Design Thinking in Student Affairs

Design thinking is an innovative problem-solving framework. This introduction is the first book to apply its methodology to student affairs and, in doing so, points the way to its potentially wider value to higher education as a whole.With its focus on empathy, which is the need to thoroughly understand users’ experiences, design thinking is user-centered, similar to how student affairs is student-centered. Because the focus of design thinking is to design with users, not for users, it aligns well with student affairs practice. In addition, its focus on empathy makes design thinking a more equitable approach to problem-solving than other methods because all users’ experiences—not just the experiences of majority or “average” student—need to be understood. Centering empathy in problem-solving processes can be a tool to disrupt higher education systems and practices.Design thinking is a framework to foster innovation, and, by its nature, innovation is about responding to change factors