Design Thinking: Innovating for New Solution

Looking for a powerful tool for collaborative problem solving to improve your products, services or programs?  Kaua`i Planning & Action Alliance (KPAA) is hosting a four-hour workshop to introduce the Design Thinking process to business, government, education and nonprofit leaders.

Design Thinking can inspire innovative thinking and creativity in teams from any discipline.  The workshop will be a high-energy, interactive overview of a process to generate human-centered solutions to challenges.  The workshop will take a hands-on approach to applying the process to real-world issues.  Design Thinking is being used widely in corporate America and is gaining traction in education and the public sector in Hawai`i and across the country.

The trainer, Rupa Chaturvedi, CEO of Raaya Designs in San Francisco, is an award winning ‘designpreneur’ working at the intersection of design and technology.  She strongly believes in the strategic value of design for large-scale transformation of education, sustainability and healthcare. As the founder of Raaya Design, Rupa works with entrepreneurs, corporations and governments to create products and services that enable sustained behavior change, generate new revenue streams, and create stronger brand relationships. Her designs have won international recognition.  She is a founding participant at THNK, the Amsterdam School of Creative Leadership and has completed the Product Design Graduate program at Stanford University.

“Many of today’s challenges require new approaches if we want to achieve a better result.  It sounds so simple, but design thinking begins by focusing on the needs of the end user, then employs a process for innovating, rapid prototyping and testing of the selected approach before large investments are made,” says Diane Zachary, KPAA President CEO.

The workshop fee is $50 and will be held at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School.  Register and pay online before June 20 at www.kauainetwork.org/event-registration/.

A limited number of scholarships are available for Kaua`i Planning & Action Alliance current members, participants of the Kaua`i Culture and Arts Forum, Keiki to Career Kaua`i, and State Department of Education staff.   Download the Scholarship Request Form from the registration site and return it to KPAA by June 13.

The workshop is offered in partnership with County of Kaua`i Office of Economic Development and the Department of Education-Kaua`i Complex Area.  For questions, contact KPAA at 632-2005.

Kaua`i Planning & Action Alliance is a nonprofit organization that serves as a neutral convener, providing a forum to the community to discuss, develop and implement effective solutions to issues that matter to Kaua`i.