A Human-Centered Approach to Innovation and Agent Development
"Empathy × Creativity × Technology = Innovation"
"Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer's toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success."
— Tim Brown, CEO of IDEOWhat do people need?
Is it technically possible?
Can it be sustainable?
Non-linear & Iterative: Loop back as you gain new insights
Move beyond assumptions and gain genuine understanding of the user. Put yourself in their shoes to comprehend their experiences, motivations, and emotional context.
Synthesize insights from empathy phase into clear, actionable problem statements. Shift from understanding to articulating the challenge.
Generate novel solutions through visual thinking. Create a "safe space" where idea quality matters, not artistic ability. Think outside the box!
Make ideas tangible through "learning by doing". Create preliminary versions that can be tested and experienced. Fail fast, learn faster!
Get structured feedback from fresh perspectives. Ensure feedback is unbiased and reflects first-time user experience.
More than a process—it's a way of thinking
AIGA's holistic approach: intellectual, emotional, and practical aspects
IDEO's cyclical three-step innovation process
Design Council's diverge-converge model
Start with empathy → Reframe the problem → Diverge then converge → Create & test prototypes → Iterate continuously
Generative AI is transforming the designer's role
Manual exploration of design space
AI explores entire design space
The Designer's New Role:
From manual creator → Strategic guide & curator
Three primary ways AI augments human creativity
Generate novel ideas, research competitors, analyze market trends, synthesize diverse sources
Collaborative partner, clarify ambiguities, provide critique, comparative analysis
Assess functionality, aesthetics, usability against predefined criteria
Apply human-centered methodology to AI development
Building AI worthy of human trust
Explainable decisions
Non-discrimination
Data protection
Human oversight
Reliable & secure
"The convergence of design thinking and AI is not a matter of choice but a necessity—human-centered guardrails for steering the immense power of artificial intelligence."
A comprehensive 3-day workshop for computer engineering students
Modules
Days
AI Prototype
Objective: Establishing the "Problem-First" approach before diving into code
Objective: Understanding the human user behind the screen
Objective: Scoping the exact problem to be solved with AI
Objective: Rapidly generating multiple solutions before committing to code
Objective: Transforming sketches into functional software
Understanding LLM capabilities, RAG pipelines, and autonomous agent workflows
Prioritizing user experience, mocking complex functionality for rapid testing
System personality, context windows, guardrails
Building front-end user flow with Streamlit/Gradio
Objective: Validating the solution and telling the product story
User testing, observational techniques
Likes, Criticisms, Questions, Ideas
Product pitch structure & demos
Live demonstration of AI prototypes assessed on Innovation, Feasibility, and User-Centricity
What participants will achieve through this transformative workshop
Move from feature-centric to user-centric mindset, fundamentally changing problem-solving approach
Master Discovery, Definition, Ideation, and Delivery phases of professional product development
Hands-on experience integrating LLMs and AI agents into structured product solutions
Create validated AI prototype solving real-world problems, ready to showcase to employers
