At the GDTA Spotlight session on April 26th, 2023, we welcomed Dr. Linda J. Hickman, Associate of the London School of Economics. She talked about “Design Thinking for Startups.”
Founders of startups face many decisions because success depends upon making the right choices. Questions about making the right decisions or finding the right solutions constantly arise.
Linda presented Design Thinking as a suitable framework to develop reliable insights and creative solutions in the start-up process. The presentation showed the challenges that come up when starting a business and the role of design thinking in this process.
Dr. Linda J. Hickman is an entrepreneur, educator, mentor, author, London School of Economics Associate, and founder of Hickman & Associates, a consultancy based in London.
She combines global business development experience at Oracle and Royal Dutch Shell in 37 countries, including a successful launch of a software company, with her practical approach to mentoring organisations and startup teams in strategic skills. Linda teaches entrepreneurship using design thinking to students at LSE and is a Mentor in the European startup community with strong links in London and Berlin. She actively supports the Universität Potsdam, HPI d.school initiative to create an international association of Design Thinking, GDTA – the Global Design Thinking Alliance and in her role at LSE is a founding member of the GDTA. Her research focus is Design Thinking for startups, business models, value chain strategies and was awarded a grant for accelerator research from NESTA, a UK innovation organisation. Research and business publishers include Wiley, Cambridge Press and Pearson, with a forthcoming book for startup founders in progress.
In his session, Indigenous Inspirations: 5 Design Lessons from 5 Tribal Women, Anirban uncovers timeless, empowering design principles drawn from the lived experiences of tribal women across India—and what they reveal about building more sustainable, human-centered futures.
“Design Thinking is not Enough” – Design thinking has taught a generation of innovators to empathize, ideate, prototype, and test. It has reshaped classrooms, organizations, and how we talk about change. And yet despite decades of user-centered design, we are still failing to meaningfully shift many of the systems we care most about. In this provocative presentation, Agnes Kwek shares the reasons why “great ideas” fail to scale and pilots don’t stick. Drawing on her own experiences of large-scale systems transformation in the public sector, she reframes design thinking as a powerful but incomplete tool. Complex challenges are not user problems; they are system problems. Agnes will share how to design with systems rather than against them. This talk challenges participants to expand their role from problem-solvers to system-shapers. Design thinking set the direction. Systems thinking shows us how to get there. Agnes has over 20 years of career in the Singapore Administrative Service, with a focus on large-scale system transformation. As CEO and founder of MindTheSystem, she has trained over 800 senior executives in managing complex systems. She is based in Paris.
Join us for an exclusive GDTA Spotlight session featuring Andrey Khusid, founder and CEO of Miro! Discover the inspiring journey behind Miro’s creation, the pivotal role of Design Thinking in its development, and the founder’s unique philosophy that shaped the intelligent canvas model. Andrey will share insights on Miro’s latest AI features and his vision for the platform’s future. Don’t miss this chance to learn from a leader who has transformed collaborative workspaces worldwide.
In our session held via zoom on February 17th, 2022 at 3:30 pm (CET) / 9:30 am (EST), we welcomed our speaker Jeanne Liedtka from UVA Darden School of Business.
At our GDTA Spotlight session on January 18th, we were welcoming our speakers Isabella Stranger, Gastón Roca and Yael Gitman from D-School Chile. They talked about how the first Latin American D-School came to life at the very core of a Chilean University, what they have built in 3 years of history, and what challenges they are hoping to tackle next.
After 16 years of running projects using Design Thinking, teaching it, living it, Arne came to some important conclusions. During this session he shared these moments of clarity and darkness and left participants optimistic, energised and proud to be part of the Design Thinking movement.
Join us for a free session of the GDTA Spotlight on Tuesday, June 18th at 9.00 am SAST / 7.00am GMT for “Connecting the African Design Thinking Community: An Emergent Learning Network” with Jenni van Niekerk!
In our January 2026 GDTA Spotlight, Ricardo Ruffo (Founder & CEO of Echos) explores how Artificial Intelligence is reshaping Design Thinking — from crafting outputs to stewarding intelligent systems.
Discover how AI can expand imagination, accelerate experimentation, and help teams reframe problems in entirely new ways.
At our GDTA Spotlight session on December 14th, Prof. Dr. André Bresges, Executive Director of the Institute for Physics Didactics at the University of Cologne talked about “Teach to Start Up”.
Adam Somlai-Fischer, Co-Founder of Prezi, shared how a personal challenge sparked a global storytelling revolution. Discover the magic of spatial visual storytelling, AI’s role in transforming presentations, and the impact of LLMs on visual thinking.
“Beyond the Prompt – Orchestrating Human-AI Agency”
Who’s really in control when working with AI—you or the tool?
In this upcoming session, we’ll explore how intentionally sharing decision-making between humans and AI leads to better outcomes than simply using more AI. Together, we’ll unpack five modes of human–AI agency and discuss how to stay in the driver’s seat of your own work.
We’re excited to welcome Samuel Tschepe, who brings 15+ years of experience designing impactful learning experiences, with a strong foundation in Design Thinking. His work focuses on helping individuals and teams confidently balance human intuition and AI—not by choosing one over the other, but by blending both with intention.
How can Design Thinking drive real change? Since 2015, Impact Week has evolved from a volunteer initiative into a thriving social enterprise, empowering communities, fostering skills, and sparking impactful social businesses.
Martin Schwemmle: “Future Skills Navigator: Upskilling Humankind For a Better Future”
The Global Design Thinking Alliance, in collaboration with the IEEE Standards Association and Vienna University of Economics and Business, invited you to the GDTA Spotlight Special Edition “Value-Based Engineering in Design Thinking,” which took place on March 10th, 2022, from 9:00-11:30 am (EST) / 3:00-5:30 pm (CET) via Zoom.
Join Arne van Oosterom for a powerful GDTA Spotlight session on 3 essential mindset shifts for the future: curiosity, adaptation, and relationships.
How passion, collaboration, and persistence turned an idea into a thriving business. Born from one of the first cohorts of the D-School Potsdam, Dark Horse defied the odds to become a sustainable business venture.