The d.School in a Box; Download Your Own Free Copy of the Bootcamp Bootleg

I wrote a long post yesterday about the methods that we teach and apply at the Stanford d.school, and how many have their roots in what has been taught at the Stanford Engineering School (and recall the d.school is a unit of the Engineering School).  But I only talked about these methods and the associated mindset in broad brush.   Fortunately, I can point you to a wonderful handbook that was just posted a couple weeks back on d.schools news -- the d.school blog. The folks who teach the introduction to design thinking class,which we call Bootcamp, have complied what they call the Bootcamp Bootleg (get the pdf here). The Bootleg lays out and explains the general "D. Mindsets" like "create clarity from complexity,"  "show don't tell," "get experiential and experimental."  Then it moves to different "modes" including "empathize,"  "define," ideate," "prototype," and "test."   Most useful of all, the Bootleg contains detailed and road tested explanations of many design thinking (and doing) methods: Assuming a beginner's mindset, user camera study, how to "interview for empathy," "team share and capture," empathy map," "powers of ten" and on and on.  The Bootcamp Bootleg provides convenient one-stop shopping for anyone who wants to learn about the nitty-gritty of how design thinkers practices their various crafts, to find tools use throughout the design process, and for anyone who is teaching or coaching a group of design thinkers.

A big thanks to the team who put together the Bootleg -- it is as useful as a tool like this can be, and it is free for the taking!

Comments

[Hidezumi]

I just insist once again. You should publish it in Japanese... We need more innovative thinkers!

Anyway thank you for sharing.

Those are very easy to learn but difficult to execute. I found to pitch ideas to others. In addition, people are too busy to discuss ideas sometimes.

[working girl]

Thanks for sharing this. I glanced through it and much of it is familiar. Teams following this process will definitely come up with some creative and well-thought out solutions. One possible drawback is it seems to assume a very generous timeline and also that team members share a common location, which is not always the case.