Design Thinking in Groningen
On September 28, we hosted the first Design Thinking Groningen meetup. Around 60 people form different backgrounds gathered in The Big Building to attend a workshop presented by the Hanze Ontwerpfabriek.
A little history
In 2015, co-organiser Ashlee and I were looking for a Design Thinking meetup in Amsterdam. To our surprise we didn’t find any. Meetups existed on topics such as UX, startups and product management. But none on design thinking. So, we created one ourselves. Why? For a couple of reasons:
Curiosity
We had our own idea about design thinking and how to it could be used as a technique for solving problems in our respective domains. However, we were really curious about alternative use cases. How did other people use it? Did we do it correctly? What more is there to learn?
In the end we started the meetup because we wanted to facilitate the discovery and learning of design thinking for this community.
Applicability
One of the biggest questions we still get at our meetups is how to apply the techniques. Many understand the methods and tools design thinking has to offer, but few know how and when to apply them effectively.
Therefore, the events that we host always have a participatory element. We want you to be able to take something home with you and apply it the very next day.
Misunderstood
Post its. It’s one of the most common images people associate design thinking with. The more the better. Also, brainstorming, idea generation and prototyping.
We feel that a limited grasp of the concept of design thinking is one of the corner stones of failed design thinking experiments. Design thinking often gets a bad rep. Partly, we think, because most of the times the approach applied with too limited knowledge of the concept. Why do we apply design thinking? What types of challenges and problems are suitable for design thinking? When do you use that specific method or tool? How is design thinking different than other kinds of thinking?
Through the meetup we hope to raise the number of successes with design thinking. After all, a rising tide lifts all boats.
First meetup with ING & AKQA
We created the meetup on meetup.com and waited for a while. Just to see how many people would be interested. In our imagination our first meetup would be 10 people in a bar discussing the ins and outs of design thinking. Silly us… After two months more than 250 people signed up for the meetup. Larger organisations and corporations started calling us to ask if they could host the first meetup. It blew our minds! Design thinking was hot; it was perfect timing.
“In our imagination our first meetup would be 10 people in a bar discussing the ins and outs of design thinking.”
In the end we partnered with ING to create our first meetup. It was a great succes. More than we hoped ever for. Over 100 people showed up to a great presentation by AKQA.
Act 2: A move to Groningen
Fast forward to the summer of 2017. As my family and I moved from Amsterdam to Groningen, I really wanted to get to know the design community there. One of the first things I did was to start the meetup group. Again, I waited to see what would happen. And again, I was surprised by the sheer amount of enthusiasm from the community. Soon, people start signing up, but also wanted to actively contribute to the meetup! I couldn’t be more happy. We quickly partnered with the Hanzehogeschool Ontwerpfabriek and created our first event.
Our first meetup in Groningen
The goal of this first event was mainly to meet the community. Finding out what’s important to them and what their needs are regarding these kinds of events. We received some great feedback and are confident that we — together — can create a programme in Groningen that will cater to this community.
After two presentations, Marijke Grotenhuis started the practical part of the evening and guided seven teams through their approach to design thinking.
It was great meeting so many people from the design community in Groningen. We had a great evening meeting, getting to know each other, prototyping and presenting.
I would like to thank Spindle, The Big Building, Hanzehogeschool and Pontonniers for their partnership during this event.
Below you will find some more pictures of the event.
If you are interested in learning more about design thinking, or maybe you have something to share with the community, please sign up for our meetup group on Design Thinking in Groningen or Amsterdam and join us for our next event.
Auke Schotanus is the founder of Pontonniers, a design strategy and digital innovation consultancy. They use the principles of design to create strategies and experiences that transform organisations and teams.
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