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Design Thinking In Practice (DTIP)

November 4-6 2025

R19 500

for South African Students

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Brochure 

Design Thinking In Practice (DTIP)

Application Deadline: 30 October 2025
Programme Dates: 4 - 6 November 2025

Download Brochure 

Design Thinking In Practice (DTIP)

Solve real problems. Build lasting capability.

Design Thinking in Practice is a three-day, in-person course for professionals actively involved in solving problems and leading change within their teams. Through immersive, coach-supported learning, you will develop the mindset, methods, and tools to apply human-centred innovation in real work environments.

4-6 November 2025

R19 500

(once-off fee)

3-Day In-Person Programme

Hasso Plattner d-school Afrika, UCT

Download Brochure 

18800
Students and professionals having completed a programme since 2016
550
Programmes run since 2016
61
Corporate Clients

Programme Overview

Turn ideas into action 

— quickly, creatively, and collaboratively.

At its core, Design Thinking is a human-centred methodology for creative problem-solving. It's about empowering individuals to embrace a design-led mindset to understand complex challenges, identify opportunities, and co-create innovative solutions for a better future.

Design Thinking in Practice is a three-day, in-person course that helps professionals tackle these complex challenges using this practical, human-centred innovation framework. Through immersive team-based activities, participants are guided through a complete innovation cycle - from empathy to problem framing, ideation, prototyping and testing. With expert coaching, structured reflection, and access to ready-to-use tools, learners leave with the capability to apply what they’ve learned immediately in their own context.

This experience is designed for professionals actively involved in leading projects, designing services, solving customer problems, or enabling collaboration across teams - it's where creative confidence meets practical application.

Who It’s For

This course is built for doers.

Ideal participants are:
  • Professionals working in service design, operations, product development, or internal transformation.
  • Team leads seeking better ways to align cross-functional collaborators.
  • Change agents embedded within teams who want to shift ways of working.
  • Problem-solvers and facilitators looking for frameworks that unlock creativity.
  • Curious minds ready to try, test, and learn through hands-on experience.
This programme is less suited to:
  • Executives focused primarily on organisation-wide strategy or building innovation ecosystems.
  • Those seeking conceptual understanding without tactical application.

What You’ll Learn

A mindset shift. A toolkit. A way forward.

You’ll leave with confidence, capability, and methods that stick.

Cultivate a Human-Centred Mindset
  • Learn to see problems through the eyes of the people affected by them.
  • Reframe challenges to uncover deeper, more relevant opportunities.
  • Generate insights that lead to meaningful, relevant solutions.
Apply Practical Frameworks and Tools
  • Navigate the full innovation cycle - from research to testing.
  • Use core tools like journey maps, empathy maps, and “How Might We” questions.
  • Take home ready-to-use templates and facilitation guides for immediate application.
Embrace Experimentation and Adaptation
  • Learn to build low-fidelity prototypes and test ideas early and often.
  • Cultivate an experimental mindset that values feedback and iteration over perfection.
  • Develop a learning culture that supports continuous improvement.
Strengthen Collaboration and Facilitation Skills
  • Lead creative sessions and engage teams with confidence.
  • Practice co-creation in diverse, multidisciplinary environments with expert coaching support.
  • Experience practical methods to build trust and improve group decision-making.

What Sets Us Apart

Designed for practical impact, not just conceptual understanding.

Hands-on, Real-World Application. 
  • This is not a theoretical overview; you’ll do the work and engage in structured, team-based application from day one.
Expert Coaching at Every Step.
  • Our seasoned practitioner coaches provide guidance, not lectures. With a 1:6 coach-to-participant ratio, learners receive high-touch, real-time feedback and support throughout.
Tools You Can Run With. 
  • Participants leave with ready-to-use templates, facilitation guides, and workshop formats they can apply in their organisations the next day.
Structured for Impact. 
  • The programme is tightly designed to deliver value in a compact three-day format that fits into busy work lives - no fluff, no filler.

 

Ongoing Post-Programme Support.
  • This includes three monthly online group coaching sessions to help you implement your learnings, stay connected, and build real-world momentum.

Programme Format

Your learning 
journey

Intensive, immersive, 
and supported
— during and after.

Post-Programme Support:
  • Three monthly online group coaching sessions (90 minutes each) via Zoom.
  • Peer support and knowledge-sharing across the growing DTIP graduate community.
  • Continued connection to the d-school Afrika practitioner community.
Three-Day In-Person Experience:
  • Daily facilitator insights and practical case examples.
  • Immersive, action-based learning in small teams.
  • Guided coaching and reflection.
  • Designed to move you from understanding to doing.

Apply Now

Bring human-centred innovation 
into your work

Applications for this high-impact learning experience are open, and spaces are limited. If you're ready to move ideas off the whiteboard and into reality, and you're committed to leading change from where you are, start your journey here.

Application Deadline:

30 October 2025

Programme Dates:

4 - 6 November 2025

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