On March 13, 2020 the University of Potsdam announced the following measures to reduce the risk of infection and slow down the spread of the coronavirus:

• Until April 19, 2020, no on-site courses and events will take place at the Campus-Griebnitzsee.
• All scientific meetings or conferences will be postponed to after April 19, 2020.

As frame of reference for our academic Design Thinking programs, the HPI School of Design Thinking (HPI D-School) is using the state of affairs regarding the management of the COVID-19 pandemic at the University of Potsdam. The current official information can be found on the website of the University of Potsdam.

What does that mean for our Design Thinking programs in the summer semester 2020?

As the HPI D-School, we have already started at the beginning of last week to proactively work on designing a new blended learning format (online & offline), also building on our recent experiences with designing an online format for our Global Design Thinking Week for March 2020.

This new format will allow us to kick-off our Basic Track and Advanced Track programs in a new design, including running a high proportion of the program online and focusing on virtual collaboration for teamwork for – at least - the first weeks.

As of now, we are planning to start our Design Thinking Basic Track and Advanced Track program virtually, including interactive teamwork with remote coaching for the first weeks. We will actively use the online learning platform openHPI as well as other platforms and tools for collaborative teamwork. Over the next few weeks, we will share an updated plan on how we will proceed with this format with all participants of our programs.

Applying these measures, we do not only hope to offer our participants a Design Thinking program experience in this uncertain situation, but also to have an effect on the spread of the COVID-19 virus by reducing social contacts (“flatten the curve”).

We will keep all of our students, coaches, and partner organizations updated moving forward and will share all important information on our website and social media channels.

If you have any questions, contact us at office-d-school(at)hpi.de.

Important links:

Robert Koch Institute

Federal Foreign Office Germany

World Health Organization

Take care and stay healthy!

Your HPI D-School team