This interactive session will offer guided training in the
field of design thinking. It will focus on
ways in which concepts and techniques from design thinking might be of
particular use to law professors, addressing such questions as: How can we solve problems with more
creativity, collaborative teamwork, and experimentation? What are
interdisciplinary approaches to legal education and work?
This is the heart of the design process: tackling complex
challenges through a structured process of research, reframing, idea
generation, and testing. This approach has emerged out of the discipline of
design, and leaders now use it in health care, financial services, and the
legal system, among other places. The approach is used to scope out new
products or services, and also to help professionals be more creative and
strategic.
In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn what
“Design Thinking” is and how it can be useful to law professors and
administrators. Panelists will present on their own experiences using design
thinking as a teaching methodology to structure classes and to help students
solve real-world problems using this process, as well as to design programs and
institutions.
After this introduction, the panelists will break the
audience into small groups and will lead participants through a design cycle,
tackling a challenge around the participants’ own work — for example,
development of the curriculum, communicating research findings, dealing with
budget cuts, or other frustrations or challenges. By going through the process
of research, synthesis, brainstorming, prototyping, and testing, participants
will learn the essential methods and mindsets of design thinking.
The session will then conclude with a debrief, to identify
what methods or tools might be useful to the participants as they develop
curriculum, support students, and/or design their own career path.