Creating Innovations and Solving Problems with Design Thinking (CS)

Time slot: 19.02.-16.04.2026, each Thursday from 6 pm and Thursday, 30.04.2026, from 6 pm and intensive training week (= Blockwoche) 18.05.-20.05.2026

Attendance is very important for all courses, as the assignment blocks build on each other.

If necessary, you can participate online on one or two evenings. However, you will achieve the best results if you are present with your team. 

Course language: English

Course occupancy: Minimum 9 persons / maximum 21 persons

Course costs: None

Sustainability: SDG 9 - promote innovation

In addition, we very often work in the projects in the context of other SDGs and contribute to their achievability. 

FHV Future Skills: Promote Academic Creativity, Appropriate Application, Encourage Collaboration & Cooperation

Registration: From 15-25 November 2025 in A5 under ‘Course selection’. If a late booking is required, please contact sabine.frick@fhv.at

Design Thinking is a thought and work culture, that enables the generation of human and need oriented innovations. The scope ranges from classical product development to (ever getting stronger) social problem solutions and innovations. Design Thinking can be used as a holistic philosophy of an organisation but also as a tool to work on a specific subject.

This lecture is strongly based on practical work. The application of Design Thinking as a tool will be experienced on the basis of a concrete challenge. The students are actively engaged through all the phases, from the identification of the problem over the research and creative phases to the implementation. So they experience Design Thinking in a realistic environment.

The accompanying impulse lecture goes beyond the specific topic and shows the application in the larger environment.

The students know the problem solving and innovation creating method Design Thinking and where it is ideally used.

They know the frame conditions for a Design Thinking project and the criteria for the composition of a team. They are able to prepare a project and to name team members.

They can explain the phases of Design Thinking and describe methods used.

They can participate as a facilitator in a Design Thinking session.

Realisation of Design Thinking projects accompanied by impulse lectures.

Active attendance and coopertative teamwork, presentations.

Ideally, students of all study programs participate in this course. The more the heterogeneity and interdisciplinarity the better.

For further questions please contact: heidi.weber@fhv.at 

• Bland, David J.; Osterwalder, Alexander (2020): Testing business ideas. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
• Brown, Tim (2019): Change by Design, Revised and Updated: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation. New York: HarperBusiness.
• Lewrick, Michael; Link, Patrick; Leifer, Larry J. (2018): The design thinking playbook: mindful digital transformation of teams, products, services, businesses and ecosystems. Hoboken: Wiley.
• Osterwalder, Alexander u.a. (2014): Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want. 1. Aufl. Hoboken: Wiley.
• Osterwalder, Alexander; Pigneur, Yves (2010): Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers. 1. Aufl. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
• Stickdorn, Marc u.a. (2018): This is service design doing: applying service design thinking in the real world: a practitionersʹ handbook. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly.

In class lecture with compulsory attendance