Overview
A design project accelerator for teams
Join us for this opportunity to learn and practice human-centered design, and advance your own project.
The d.school Action Lab will help you design more human-centered, equitable and effective initiatives, services and programs. The Lab is an intensive, hands-on opportunity to dive into and move forward your own team project. The Action Lab provides the structure and support for about 90 hours of work for learning and doing.
It includes:
16 cohort sessions with live lectures, demonstrations, project work, coaching and discussion.
50 hours of active work on your own team project in between cohort sessions as you work in a more exploratory, equitable, and human-centered way.
This program is for people who:
Want to make new, tangible impact, but aren’t certain where to start.
Are running programs but are not having the impact intended.
Want to gain an introduction to the behaviors and skills of design thinking, with a focus on interviewing, synthesis (making sense of information to gain new insights), ideation, and prototyping.
Are working on a project that would benefit from more engagement from and understanding affected participants and stakeholders.
Enrollment is by team, made up of 3-5 people.
We believe the strongest initiatives are developed with the collective perspectives of those being served by the project, and those implementing it. We encourage you to create a team that includes not only co-workers from the same organization but also: community members/project participants/customers, partners, and/or other stakeholders. This is an opportunity for teams to intentionally practice collaborative, exploratory, human, and experiential ways of working.
Workshop Highlights
Human-centered design for effective programs
Focus on the people you seek to serve while learning how to use design thinking to create and refine programs for greater intended impact.
Advance a design project of your own
Go beyond the theoretical and put techniques into practice by working in teams on your own real project, with coaching to guide you. We will advise you on how to select and plan a project to take on in the Action Lab.
Use a systems lens to shape your design work
Plan the most beneficial design work by considering the multiple stakeholders and forces at play.
Center equity in your work and your team
Apply a design approach that centers equity: explore your own identities and biases, be intentional about who is designed with and for, and shape your process and solutions to drive equity.
Explore more collaborative ways of thinking and working
Try a shifted model of work, where community members and customers are full partners in developing a program built for them.
Interactive, experiential learning
Learn via hands-on project work, activities, and interactive lectures that help build your capacity to be more creative, insightful, collaborative, and strategic.
Expert learning guides
Throughout the workshop, and on your project work, receive coaching and instruction from Stanford educators and experts from the fields of design, philanthropy, education and social impact.
What You’ll Walk Away With
Clarity on your project: who to focus your work on, their actual wants and needs, and new insights and ideas on how to make the intended impact.
A set of tools, mindsets, and a shared language with your team to effectively collaborate on this and future projects, including: conducting interviews, synthesizing information and stories gleaned from interviews, collaborative ideation, making prototypes, getting and integrating feedback.
Tangible methods and increased confidence to gain a deeper understanding of your community, consider and integrate equity into your work, and develop creative solutions.
Renewed sense of purpose and energy for your work.
What is the schedule and required time commitment?
We want to help you advance your project to make your intended impact go as far as possible. In order to do so, the d.school Action Lab includes about 90 hours of work: cohort sessions, fieldwork, coaching sessions, and project work with your team. Each week’s sessions starting in April are held on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 9:00-11:45am PT.
March 23-24 (9am-12pm PT)
Introduction to design through a design cycle (outside of your own team project)
March 25-April 17 (team work; no sessions held)
Scoping your team project: define and clarify your own team project, with coach support
April 20-June 9 (no sessions June 1-2)
Work on your own team project as you learn design mindsets and tools
All team members must join all sessions. About 70% of the time is spent in your team doing the work, and 30% in the larger groups learning, discussing, and sharing.
Can you share the session agendas?
This is a sample agenda, including the topics we will cover.
Session 1-2:
Introduction to design with a design cycle (a cohort project that is outside of your team project)
Scoping Your Team Project: between Sessions 2-3
With guidance from your dedicated team coach, further scope and define your team project, and identify stakeholders to interview
Session 3-4:
Practice design behaviors; community norms; launch team projects
Session 5-6:
Equity reflection and practices; empathy practices; prepare for and conduct interviews
Session 7-8:
Debrief interviews; introduction to synthesis; unpack interviews; outreach for ideation session
Session 9-10:
Team feedback; deeper synthesis; ideation demo; prepare for and conduct ideation session with co-designers
Session 11-12:
Make sense of ideas and integrate into strategy; prepare and share team presentations
Session 13-14:
Introduction to prototyping; outreach for testing sessions; prepare for and conduct testing session
Session 15-16:
Debrief on project work; share resources; celebrate teams
What have past attendees learned from participating?
“How to organize one’s ideas and thoughts and turn them into actions, also the power of human experience; listen to those we are actually trying to serve to create programs that are set up for success.”
“I really liked learning about how to do a good interview focused on emotion, and loved the intro to design thinking. I think that you did a really good job teaching us a concept and how to integrate it into our work at the same time.”
“How to carefully think through concepts and problems with intention and acknowledgement of personal biases.”
“Talk to impacted folks before any new initiative is designed.”
“I really appreciated learning about co-design sessions. This was probably the most valuable strategy I have gained in utilizing human centered design.”
How do we apply?
The application includes questions on your organization/team, about the specific project you plan to work on, and about the individual members of your team. In order to complete the section on your team’s project, you will need to work through the application prework here, which includes brief activities and a project scoping guide to read through.
Applications are due here on a rolling basis. We highly encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible before all spaces are filled.
Teams that are invited to join the workshop will be asked to confirm participation and submit payment by Friday, January 7th.
How can I learn more about the workshop or how to apply?
Write to us anytime at dss@dschool.stanford.edu.
Are reduced tuition options available?
We are offering limited scholarships to make the workshop more accessible to organizations with limited resources, with particular consideration given to teams including impacted community members who are not employed by the organization. We encourage organizations to consider compensation to non-salaried team members for their participation in the workshop.
The request for a scholarship is included in the application and determined on a case by case basis. If your application is accepted, we unfortunately cannot guarantee the requested tuition level and may respond with another tuition level that is available.
Standard tuition rate (per team of 3-5 members) is $25,000 for corporate/for-profit teams; $15,000 for non-profit teams.
Reduced tuition rates:
$10,000
$7,500
$5,000
Anything participants need to have?
All team members need reliable high-speed internet, computer, and webcam.
What language will cohort sessions be held in?
Full group sessions are held in English. If team members speak a language other than English, please contact us at dss@dschool.stanford.edu to discuss interpretation and translation possibilities.
Details
Action Lab Dates
March 23-24; April 20 - June 9, 2022. Each week’s sessions are held on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 9:00-11:45am PT. No sessions on June 1-2.
More details in the Q&A on the bottom left side of this page.
Where
Interactive sessions online via Zoom
Who should apply
Teams anchored in nonprofit, education, philanthropic, and government organizations, and mission-driven companies; made up of team members from staff, partners and community.
Tuition
$25,000 for corporate/for-profit teams
$15,000 for non-profit teams
Tuition is per team (3-5 people)
Limited scholarships available - details in the Q&A on the bottom left side of this page.
Application Prework
Read before applying
Applications Due
We are no longer accepting applications. Please join our newsletter to be informed of our next workshop.
Workshop flyer
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