Background:

Design thinking is an innovative problem solving technique that uses deep understanding, problem framing, a range of techniques, progressive prototyping, and critique to generate, develop and implement concepts that meet user needs.

Ageism—the practice of discrimination against individuals based on their age is a challenging global problem with serious consequences for individuals and society.

Design thinking methodology, born out of Stanford University, will be utilized in this interactive session with participants to develop practical and implementable solutions for fighting ageism.

Workshop Outline:

This session will be completely interactive, beginning with a review of the definition and framework for design thinking – Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. Participants will then be introduced to the tools of design thinking and use them to tackle the real-world challenge of ageism. Participants will be broken into groups to brainstorm as many ideas as possible around the issue of ageism. By the end of the workshop, each participant will be asked to take away at least one idea that they ‘pledge’ to implement in their own environment.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will use brain storming techniques and prioritization processes to arrive at the most viable opportunities to the question of “How Might We End Ageism?” We will then work to refine the opportunities and gather energy and people willing to make commitments using the most viable alternatives.

Participants will acquire the following skills:

• An understanding of what design thinking is;
• Practice in using design thinking tools that can be used together, or individually, within their own work environment;
• Experience in thinking beyond their usual boundaries;
• Using deep creativity to solve a problem; and

• Identify one (or more) practical solutions to combat ageism that can be implemented in their context or environment