Today marked the exciting kickoff of our Design Thinking Workshop, a collaborative effort between Universität Münster and Georgia College and State University. Bright and early, we welcomed our American guests at a cozy campus café called “Casino” on Leonardo Campus, warming up with coffee and initial introductions.
Getting Started
After this relaxed start, we moved to our workshop room, where we took the time to get to know each other more thoroughly. Building on our previous virtual exchanges via Zoom and VR meetings, it was refreshing to finally engage in real conversations face-to-face. We started with a series of interactive icebreaker activities, which helped to create a relaxed and open atmosphere.
Following that, we shifted our focus to the core structure of our workshop. We were fortunate to have two dedicated rooms reserved for our working sessions. One was a classic seminar room with desks for structured discussions and digital work. The other was a more flexible space designed to support agile Design Thinking activities.
This second room gave us the freedom to engage in creative, hands-on collaboration—an essential element of Design Thinking. We made use of whiteboards, paper-based materials for rapid prototyping, and a large screen that made it easy for everyone to follow shared content. These varied tools and setups helped to work in a dynamic and interactive atmosphere that went far beyond just sitting in front of a computer.
Together, we developed a rough but flexible plan for our five-day journey through the Design Thinking process. We discussed each stage—Empathize, Define, Ideate, and Prototype—in detail, and assigned general goals for each day. Since the testing phase wasn’t fully applicable to our context, we agreed to concentrate on the first four stages. Although we expected to adapt our plan along the way, establishing a shared vision gave everyone a clear sense of direction and purpose.
An exciting Outlook
With our preparations in place and the first connections made, we wrapped up the productive part of the day feeling energized and optimistic. The atmosphere was full of curiosity and good vibes. Everyone looked forward to working together, learning from each other, and exploring new ideas. It felt like this international teamwork had a lot of potential, and we were all excited to see how the week would unfold. Now, we were ready to continue the day by grabbing our bikes and continuing with our plan for the rest of the day – more on that in the next blog post!
