The Design Thinking Conference Asia, set to take place in February 2023, an empathy-fuelled experience, is an opportunity to see the world through different lens and discover solutions to problems.
The Design Thinking Conference Asia, an interactive and high-energy gathering of would-be and experienced design thinking practitioners from around the world, will take place in Singapore on 8 and 9 February 2023 with the aim to connect with 300 attendees from across Asia. A whole host of international speakers will be on hand to share stories and there will be opportunities to break out into more intimate sessions for exploration and discovery.
Powered by the theme ‘Through Different Lens’, it inspires design thinkers to use empathy and look through the different lens of poverty, vulnerability, prosperity, eccentricity or even cluelessness. The aim is to be able to constantly challenge our reality, beliefs, assumptions and bias to discover new solutions for the problems we are facing.
This conference will help to move the conversation on Design Thinking forward and push the boundaries as far as we possibly can. This is only the tip of the iceberg, focusing on the first diamond – Discovery – of the double diamond approach of design thinking, setting the stage for Define, Develop and Deliver.
This two-day conference will play host to a diverse pool of individuals and professionals – in addition to design thinkers – such as department heads, directors, business leaders who may be game changers, responsible for driving innovation to solve business problems or simply wish to enhance their organisation or team culture.
“As the world recovers from the impact of COVID-19, we believe that the Design Thinking Conference Asia is a great opportunity for design thinkers as well as businesses and would-be practitioners to come together to learn, gathering collaborators to co-create and continuously push the envelope to bring about change.
We hope to shape human catalysts to help people see human values, enable people to tell their stories and to connect with people. This is essentially a very targetted platform to share knowledge and further your understanding of what is driving the changes experienced in today’s world,” enthuses Conference Director, Mavis Ng.
Sub-Themes
The two-day conference is a fast-paced one that is highly interactive, fun, collaborative and focuses on the first diamond of design thinking: Discovery. Participants can look forward to content delivered via 4 keynote speakers, 6 storytellers and 8 activities.
Day 1
The first day’s sub-themes revolve around ‘Are we still the Caveman in the Cave?” and “Do You See What I see?”. The former questions how we are stuck in our old ways of approaching and understanding problems. Given how our highly-globalised world evolves so quickly, are we content staying as neanderthals in the cave or are we ready to embark on the amazing journey that is design thinking and drive innovation?
The latter reminds us of the need for empathy and a bias-free approach to doing research. Put aside your own understanding, initiate a convo, slip into the shoes of another person and see things from another persona and perspective. How do we know what we know and know what we did not know? Expect the discovery of real challenges and opportunities on Day 1.
Day 2
Fast-forward to the second day and we come head on with the sub-theme “Yours + Mine + Other Thoughts = ?”. A single man can invent the telephone; two brothers invented flight; many brilliant minds came together to put a man on the moon!
A group of scientists created the vaccine for Covid-19 in recording timing. We invite design thinkers to continue to be curious, explore, and to discover insights from the diverse groups of people around you. The coming together of many minds and hearts, thoughts and feelings, leads you to possibilities and so much more.
As we approach the latter half of Day 2, we begin to take stock of what we have gone through. Have our assumptions been challenged and, if so, what is the new problem that has surfaced? Is there a better opportunity, solution or, better yet, next big innovation out there?
As we gather our pool of diverse insights and discoveries from ourselves and other conference goers, “Is the truth out there’ is a sub-theme that will bring us closer to our next steps. The conference seeks to highlight the benefits and importance of good empathetic research in design thinking, which will then lead into the next phase of ‘define’.
Join the convo
While the conference is slated to take place in February 2023, the Design Thinking Conference Asia has in fact already started with a number of activities taking place each month such as interviews, fireside chats, podcasts and more.
The month of June will kick off with the theme of ‘The Return to the Workplace’. Covid-19 restrictions have been relaxed for a while now and it is time to take stock of the challenges organisations and employees are facing to realign their expectations, culture and values.
July 2022’s theme of ‘Business Transformation’ looks at how organisations are often asked to raise productivity levels while employees are requested to strengthen their value proposition. What should and how should organisations learn? The Design Thinking Conference Asia champions the importance of ‘learning by doing’, seeing ‘through different lens’ and human-centred thinking.
Come August, we celebrate inclusivity and shine a spotlight on the value proposition of vulnerable communities, their natural ability to be human-centred and how they are a natural fit for the next leap toward human-centred transformation. We invite those who have pivoted and made their mark in the space they own.
The Design Thinking Conference Asia hopes to gather and grow a community of design thinking practitioners that are utterly passionate about the practice, engaging inspired individuals who are curious and interested. By fostering a unique community culture, this becomes a platform for collective wisdom exchange, collaboration and co-creation.
Find out more via https://dtconference.asia/ to participate in the conversation.
Sponsorship
The Design Thinking Conference Asia is the perfect opportunity for corporates looking to reach out to a pool of individuals and professionals who may be department heads, directors, business leaders who are responsible for driving innovation to solve business problems or enhance their organisation or team culture. The sponsorship team will be able to work with organisations to co-create messaging that will resonate with their target audience. Sponsorship enquiries may be directed to: [email protected]
Pricing
A ticket to the 2-day conference is available at SGD488. Early bird discounts are available at 30% off and 20% off when purchased from https://dtconference.asia/ before 30 September 2022 and 31 December 2022 respectively. Participants who come in a pair can also enjoy a 20% discount.
ABOUT DESIGN THINKING CONFERENCE ASIA
Website: https://dtconference.asia/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/designthinking-conference-asia/
