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Open Challenge

Design the Right Thing

About this Challenge by
Open Challenge

Design the Right Thing

Overview
Deep-dive into the discovery phase of a real-world product design project and learn alongside a peer group from around the world under the guidance of industry experts and mentors. This challenge will enable you to design successful products as you'll gain the skills and know-how from the best in the business. Join a community of aspiring and active product leaders to make an impact in product management and product design.
STARTS
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FORMAT
Online/Remote
DURATION
3-week program
TUITION
€100
LANGUAGE
English
ECTS
2.5 credits
SKILLS YOU'LL LEARN
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How You'll Learn

Our mission is to help you navigate the fast-changing world by building the skillset and mindset to make a sustainable impact on the future. That's why we offer cutting-edge, intensive, and practice-based Open Challenges, delivered 100% online by Subject Matter Experts. Our certificates give you the resources to upskill, boost your career prospects, and unlock your full potential. The certificates are stackable, meaning that you can use the credits earned towards one of our degree programs.

Learn by doing

Experience real "learning by doing" in an international environment

Network and community

Engage your network and new global community to speed up your impact and get noticed

Guidance

Receive guidance from  industry leaders and mentors who are already thriving in successful careers

Remote-first

Grow your network with peers from around the world in a remote-first setting

KfW is one of the world’s leading promotional banks that has been committed to improving economic, social, and environmental living conditions across the globe on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany since 1948.

KfW is actively involved in the issues that will shape the world of tomorrow. They promote wind farms, infrastructure projects, schools, and hospitals because meaningful and sustainable projects are part of their mission. As a bank, they are committed to responsibility. KfW supports people, countries, and institutions who think ahead and are motivated to take action, driving our society toward the future. This profile is what clearly sets KfW apart from other commercial banks.

Open Challenges

Design the Right Thing

Deep-dive into the discovery phase of a real-world product design project and learn alongside a peer group from around the world under the guidance of industry experts and mentors. This challenge will enable you to design successful products as you'll gain the skills and know-how from the best in the business. Join a community of aspiring and active product leaders to make an impact in product management and product design.

Deadline to apply:
22nd of August
Remote
3-week program
€100
deposit/refundable
2.5 credits
ECTS
Apply now

What You'll Learn

The program is made up of milestones, or challenge-based steps where you’ll gain hands-on experience and master a concept before moving on and eventually completing the entire challenge. Have a look at what you'll accomplish over this 3-week program in each milestone.

1
Explore the problem space
Get familiar with your real-world case study topic (sustainable micro-mobility, sustainable consumption, or, robotics). The introductory lesson on brainstorming methods will help you and your peers to develop an initial idea about which aspect of the problem space you want to explore.
2
Develop your design research question
Now you'll dive into the discovery phase of a design project. With our lessons, you'll be able to identify the different phases of a design process and develop a guiding design research question.
3
Gain desk research insights
In this milestone, you'll explore a new subject area, understand product environments and use processes, and identify potentials and problems. Our lessons will guide you in selecting suitable desk research methods, such as stakeholder mapping and environmental analysis, which you will conduct on your own.
4
Discuss your first finding (challenge discussion)
After conducting your desk research, you will present your insights to your peers and mentors. Backed up with their feedback, you will refine your design research question and insight landscape.
5
Select your user research method
Get to know four key methods for user research and corresponding analysis methods to conduct rigorous research and gain valuable insights. You will decide on the appropriate methods to apply in your own research process.
6
Conduct your research
Backed up with all the knowledge, you'll conduct your own user research and analyze it. You'll share your experiences in a discussion with your peers.
7
Pitch your insights
In this milestone, you'll learn how to derive key insights from your research and condense them into a consistent problem definition. Finally, you'll summarize your whole research process, insights, and problem definition in a pitch presentation to experts and industry mentors.

Who is this program for?

Are you hoping to accelerate your professional success and sustainable impact in a community? Build your network with people from around the globe who are carefully selected to ensure a diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and goals.

You want to become...
A Product Manager
A Design Manager
A UX Researcher
A UX Designer

The Challenge

In this challenge, you will attain hands-on experience as you work through real-life business scenarios under the guidance of mentors and industry experts. As you gain new competencies and demonstrate mastery in a specific milestone you can move on to the next one. You’ll use your existing knowledge and new skills to complete the challenge and be prepared for future Open Challenges or our degree programs.

Apply now

Highlights

3-week program
10-15h weekly load
25 limited cohort
Weekly discussions
€100
2.5 credits
Slack community
Certificate
Upon successfully completing the challenge, you'll receive a digital certificate that can be shared with your personal and professional networks.

Open Challenge starts on

Check back soon

Here are some dates to keep in mind during the application process.

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Application deadline (limited seats)
until
22nd of August
Confirmation of participation
until
24th of August
Challenge starts
on
August 29, 2022
Oliver Greuter-Wehn
Head of Product at ToU
The design of any meaningful solution starts with a well-understood problem. But evolution wired our brains to quickly react to challenges, jump to conclusions, and act based on often implicit assumptions. That’s why we, in the discovery phase, focus on methodically developing our understanding of the problem and its causes to identify the most promising paths toward a valuable solution.
Oliver Greuter-Wehn
Head of Product at ToU

Meet Your Program Director

Apply now

Dr. Daniela Peukert is the Academic Program Director for the B.A. in Sustainable Design & Product Management at Tomorrow University of Applied Sciences. As a product designer with a Ph.D. in Sustainability Sciences, she develops sustainable products that have a positive impact. She is an expert in design thinking and user experience research, as well as in the role of design for sustainability transformations. In her research, she explores design prototyping and material metaphors to foster integration and knowledge co-production within transdisciplinary processes and works toward a more-than-human-centered-design approach.

Meet Your Program Director

Apply now
Program Director
Daniela Peukert
Dr. Daniela Peukert is the Academic Program Director for the B.A. in Sustainable Design & Product Management at Tomorrow University of Applied Sciences. As a product designer with a Ph.D. in Sustainability Sciences, she develops sustainable products that have a positive impact. She is an expert in design thinking and user experience research, as well as in the role of design for sustainability transformations. In her research, she explores design prototyping and material metaphors to foster integration and knowledge co-production within transdisciplinary processes and works toward a more-than-human-centered-design approach.

Your ToU Journey
Starts Here

Thank you for your interest in our program. We'd like to learn a bit more about you and will get in touch with you shortly.

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