The Academy for Innovation & Entrepreneurship's (AIE) mission is to engage all 40,000+ UMD students in innovation & entrepreneurship (I&E) experiences to prepare them to tackle the world’s toughest problems. We work with people across campus to be more human-centered, prototype-driven, and radically collaborative in their work.
Since 2018, AIE has offered UMD graduate students an opportunity to learn innovation techniques, such as design thinking and lean startup, as part of the Graduate Innovation Fellowship. We've now expanded the program to include UMD staff!
Learn design thinking tools and mindsets to create change in meaningful ways and cultivate your creativity in this dynamic, hands-on course. Engage in navigating ambiguity in productive ways by applying design tools and techniques to learn from others, synthesize qualitative data and experiment with new ideas. In this course, you will practice collaborating with a team on a design project and develop your intuition for designing a team’s design work.
Prerequisite: None. Open to anyone who's interested, no prior experience required!
Note: In person attendance is required at all meetings as is the completion of ~1 hour of asynchronous work during alternating weeks.
Reflection and self-assessments will be assigned in alternating weeks. Reflection is an important part of the learning process. It helps you process what you’re learning as well as find relevance to and make connections between course materials and how they might apply to you academically, professionally, and personally.
Apply design thinking / innovation tools on a project of your choosing. You'll devise your own project plan, learning outcomes, and milestones, and engage in relevant field work. You'll also participate in learning community sessions with peers to provide and receive mentorship, coaching, and accountability that supports each other's learning and emerging design practices.
Prerequisite: Some prior experience with design thinking, human-centered design methodologies, or User Experience/User Interface Design, gained through coursework, boot camps, workshops, or other Innovation Fellowship programs (i.e. Becoming a Design Thinker).
Note: In person attendance is required at all learning community meetings. Amount of time spend on fieldwork and in Coaching 1:1s will be individually determined by the facilitator(s) and Fellow at the beginning of the semester.
Fridays @ 10:00 am–12:00 pm at ESJ 2101 for the following dates: February 2*, February 16, March 1, March 15, , March 29, April 12, April 26*
*These sessions will begin at 9:00 am and include lunch or breakfast
During the Learning Community meetings you'll work closely with other fellows (graduate students and staff across campus). You'll provide and receive mentoring, coaching, and accountability that supports each other's learning and emerging design practices. Attendance is required.
Initially, you'll use this time to frame your design problem and in so doing create your own project plan, learning outcomes, and milestones to determine what shape your project will take across the semester. Example milestones include qualitative research (e.g. interviews, observation, participant observation), workshop design + facilitation, prototyping, etc.
*Amount of fieldwork varies according to method of participation. See below for more details.
Email mazarm@umd.edu with questions, or schedule a convo to discuss your goals, interests, and participation in Spring 2024 IF offerings.
Who are the instructors/teachers/facilitators/geniuses who will be sharing their hard-won innovation-related wisdom with the next group of IFs?
The Design Thinking Project Studio will be facilitated by Mira Azarm, and Becoming a Design Thinker will be facilitated by Erica Estrada-Liou and Brooke Smith. You can find their bios here.
Do I need to know much about innovation or consider myself "creative" to participate? Do I need prior experience with design thinking?
The answer to the first question is no! Many of us lose confidence in our creative abilities as we get older. You are creative. Trust us. Our goal is to bring it back into your life in a relevant and meaningful way.
For the second: Becoming a Design Thinker does not have a design thinking requirement. That doesn't mean you have to be a complete beginner: We've been told it's enjoyable to students at multiple levels of understanding and experience.
On the other hand, to join the Design Thinking Project Studio, you need a basic awareness and understanding of design thinking, human-centered design, and/or UX/UI concepts. We're not particular about where it comes from: this could be the equivalent of having read a book, going to a hands-on "bootcamp" or training, or being a past participant in other IF offerings (e.g. Becoming a Design Thinker) — to name a few. If you're not sure about this, we can work with with you to determine if you have enough experience to feel comfortable jumping in.
You can ultimately do both! If you have to choose, it's most important to consider your time commitments, learning goals, and how you want to feel during your experience.
⤑ Becoming a Design Thinker (BADT) is currently only offered in the Spring. This is a space for you to nurture and cultivate your design thinking and collaboration skills and mindsets. Each week, you'll work with your team to apply a specific mindset, behavior, tool, or method to a design problem. The goal isn’t finding the “right” solution, it’s to leverage everyone’s perspectives to explore a problem from a human-centered perspective. The biggest takeaway from this experience is what you learn, not the outcome of the design project. There will be about 1 hour of outside work between the in-person sessions, which everyone is expected to complete prior to each session. . Past IFs have described the experience as stress-relieving, invigorating, and fun.
⤑ The Design Thinking Project Studio (DTPS) is offered in the Fall and Spring. You can use the studio to dig deeper into a specific project that you're curious about exploring using the tools, methods, etc. You decide how much time you'll spend outside of the learning community sessions and 1:1s on fieldwork, knowing that you're ultimately responsible for meeting your own project milestones and deliverables. The learning community is supportive and provides a scaffold of accountability to help you move your work in productive — and intriguing — directions.
Whichever one(s) you join, you will need to attend all in-person and virtual meetings as specified in the curriculum.
It's a real-world project (i.e. work-related or school-related) that you're curious about exploring further. It can be something you've already started or is brand-new; something you feel stuck on; or something you're simply looking to find dedicated time, space, and additional perspectives for.
A high-pressure project with a tight turnaround, picky client, and/or a solution already in mind is not an ideal one in this setting.
In the first couple weeks of the studio, we'll help you begin framing your design problem; we can also help you brainstorm project ideas before the program starts if you'd find that helpful.
If you're a graduate student, you may be able to enroll in IDEA698: Independent Study in Design Thinking. The course is repeatable and can be taken for 3 credits. Depending on your program, this might qualify in place of an elective or even a requirement for your degree. You should contact your advisor to find out if you can take this without incurring additional costs, and/or work with them to get approval if needed. You will also need to get permission from AIE to enroll (contact Mira Azarm at mazarm@umd.edu). Once granted, you can register for the class in Testudo.
Master's, PhD.s, and even Post-docs who have been studying Applied Economics, Agriculture, Astronomy, Business, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Community Planning, Dance, Education, Engineering, Human-Computer Interaction, Information Management, Information Systems, Linguistics, Mechanical Engineering, Organic Chemistry, Psychology, Public Policy, Studio Art, Systems Engineering (+ more!). If it's not represented here, we'd love to add your program to our list, too!
This program offers valuable tools, methods, and mindsets that can be related directly to the workplace environment. This can be a valuable professional development opportunity for anyone who's been wondering how to incorporate innovation tools (and design thinking concepts) into their day-to-day work life. Depending on your unit or department's policies, you may need to ask your supervisor(s) for permission to use work hours to participate in the Innovation Fellowship.
We think the studio is a great place to move a real-world project along, so we encourage you to choose a project that's directly relevant to your day-to-day. If you need to get approval from your unit to participate during work hours, we recommend discussing your project idea(s) with your supervisor(s) to make sure expectations are aligned ahead of time.
Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership
Instructor｜Arts Integration in Elementary Ed.
MA Candidate｜Teacher Education and Professional Development
Through the IF Design Thinking Project Studio I had the opportunity to play with design thinking strategies in a supportive, multidisciplinary community while actively working on a project I am passionate about. Not only did I learn about design thinking, I also learned about myself: which parts of the design thinking process are challenging for me, why, and how to work with those challenges to persevere in designing meaningful, human-centered experiences. And how to customize my own design process to help me get out of my own way!
"[I learned] a variety of design toolkits that I now apply in my day-to-day as a UX Designer. The program prepared me to present with confidence, facilitate with structure and lead with intent. I walked away from the program knowing how to connect the dots, improvise where necessary, and work in teams to accomplish a design challenge. What you learn in a semester or two will prepare you in ways you can't imagine!"
"Learning about design thinking was a life-changing experience for me; it provided me with a new design and creative problem-solving lens to engage with my work and the world around me.
"As an IDEA101 course (a freshman course designed to help them plan for their college life) instructor in the virtual learning environment, I was able to apply the tools I learned into creating an innovative learning experience for my students. My students' confidence in collaborating radically has increased by 25% after taking my class!"
An ode to a future Innovation Fellow:
1. There are ideas floating all around and within you. Learn to catch them, go wild with them!
2. Visualize and materialize: Doodle away your ideas with simple stick sketches — that's just lines and boxes, nothing fancy — and see how your brain lets the creative juices flow!
3. Start — just simply start — and the ideas will come … and they will come true. You just have to start … don't underestimate yourself. You got it!
Learn more about the Academy for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at innovation.umd.edu