr.-Helmert-Str. 2-3
14482 Potsdam, Germany

Head of HPI Neurodesign: www.hpi.de/neurodesign

Contact:

Office: H-3.7
Telephone: +49 (0)331 5509 526
E-Mail: Julia.vonThienen(at)hpi.de

Julia von Thienen was born in Berlin. She majored in psychology, with an emphasis on neuroscience, research methodology, philosophy, and a minor in computer science at the Free University of Berlin. Her PhD on causation also spanned these fields. Julia has taught research methodology and philosophy of science to social science students and neuroscientists at the Free University of Berlin, the University of Chicago, and the University of Potsdam.

In 2008, Julia joined the Hasso-Plattner-Institut (HPI), specifically the Stanford-Potsdam Design Thinking Research Program. Julia's research is focused on design thinking as an approach to creativity, collaboration, and innovation. Her studies bring together observations and theories from micro-levels (individual physiology) to macro-perspectives (policies and populations across continents).

In 2018, Stanford and Potsdam inaugurated a new line of research under the headline of Neurodesign. Since then, Julia has been heading the Neurodesign Group at HPI, which conducts intensified studies into the biological underpinnings of creativity, collaboration, and innovation in design thinking research and education.

In the realm of Design Thinking Research, Julia has consistently prioritized ethical dimensions of innovation, advocating for innovation that needs to entail marked benefits for humanity while minimizing risks. Her perspective extends beyond the immediate human users of newly crafted solutions, transitioning from a user-centered design approach to one that is life-centered and planet-centered. This research orientation is reflected in her active participation in the M.I.T.-HPI  Designing for Sustainability Program, initiated in 2023. Within this program and beyond, Julia contributes in Designing for Sustainability. 

Research Approaches:

Empirical studies, typically including randomized experiments, are used to investigate the impact of the "3 Pillars of Creativity" on work outcomes. These pillars are creative (i) People, (ii) Processes, and (iii) Places. The research focuses on how different strategies in the 3P domains affect creativity and innovation, with particular attention given to another P: creative (iv) Products.

Sample publications:

• Testing different collaboration modes of people: von Thienen, J. P. A., Noweski, C., Meinel, C. & Rauth, I. (2011). The co-evolution of theory and practice in design thinking – or – “mind the oddness trap!”. In H. Plattner, C. Meinel and L. Leifer (eds.), Design thinking. Understand – improve – apply (81-99). Berlin: Springer.
• Testing different process models: Noweski, C., Scheer, A., Büttner, N., von Thienen, J. P. A., Erdmann, J. & Meinel, C. (2012). Towards a paradigm shift in education practice: Developing twenty-first century skills with design thinking. In H. Plattner, C. Meinel and L. Leifer (eds.), Design thinking research. Measuring performance in context (71-94). Berlin: Springer.
• Testing different work places: von Thienen, J. P. A., Noweski, C., Rauth, I. Meinel, C. & Lang, S. (2012). If you want to know who you are, tell me where you are: The importance of places. In H. Plattner, C. Meinel and L. Leifer (eds.), Design thinking research. Studying co-creation in practice (53-73). Berlin: Springer.
• A summary can be found in: von Thienen, J. P. A.(10.1.2019). Why and how does design thinking work? A review after ten years of research. Talk for the Digital Engineering Faculty. Potsdam, Germany. Recording available online at: https://www.tele-task.de/lecture/video/7274

Studies on the history of design thinking help clarify the theoretical beliefs and concepts that shape current design thinking practices.

Sample publications:

• von Thienen, J. P. A., Clancey, W. J., Corazza, G. E. & Meinel, C. (2017). Theoretical foundations of design thinking. Part I: John E. Arnold’s creative thinking theories. In H. Plattner, C. Meinel and L. Leifer (eds.), Design thinking research. Making distinctions: Collaboration versus cooperation (13-40). Cham: Springer.
• von Thienen, J. P. A., Clancey, W. J. & Meinel, C. (2019). Theoretical foundations of design thinking. Part II: Robert H. McKim’s need-based design theory. In H. Plattner, C. Meinel and L. Leifer (eds.), Design thinking research. Looking further: Design thinking beyond solution-fixation (13-38). Cham: Springer.
• von Thienen, J. P. A., Clancey, W. J. & Meinel, C. (2021). Theoretical foundations of design thinking. Part III: Robert H. McKim’s visual thinking theories. In H. Plattner, C. Meinel and L. Leifer (eds.), Design thinking research. Interrogating the doing (pp. 9-72). Cham: Springer.

Neurodesign is developed as a field at the intersection of (i) engineering, (ii) neuroscience and (iii) design thinking: creativity, collaboration, innovation.

Sample publications:

• von Thienen, J. P. A (2018). Design thinking, the body and creativity. Available at: https://www.tele-task.de/lecture/video/7013/
• von Thienen, J. P. A., Szymanski, C., Santuber, J., Plank, I. S., Rahman, S., Weinstein, T., Owoyele, B., Bauer, M. & Meinel, C. (2021). Neurodesign live. In H. Plattner, C. Meinel and L. Leifer (eds.), Design thinking research. Interrogating the doing (pp. 357-425). Cham: Springer.
• von Thienen, J. P. A., Szymanski, C., Weinstein, T., Rahman, S. & Meinel, C. (2022).  Design thinking, neurodesign and facilitating worthwhile change: Towards a curriculum for innovation engineering. In C. Meinel & T. Krohn (eds.). Design thinking in education. Innovation can be learned (pp. 61-91). Cham: Springer.
• von Thienen, J. P. A., Kolodny, O. & Meinel, C. (2023). Neurodesign: The biology, psychology and engineering of creative thinking and innovation. In N. Rezaei (ed.), Brain, Decision-Making, and Mental Health (pp. 617–659). Cham: Springer.

Creative places are investigated, ranging from internet platforms to physical classrooms, Smart Garden Offices, policies, states, and continents.

Sample publications:

• Bartsch, D., von Thienen, J. P. A. & Hartmann, C. (3.12.2020). Recht als Grundlage der Innovationsentwicklung am Beispiel der Biotechnologie. Talk for the Berlin Scientific Society, Berlin, Germany.
• von Thienen, J. P. A., Borchart, K.-P., Walsleben, L., Bartsch, D. & Meinel, C. (2022). Modelling the impact of political environments on creativity and innovation. Full presentation at the MIC conference on creativity, Aug 31 – Sept 2, Bologna, Italy. 
• von Thienen, J. P. A., Borchart, K.-P., Bartsch, D., Walsleben, L. & Meinel, C. (in press). Predicting creativity and innovation in society: The importance of places, the importance of governance. In H. Plattner, C. Meinel and L. Leifer (eds.), Design thinking research. Cham: Springer.

The measurement of creativity and innovation is pursued with the aim of achieving automation.

Sample publications:

• Krebs, E., Jaschek, C., von Thienen, J., Borchart, K. P., Meinel, C., & Kolodny, O. Designing a Video Game to Measure Creativity. IEEE Conference on Games (CoG 2020), full paper no. 148.
• Borchart, K.-P., von Thienen, J. & Meinel, C. (2021) C-Tracer: Automatic creativity measurement for any goal-directed behaviour that leaves digital traces. Presentation at the MIC Conference of Creativity, Sept. 8-10, Bologna, Italy. 
• Jachek, C., von Thienen, J. P. A., Borchart, K.-P. & Meinel, C. (2023). The CollaboUse Test for automated creativity measurement in individuals and teams: A construct validation study. Creativity Research Journal. Special Issue on Advancements in the Measurement and Evaluation of Creativity, 1-21.

Explorations in the fields of Human-Computer and Human-Data Interaction focus on benefits of different sense channels, with an emphasis on sonic thinking, and on the facilitation of free body motion.

Sample publications:

• D’Aleman Arrango, N., von Thienen, J. & von Coler, H. (2020). The Brainwave Virtual Instrument: Musical improvisation and brainwave sonification via Faust programming. Proceedings of the 2nd International Faust
• Strauch, T., Hartmann, L., Hilbrich, L., Steigerwald, P., Chafe, C. & von Thienen, J. (2020). Audible spatialization of EEG data in the context of creativity studies. Full presentation at the MIC Conference of Creativity, Sept. 14-16, Bologna, Italy.
• von Thienen, J. P. A., Borchart, K.-P., Jaschek, C., Krebs, E., Hildebrand, J., Rätz, H. & Meinel, C. (2021). Leveraging video games to improve IT-solutions for remote work. IEEE Conference on Games (CoG 2021), full paper no. 102, available at: https://ieee-cog.org/2021/assets/papers/paper_102.pdf

Past Project: An initiative that integrated design thinking and digital health resulted in the development of Tele-Board MED, a medical documentation system to promote doctor-patient teamwork on eye-level, enabling medical practitioners and patients to take advantage of new digital opportunities. The system facilitates tasks such as treatment documentation, compiling session protocols, and creating medical discharge letters with a high degree of automation.

Sample publications:

• von Thienen, J. P. A., Perlich, A. & Meinel, C. (2015). Tele-Board MED: Supporting 21^st-century-medicine for mutual benefit. In H. Plattner, C. Meinel and L. Leifer (eds.), Design thinking research. Building innovators (101-130). Berlin: Springer.
• Perlich, A., von Thienen, J. P. A., Wenzel, M. & Meinel, C. (2017). Learning from success and failure in healthcare innovation: The story of Tele-Board MED. In H. Plattner, C. Meinel and L. Leifer (eds.), Design thinking research. Making distinctions: Collaboration versus cooperation (327-345). Cham: Springer.
• Wenzel, M., Perlich, A., von Thienen, J. P. A. & Meinel, C. (2019). New ways of data entry in doctor-patient encounters. In H. Plattner, C. Meinel and L. Leifer (eds.), Design thinking research. Looking further: Design thinking beyond solution-fixation (159-177). Cham: Springer.

A list of publications can be downloaded here.