This course serves as a foundation for those seeking to drive innovation initiatives by adopting design-driven approach, applying it to technology, business and system domains. It equips students with the innovation design and management capabilities needed to design and deliver innovation effectively within an organisation. Tailored for professionals ready to step into innovative roles, it develops the ability to leverage on design technology, to enable structures and culture to build essential competencies. Students will learn the importance of design thinking, systems thinking, user-centricity, market insights, organisational alignment, structuring and communications in designing for innovative outcomes.

Course learning outcomes:

• Gain the foundational knowledge of innovation by design, understanding theories, models, and frameworks.
• Develop practical knowledge to develop innovation strategies, a balanced portfolio, and evaluate innovation initiatives for continuous improvement.
• Understand the key characteristics of an innovation-driven culture supported by a design mindset.

Workload: 4 units

Note: This course is designed for graduate students but limited spaces are available for Year 4 undergraduate students.

Course syllabus

Introduction to Innovation by Design

Understanding the foundations of innovations to learn how innovations can be designed : defining innovation and the role of innovation management, key challenges and emerging trends, types of innovation, and core building blocks of innovation systems.

Developing a Design-Centric Mindset

Adopting a systematic framework to drive innovation beyond execution: holistic systems thinking and operationalisation across time horizons, embracing ambiguity and complexity, and designing innovation for strategic advantages.

Aligning with the Organisation

Designing for innovation within the broader context of organisational vision, priorities, and structures: Apart from understanding the users, attempting design innovation that connects well with the mission and strategic goals, by understanding internal structures and silos, navigating power dynamics and governance, and identifying enablers and blockers of alignment.

Integrating User-Centric and Market Insight

Leveraging a user-centric mindset to uncover innovation opportunities while integrating market dynamics and business realities: reframing user-centricity from empathy to strategic relevance, identifying tensions between user needs and business viability, synthesising user insight with competitive and market analysis, and balancing desirability, feasibility, and viability in strategic decision-making.

Applying Systems Tools and Methods

Using systems thinking and strategic foresight to make sense of complexity and guide innovation efforts: mapping systems and identifying leverage points, applying futures thinking and scenario building, and using systems tools to reframe innovation challenges.

Communicating with Influence

Designing for innovation in ways that engage, align, and influence stakeholders at all levels: crafting compelling innovation narratives, adapting messages for different audiences, building trust and credibility, and presenting innovation as a strategic priority.

Structuring and Designing for Innovation

Designing the systems, capabilities, and portfolio needed to support and scale innovation within the organisation: building innovation portfolios and operating models, structuring teams, roles, and decision-making, developing innovation capabilities and practices, allocating resources to support and sustain innovation work, and integrating innovation into core business systems.

Fostering Creativity to Design Innovation

Creating the conditions for experimentation, learning, and creativity at scale: enabling psychological safety and creative confidence, balancing exploration and execution, embedding ideation and iteration in workflows, collaborating across functions to unlock creative problem-solving, and building team norms and processes that sustain creative thinking.

Measuring Value and Impact

Defining and tracking meaningful indicators to evaluate the outcomes of design strategy: identifying success signals and outcome metrics, aligning measures with innovation goals, assessing and managing risk in innovation portfolios, and communicating impact to decision-makers.