Intro to Design Thinking for Entrepreneurs and Techies

Are you an entrepreneur wondering how to build products and services that are transformative, affecting people at a deep level? Are you a developer or designer wondering why some products get traction and others don't quite strike a chord? 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. This workshop will focus on doing and making over thinking and waiting.

Space is limited for this hands-on activity. Come with an open mind and energy, and get ready to have your world turned upside down. We are charging for this event to cover dinner, snacks, beverages, and material costs for the event like photocopies. If your company would like to sponsor the event, just reach out.

http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/2/6/b/8/event_145389912.jpeg

What you'll learn:

• What it really means to do user-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 Mednik, an entrepreneur based in Los Angeles, recently completed an intensive Design Thinking bootcamp at the Stanford Design School (or "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 Mednik 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 started his first startup (an algorithmic trading hedge fund) in college, and it's still in operation today.

Photos by Natalie Rae Glatzel of Stanford under Flickr Creative Commons License.