Grad Grow Learning Opportunities

Stanford's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, the d.school, offers a wide variety of classes for graduate students. Class options include their quarter-long credit-earning "core classes" as well as shorter "boost classes" and other workshops. In all of the d.school experiences, you will learn how to think like an innovator, take new perspectives, and design solutions to the messy, complex problems of the real world.

Throughout the year, the d.school holds a number of design and design thinking centered events on campus. From creativity workshops to pop up classes on how to design your life, there's something for everyone at the d.school. Keep an eye on their events calendar throughout the school year.

Looking to teach (and learn) the basics of design thinking? This virtual crash course lets you experience one of the d.school's most popular learning tools. Download the Google slide deck to expose yourself (and potentially your students) to a medley of design abilities, methods, and mindsets.

If you have questions about design or design thinking, this is the site for you. The d.school's Design Questions Library covers subjects from teamwork to empathy and creativity, to design speed, and can direct you towards further resources in any areas that pique your interest. 

The d.school's Design Thinking Bootleg is a compendium of tools and method used by design thinkers, formulated into a convenient (pdf) deck of cards for you to keep around. Available in English, Spanish, and German, the deck covers the five different "modes" that are the components of design thinking: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. Anyone interested in design thinking can use it for inspiration or to generate new ideas for potential ways of doing things.

Feeling stuck? This out-in-the-world audio experience created by Stanford's d.school gives you a fresh perspective and helps you re-frame a challenge. Lasting about two hours, this series of audio tracks is self-paced and designed to help you engage with the world around you, helping you find a fresh perspective and re-frame your challenge. A classic element of design thinking, but useful for anyone facing a particularly tough obstacle in their work.