Design Thinking workshop with Indigenous business. Image from Supply Nation
This time last week the SEQICC was very honoured to be part of the Jump Start Entrepreneur Workshop – Two Day Pilot Program on the Gold Coast. The high-energy and highly interactive workshop that focused on Design Thinking will go down as one of the business learning highlights for many of the workshop attendees.
The workshop was led by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, in partnership with Qld Airports, HP Enterprises, and Supply Nation, along with Griffith University, the Queensland Government, and Australian Computer Society.
Winangali‘s Noel Niddrie said afterwards of the workshop,
The two day workshop represents a generous contribution into the real growth of Indigenous business. Rather than symbolic efforts to reconciliation, our people needs more of this type of “practical reconciliation” from corporates like CBA, Qld Airports, HP Enterprises and other sponsors.
Be the user. Image by Positive Social Solutions
During the first part of the day, participants were introduced to Design Thinking. Design Thinking is a methodology that allows businesses to create practical and creative solutions to specific problems. Following on from the introduction, participates spent the remainder of the first day looking at Empathy in relation to customers. Empathy exercises included interviews and mapping. Monique Proud from Positive Social Solutions says,
With each group designing from a strength-based, human-centred approach, it was really exciting to see all the ideas develop and adapt over the 2-days. At the end of the workshop all the teams had generated very innovative and practical solutions, to address a variety of challenges faced by Indigenous communities.
The workshop however wasn’t all chalk and talk, it was highly interactive throughout the two days. With five groups developing individual projects that they would then later present to the Lion’s Den for coins. Future participants should be prepared to get creative!
Image by Positive Social Solutions
Other feedback from participants:
The empathy exercises were really valuable, but I really got a lot out of the Business Model Canvas. I can really see us using this for business projects into the future.
The workshop was a great learning experience in gaining an understanding of design thinking and its application in a social and commercial planning context.