The training packages where developed out of the Hasso Plattner Design Thinking Research Program (HPDTRP) as part of the project “Bridging the Research-Practice Gap and Putting Design Thinking Research to Work”.  We saw the following challenge, stated Principle Investigator Jonathan Antonio Edelman, “From Academia, Design Thinking is challenged to communicate the same rigor and theoretical depth required by other academic disciplines; from Industry, the demand is for robust, reliable, and verifiable methods.” So his research group set out to work with previous findings of the HPDTRP and investigate the question: Can research-based educational training materials improve the performance of design teams? Yes, it can!

Based on their findings, the team developed research-based training materials with an emphasis on domain appropriate tools for Digital Engineering, Digital Transformation, and Innovation. Increased team performance due to research-based educational training materials leads to better design outcomes. Babajide Owoyele, PhD candidate working on the project, spend last week at Stanford introducing the prototype of the “Design as Performance” (DaP) handbook, which compiles the developed training routines.

When discussing first impressions with Bill Burnett, there is support for creating more rigorous, research-based trainings into the classroom:

"I have shared this notion that, for instance, brainstorming is very much like a jazz ensemble. Everyone is in a kind of "play." Like in Jazz, a teammate could be expected to solo while others keep the rhythm you're for the Performance and still sound great. But one teammate may not know what he/she is going to play until after another person plays their piece and then another teammate can solo and on and on. So if we look at how people pass ideas around during brainstorming group sessions at the d-school, it could be very similar, Designing as Performance could help with this play. I will try some of the theory, exercises, skills, and drills out and give the Research Group practical feedback on how the DaP training work.”

At Potsdam, both the Digital Health Center at the HPI and the HPI Academy have also been incorporating these newly developed trainings into their teaching. HPI Academy program manager Dr. Jana Fuchs on her experiences with the new material:

“The participants of our professional education formats appreciate the approach, that creativity can be trained, just like sports or music. The exercises also have scientific underpinning, which is valuable for us. And, last but not least, they are a lot of fun for the participants.”