Design Thinking for Transferable Skills

Vol. 5
2026

Lindsey Caola

Abstract

     

     For a first-year college class I teach, College Students Well-Being, my students engage in an eight-class Design Thinking unit. In Design Thinking, small groups work to help solve a challenge through involvement in five Design Thinking stages: Empathize to understand the users’ needs, Define to create a clear challenge statement, Ideate to brainstorm possible solutions, Prototype to try out one or more possible solutions, and Test to get feedback on designed solutions (Razzouk & Shute, 2012).

A goal… is that students strengthen skills and attitudes that are transferable to all disciplines, for example, written and oral communication skills, creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration.

     For my students’ Design Thinking project, the students partner with an on-campus office to help address a real-world challenge, relevant to the on-campus office’s work. Through engaging in Design Thinking’s stages, a goal for the Design Thinking unit is that students strengthen skills and attitudes that are transferable to all disciplines  (Nägele & Stalder, 2017), for example, written and oral communication skills, creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration Equally, the aim is that students strengthen both their sense of our class as a learning community, and their feeling of connection, with the broader campus community.

Design Thinking’s Implementation

      One of the student groups collaborated with campus Student Wellness Programming. This office, led by a public health expert, focuses on understanding students’ habits and promoting healthy behaviors around substance use, stress, nutrition, and other wellness factors. The Design Thinking group, of three students, was tasked with addressing a physical health challenge on our campus. Following is how the students enacted each of Design Thinking’s five stages: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test

     Empathize. Early, in the Empathize stage, the Design Thinking student group spoke with the Student Wellness Programming associates and spoke with student peers to understand challenges affecting students’ physical health.

     Define and Return to Empathize. The Design Thinking student group defined the targeted problem, as “food insecurity on campus.” The group then revisited the Empathize stage to learn more about students’ experiences with this specific challenge. The group administered an anonymous survey and conducted interviews with their peers to better understand barriers to accessing nutritious food. The group also interviewed the College’s Nutritionist, Director of Dining Services, Director of Menu Planning, a Resident Director, and several Resident Assistants.    

     In the Empathize phase, students seek to understand the problem through the lens of those most affected. All my student teams conduct student interviews and may also survey or interview faculty and staff. Some groups visit peer institutions to explore how others address similar issues. This phase takes the most time and requires significant scaffolding including instruction on how to reach out professionally. conduct interviews, and analyze qualitative data. Scaffolding also includes email templates that I provide.

     Ideate. After gathering stakeholder input, the Design Thinking group, partnering with the Student Wellness Programming office, moved to the Ideate stage. During in-class brainstorming sessions, the Design Thinking group members proposed ideas such as expanding dining options, offering donation programs for dry foods and dining dollars, and raising awareness about food insecurity through campus events. When the Design Thinking group later evaluated feasibility, they proposed establishing a campus food pantry.

     During the Ideate phase, students engage in divergent thinking, to brainstorm as many creative solutions as possible—without constraints. Through guided brainstorming sessions, teams generate ideas, identify patterns, and eventually narrow their focus to the most promising concept.

     Prototype. My Design Thinking groups’ Prototype drafts could be a storyboard, sketch, sample marketing material, or a mock-up of a proposed event. This group’s first prototype was a drawing of the proposed food pantry, which included a refrigerator section and shelves for dry foods. The group planned to advertise the pantry to students through emails and flyers and solicit donations from students, faculty, and staff

     Test. During the initial Test phase – receiving feedback from their classmates, classmates raised concerns about access to the food: “Would the space be locked and require card access like other buildings on campus?” “Would there be a stigma associated with visiting the food pantry.” Considering this feedback, the group decided to keep the pantry open to all students, initially, and to revisit access restrictions, if necessary.

          The group remembered another idea from their Ideate brainstorming session and added a meal swipe program to their plans. At our institution, first-year students are required to purchase a meal plan that includes many swipes into the dining hall, and the group learned that many students do not use all of their swipes. The students proposed a plan in which students could donate a meal swipe to the food pantry, and then students who need help accessing food could apply to the college and request meal swipes, as needed. After consulting with Student Support Services, the Design Thinking group confirmed that the idea is feasible. with existing data systems.

     Subsequent Tests. In the group’s final Test phase, the Design Thinking group proposed a Campus Food Pantry with a meal swipe donation program. Students presented their work twice: first at a poster session at our college’s Academic Conference Day – actually another Test phase where they received faculty and peer feedback – and again to the class and community partners at the end of the semester.

These cycles of revision reinforce the iterative nature of Design Thinking, helping students understand that improvement often comes through ongoing reflection and adaptation.

     All my Design Thinking groups first share their prototype, in class, to receive feedback from their peers and me. They revise, accordingly, before presenting it to their campus partner, who also provides feedback. These cycles of revision reinforce the iterative nature of Design Thinking, helping students understand that improvement often comes through ongoing reflection and adaptation.

     Structure and Scaffolds. Classe include sessions for brainstorming and prototype testing. Outside of these class periods, groups are expected to meet about once per week, and to meet with their campus partners at least twice per semester – although many groups meet three or four times. This structure keeps students on track and prevents procrastination.

     I include significant scaffolding throughout the unit. In addition to the scaffolding during the Empathize stage – instruction on how to reach out professionally, conduct interviews, analyze qualitative data, and use templates for emails – each Design Thinking stage is supported with class activities and assignment submissions. There is a group assignment for each of the five stages of the Design Thinking process and an overall structure for the unit, as diagrammed in Figure 1. The frequent submissions allow me to monitor progress and provide timely feedback, ensuring students stay engaged and learn from each stage.

Figure 1
Design Thinking Unit Timeline

 Assessment

     This graded unit included both individual assessed and group assessed submissions. As indicated in Figure 1, each of the five project phases included a group submission. The group submissions were graded using a point system.

     Students also completed two individual reflection papers, one at the beginning and one at the end of the semester – and two rounds of peer and self-evaluations. Reflections were graded for clarity of writing, depth of the reflection and connections to course content. Peer and self-evaluations helped facilitate communications within groups and provided me with information about individual grade adjustments when necessary.

Community Partners

     Just as students benefit from the experience, so do the community partners. As Cummings and Yur-Austin (2022) note, design thinking fosters mutual learning: partners gain fresh perspectives, while students learn from feedback and real-world application.

One community partner shared:
“At the final presentation, I was struck by the level of consideration that had been made. Their approach provided a perspective that we weren’t necessarily aware of. It exposed areas that we need to improve on or factor in when trying to engage students….I’m thrilled to share that we intend to hire two of the student participants as interns next semester to help continue their work.”

Transferable Skills – and Attitudes

       College graduates must develop transferable skills that cut across disciplines and career skills—such as communication, collaboration, creative thinking, and problem solving (Nägele & Stalder, 2017). Centering these skills and students in course design helps student to develop these competencies (Grau & Rockett, 2022). With Design Thinking, my students use and strengthen these skills. and also draw on integrative thinking, written and oral communication.

     The ideation phase can be particularly transformative. Students are often accustomed to convergent thinking—quickly identifying the “right” answer. Design thinking encourages the opposite: brainstorming without judgment. Initially uncomfortable, students come to see the power of letting their ideas flow without limitation. They learn that great ideas often emerge from unexpected or even “bad” ones.

     Communications. The Design Thinking unit supports student communication abilities in multiple ways. Students develop their oral skills through regular class presentations and a final formal presentation to community partners. They also present a research poster at our campus’ undergraduate research symposium. These repeated opportunities for public speaking build both skill and confidence.Within teams, students learn the importance of clarity—particularly during feedback rounds when vague explanations can lead to confusion. Many groups learn that breaking down ideas into smaller parts enhances understanding and engagement.

     Written communication is also central to the project. Students communicate regularly via email with faculty, staff, and sometimes off-campus stakeholders. To support professional communication, I provide email templates and lead class discussions on appropriate tone, clarity, and etiquette.

     In a reflection, a student wrote, “This project taught me various things about public service and working with higher education community partners. Communication was very important during the process of understanding and solving the issues.”

     “The most valuable skills I developed were critical thinking abilities (and) listening skills which helped me understand all parties involved and the issue at hand.”
– First Year Seminar Student

    Collaboration. Collaboration occurs throughout the unit. Teamwork dynamics vary — some groups work seamlessly, while others face challenges with expectations, communication, or workload. To help manage this, students complete two rounds of self- and peer-evaluation, giving insight into group dynamics. Accountability to a campus partner helps keep groups focused and motivated.

     One community partner observed: “Students developed strong collaboration skills, learning how to take an idea from concept to completion, while working together on multiple tasks. They practiced effective teamwork, communication, and problem-solving.”

     Design Thinking not only fosters skills. it promotes important attitudes such as empathy, optimism, resilience, and flexibility (Brown, 2008; Razzouk & Shute, 2012). Students in the Design Thinking group were surprised to learn the varied ways students experience food insecurity. At our small, selective, private college with high tuition, students were surprised to learn that peers struggled to afford food. They also learned that food insecurity can stem not only from cost but also from logistical barriers such as dining hall hours, building locations, and
athletics schedules.

     Although there were no athletes in this group, students developed empathy for experiences different from their own and from prevailing campus stereotypes. This is one way in which the Design Thinking project cultivates empathy – students are encouraged to look beyond their own perspectives.

     Through this project, students build lasting skills that they can carry into future academic, professional, and civic settings. As a student reflected:

“Throughout this project, I was able to learn a great deal of new information regarding many different topics, including the design thinking process, how to create a meaningful project that is truly helpful to others, how social stigmas can impact communities, and challenges higher education institutions can face…All I have learned will continue to be useful to me in the way I plan to complete any projects, as well as in how I view higher education and campus resources going forward.“

      In a final reflection paper, another student wrote:

“Overall, in this course I learned deeper empathy for others, the value of speaking freely with others, and new life skills.”

The project helps students cultivate a sense of confidence as communicators and problem solvers. A student stated:

“I’m leaving this course with a stronger sense of self, greater independence, and a new confidence in both academic and real-world settings.”

 Reflection

     Reflecting on this project fills me with pride. The students’ enthusiasm, the quality of their final presentations, and the positive feedback from partners are deeply rewarding. That said, this approach comes with logistical and time-intensive challenges. Supporting student projects and facilitating external partnerships takes planning and persistence. I take care to clearly define learning outcomes for both students and partners. Without that shared understanding, projects can become overly complex or misaligned.

     I have learned that selecting the right partners and projects is essential. I have found that students are most engaged in their work when they feel they are truly giving back to our community, beyond just completing an assignment for our class.

     The skills that students develop during a Design Thinking process will likely help them in future classes and professional settings. It is, therefore, a model worth considering—for any discipline and any institution committed to preparing students for a complex and interconnected world.

References

Brown, T. (2008). Design thinking. Harvard Business Review, 86(6), 84.

Cummings, C., & Yur-Austin, J. (2022). Design thinking and community impact: A case
study of project-based learning in an MBA capstone course. Journal of Education
for Business, 97(2), 126-132.


Grau, S. L., & Rockett, T. (2022). Creating student-centered experiences: Using design
thinking to create student engagement. The Journal of Entrepreneurship, 31(2_suppl), 135-159.
https://doi.org/10.1177/09713557221107443 

Nägele, C., & Stalder, B. E. (2016). Competence and the need for transferable skills. In Competence-based vocational and professional education: Bridging the worlds of work and education (pp. 739-753). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Razzouk, R., & Shute, V. (2012). What is design thinking and why is it important? Review of Educational Research, 82(3), 330-348. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654312457429

Lindsey Caola, PhD is Lecturer, Montserrat and Psychology Organization, College of the Holy Cross and can be reached at lcaola@holycross.edu.