Imagine you would craft a wooden block with a chisel in your hand. One wooden chip after the other sails through the air, and after each “tock, tock” with the hammer on the chisel, the new form visualizes in front of your eyes. Transfer this image to the HPI d-school: In 2023, we crafted a new organizational structure. Our three areas of action, “Research,” “Academic Program,” and “Professional Development,” can now be found under one common roof. In this new structure, each field can profit from each other. That provides a sound basis for our future work in design thinking within the HPI framework.
Is this only old wine in new skins? No. The initial spark for the change process was set by the assumption that more potential in design thinking is yet to be discovered. Since design thinking was popularized in early 2000 and spread in Germany and Europe, a broad method basis evolved that helps thousands of professionals in all kinds of profit, non-profit, and governmental institutions support the path from mere ideas to human-centered applications.
Not only did the method base evolve, but the world surrounding us also changed. Complex new challenges arose, like the role of artificial intelligence, climatic change, human-machine interaction, and equal education opportunities, to name a few. This new baseline demands equally complex problem-solving approaches. The point of view of design thinking needs to move from user- and human-centered to life-centered or even further toward strategic futures, focusing on pressing societal problems to be solved. That means the HPI School of Design Thinking in Potsdam combines its offers for professionals and academics sound design thinking knowledge with a thematic focus on common concerns such as sustainability, critical infrastructure, health and wellbeing, and education.
Back to the crafted block of woodwork at the beginning of the article: With the change in approach and structure, a new design for corporate identity was needed. A bright blue color that corresponds with the tone of the HPI logo. Lively and diverse forms with rounded corners stand for an experimental and open mindset. Finally, we chiseled a new “d” in shiny blue for our future work at the HPI School of Design Thinking. During 2024, we will provide you with our new programs and look forward to presenting our brand-new website to you by the end of the year.
Come and craft the future of design thinking together with us!
