UW WI School of Business

Design Concepts and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Wisconsin School of Business joined together to develop a graduate course created to bring design thinking to future business leaders. The course, titled "Design Thinking for Business," was first offered in the spring of 2009 to MBA students at the Wisconsin School of Business Center for Brand and Product Management (CBPM), and continues to be offered in spring semesters. Thomas O'Guinn, professor of marketing, Stefanie Norvaisas, director of strategy & research and principal at Design Concepts and Ami Verhalen, director of industrial design and principal of Design Concepts, have collaborated to share practical and theoretical strategies in a user-centered, empathetic approach to design.

Norvaisas and Ami Verhale, director of industrial design and principal, lead the team-taught course highlighting the perspectives of multi-disciplinary experts, many from the staff of Design Concepts, in all aspects of product and service design.

The course, titled Design Thinking for Business, shares the tools, methods and processes of design thinking used to identify needs and define strategic opportunities. The 16-week semester course includes approximatley twenty graduate students.

To gain hands-on experience, students design service and product strategies for a partnering organizations. The students are broken up into teams, and each team focuses on developing a strategic opportunity for the organizations such as the UW Credit Union and the Goodman Community Center.

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Goodman Community Center Eastside News Article