Design Thinking Process of the Universities, Abroad and the Indian Scenario.

In essence, the Design Thinking process is iterative, flexible and focused on collaboration between designers and users, with an emphasis on bringing ideas to life based on how real users think, feel and behave.

Design Thinking Abroad; a general perspective:

Empathy is crucial to a human-centered design process such as Design Thinking, and empathy allows design thinkers to set aside their own assumptions about the world in order to gain insight into users and their needs.

The Define stage will help the designers in your team gather great ideas to establish features, functions, and any other elements that will allow them to solve the problems or, at the very least, allow users to resolve issues themselves with the minimum of difficulty.

You’ve grown to understand your users and their needs in the Empathize stage, and you’ve analyzed and synthesized your observations in the Define stage, and ended up with a human-centered problem statement.

The design team will now produce a number of inexpensive, scaled down versions of the product or specific features found within the product, so they can investigate the problem solutions generated in the previous stage. Prototypes may be shared and tested within the team itself, in other departments, or on a small group of people outside the design team. This is an experimental phase, and the aim is to identify the best possible solution for each of the problems identified during the first three stages.

Designers or evaluators rigorously test the complete product using the best solutions identified during the prototyping phase, understanding of the users, the conditions of use, how people think, behave, and feel, and to empathize. Even during this phase, alterations and refinements are made in order to rule out problem solutions and derive as deep an understanding of the product and its users as possible.

Design Thinking tackles complex problems by:

Empathizing: Understanding the human needs involved.
(Developing the local communities and the country as a hub.)
Defining: Re-framing and defining the problem in human-centric ways.
( Eliminating Social and Cost barriers or adjusting them with the design, Space creation for it, in the design.)
Ideating: Creating many ideas in ideation sessions.
( Ideate well and market the design at the development stage.)
Prototyping: Adopting a hands-on approach in prototyping.
(Be up for preparing multiple alternatives to a problem, Record everything, the mistakes as well, a proper Database.)
Testing: Developing a prototype/solution to the problem. The art lies in finding solutions and meaningful representation, proper presentation techniques and also to ensure quality delivered as planned, Design and Build methods.

The Difference
The basic difference that can be observed is that education abroad is more experience based. Architecture/ Design needs to be more communicative and interactive. Concepts are derived from the interaction. In India, students are made to base their education on hard work, hours of labor, etc. In schools abroad, it’s better to base designs on specific concepts or modules. Up to date and modern libraries also help in shaping standards and help students keep in touch with varied information, and not merely the 4-5 usual architects taught in every Interior Designing Institutes. Tools to Create a Positive Stir. Another important thing I see is lack of interaction spaces, more than studios and lecture halls, there should be interaction spaces and places to work like patios, courtyards, open spaces, etc. as they pave way for thought sharing and group work.
But if one thing at the very basic level needs to change is the relationship between the teachers and students. Creativity needs to be encouraged. The relationship should work better if it focuses more on a guide-student model wherein the guide works in coordination for the design and isn’t too strict for it to go his way as it’s a learning curve and can help promote new designs.

Student exchange is a concept that needs to be promoted, especially within the same University. It’s an exercise meant for students to open up to different work-styles and study patterns and also opens them to new people, which in turn is a part of self-development and interaction.
The marking system has a psychological impact on students. For example, if the system grades you out of 100, then the scope of difference between a person who gets 90+ and one that gets 40-50 is enormous psychologically. Instead, a system where students are marked out of 30 with the passing being 18, the difference between the highest marker and the average wouldn’t be that telling. Another impact of this is professor bias, which in turn would reduce for it being based on this system.