Intro to Design Thinking

The Stanford Design School (or d.school) as well as the world-famous design firm IDEO have pioneered an approach to innovation and problem-solving called Design Thinking. Come and learn what this is all about in this hands-on workshop from Max Mednik, a Stanford computer science alum who recently took a class at the d.school.

Have you ever built a product and then realized (too late) that no one needed it and that you didn't really understand your users and took too long "building" instead of testing with real human beings? Then this workshop is for you, as we will focus on doing and making over thinking and waiting.

Space is limited for this hands-on activity. We are charging for this event to cover dinner, snacks, beverages, and material costs for the event like photocopies.

What you'll learn:

What it really means to do human-centered design

How to start with empathy instead of solutions

How to define a nuanced problem and point of view for your design

How to ideate and brainstorm like a madman

How to prototype like a wizard (No drawing or building skills required! If you have 1-2 hands, you're good to go.)

How to test your prototype and rinse+repeat

This workshop is not about graphic design per se but about using a "Design" process in approaching problems you'll face as an entrepreneur or even in an established company.

Max, an entrepreneur based in Los Angeles, recently completed an intensive Design Thinking bootcamp at the Stanford d.school and is exhilarated to share the awesome methods and concepts he's learned in order to spread the word and continue to learn from others. Max fell into this trap with his second startup and is attracted to design thinking because it aims to prevent the problems associated with delayed launch and poor user-centricity from the beginning (in line with the lean startup methodology).

Max is a graduate of Stanford Computer Science and Management Science and Engineering as well as from UCLA Anderson business school. He founded an algorithmic trading hedge fund in college and a legal technology web start-up during business school.