Craft the future with Design Thinking

Students from all over the world join our programs, so you’ll hear many different languages in our hallways. To make sure everyone can fully participate, the entire program is held in English. A good command of English will help you take an active part in workshops and teamwork.

For students of the HPI and the University of Potsdam, participation in all programs is free of charge. 

For external students, a admission fee/participation fee applies: 

• Foundations of Design Thinking: €100
• Global Design Thinking Workshop (GDTW): €100

If you change your mind, a refund of the fees is only possible if you cancel your registration by the deadline on the first day of the program. This applies to all programs with fees (Foundations and Global Design Thinking Workshops).

• Foundations of Design Thinking, approx. 180 hrs total (120 hrs on-site + 60 hrs independent work)
• Global Design Thinking Workshop, approx. 60 hrs total (approx. 45 hours on-site + 15 hrs independent work)
• Wayfinder, approx. 36 hrs total (24 hrs in class + 12 hrs self-study); with ECTS an additional 52 hrs for the paper (approx. 88 hrs in total)

You can download the descriptions of the scope of the individual courses and the semester overviews with the planned times directly in the respective courses. Most of the courses take place on-site at the HPI d-school. You can find details in the semester overviews. 

At the end, there is a final presentation and a documentation that must be submitted.

The recognition of credits and grades depends on the study and examination regulations of your home university. We recommend that you check with your examination office in advance to find out whether recognition is possible.

We offer a methodological basic program in Design Thinking (Foundations). The program take place on-site at the HPI d-school. This eight-week methodology teaches you the essential elements and principles of Design Thinking. Our program closes the gap between different disciplines. While during your regular studies, you usually only get to know fellow students from this subject or similar areas, at the HPI d-school, you work in multidisciplinary teams.

In addition to "Foundations for Design Thinking,” we offer the Global Design Thinking Workshops (GDTW). In this program, you will experience Design Thinking as a life-centered approach and work with different teams on complex innovation problems. The program takes place over five consecutive days on-site at the HPI d-school.

In addition, we offer the “Wayfinder – Self- and Leadership Development” program. Wayfinder is a program that helps you develop your personality and career. The program is aimed at HPI students in the master's program. Based on the mindset of Design Thinking and the principles of systemic coaching and positive psychology, this program helps you to get to know yourself better, recognize your own behavioral patterns and values​​, and, based on this, explore, prototype, and create new options for a successful future test. The program lasts four days during the semester (on-site at the HPI d-school and remotely).

Students from all disciplines (Bachelor’s, Master’s, PhD) – regardless of university or nationality – are welcome to apply. You can join either in the winter semester (October–February) or summer semester (April–August). The Global Design Thinking Workshop is offered as a 6-day program in March and September, while Wayfinder takes place as a 4-day program between May–July and November–January.

To apply, simply go to the application page of the respective program, fill in your name, contact details and student information, and answer two short questions: What motivates you to apply, and what skills do you bring? A formal letter of motivation is not required. Just be yourself – we want to get to know you.

• Applications for Foundations and Global Design Thinking Workshops (GDTW) are open to anyone interested. Previous Design Thinking knowledge is unnecessary and will be taught to you in the respective program.
• The Wayfinder program is aimed at HPI students in the master's program.