Design thinking is an innovative, empathetic, iterative, and reflective process that can help students think about careers in new ways, according to research from various experts. Students in a career development planning course used the Stanford Design Thinking Process, which consists of five stages, to develop their career development plans. The SWOT Analysis, a management tool that is commonly used to develop business plans, was used to categorize student ideas, assess formatting and present information in a visual format. Students tracked successes, mistakes, threats, and opportunities, and assessed their strengths and development needs. They then used this information to create a prototype of a career development plan, which they presented to the entire class. The testing stage was fulfilled through verbal peer feedback on student presentations and assignment feedback from the professor.
Using Design Thinking for Career Development Planning: The Role of SWOT Analysis
Design thinking is not only a valuable problem-solving approach in business education but also an innovative tool for exploring career interests, developing career plans, and finding fulfillment in life (Evans & Burnett, 2016). By adopting design thinking, individuals can focus on curiosity, find the right problem to solve, prototype various career options, and seek help from others (Hirsch, 2017).
One of the key design thinking models is the Stanford Design Thinking Model, consisting of five stages: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test (Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University, 2018). To further improve this model, Wickam et al. (2022) introduced reflection as a cross-cutting part of the process. Reflection is critical at each stage and can be achieved through assignments such as written papers and class discussions (Clark & Brennan, 1991; Grandzol & Grandzol, 2006; Wickam et al., 2022).
With the design thinking process in mind, researchers revamped two sections of an undergraduate Business Communication course taught in a midwestern private university to understand how design thinking helps students explore innovative career development and create a career development plan (Evans & Burnett, 2016). The course was attended by a total of 40 students, including majors in project management, graphic design, psychology, marketing, business management, and accounting.
The researchers used the SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) as a tool for categorizing students’ ideas and enhancing their career development plan. The SWOT analysis is a structured approach for assessing an individual’s internal and external environment, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and exploring opportunities and threats (Rao, 2019).
Through the SWOT analysis, students identified their strengths and weaknesses in terms of skills, knowledge, and personal attributes, as well as opportunities and threats in the job market. This helped students to create a personalized career development plan by identifying the skills and knowledge they need to acquire, the job roles that best align with their strengths, and the strategies to overcome threats and capitalize on opportunities.
Overall, the use of design thinking, particularly the SWOT analysis, can be a useful approach for students to explore innovative career development and create a personalized career development plan. By embracing design thinking and reflection, individuals can gain a deeper understanding of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and take a more proactive approach to career planning.
How Design Thinking Can Help Solve Wicked Problems in Career Development
Designing a career is often considered a wicked problem, defined as a class of social system problems that are ill-formulated, where the information is confusing, where there are many clients and decision-makers with conflicting values, and where the ramifications in the whole system are thoroughly confusing (Buchanan, 1992). To help students tackle this challenge, the Stanford Design Thinking Process was used to structure an undergraduate Business Communication course, with a particular focus on career development planning.
Using Design Thinking to Develop Career Development Plans
The course was designed to help students investigate career pathways, explore personal contributions to the workforce, and expand their career readiness and self-development. To achieve these goals, design thinking activities and assessments were designed at each stage of the course. The Ideate stage, in particular, was aimed at helping students gain career development and workforce understanding by connecting knowledge, skills, and abilities with job requirements.
To prepare for the SWOT analysis, which is a well-known management tool used in countless business plans to develop strategies based on a company’s analysis of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, students were given a Success Tracking worksheet and a Mistake Tracking worksheet to document successes and mistakes for a week. They were also asked to track external threats and opportunities that could help or hinder their career development.
Through the SWOT analysis, students identified their strengths and development needs, researched workforce opportunities and threats, and categorized their ideas to develop their career development plan later in the course. The SWOT analysis helped students create a personalized career development plan by identifying the skills and knowledge they need to acquire, the job roles that best align with their strengths, and the strategies to overcome threats and capitalize on opportunities.
Ideate Stage Activities
To enhance students’ ideation skills, various activities were used, including Party Planning, 1000 Uses Challenges, and the Marshmallow Challenge. The summative assessment in the Ideate stage was the Career Development Plan SWOT Analysis.
Students were asked to consider their transferable skills in identifying their strengths and development needs, and to research workforce opportunities and threats. They were also asked to listen to their peers and watch the news to identify threats and opportunities to their career goals. To further develop their ideation skills, students participated in an in-class brainstorming discussion regarding their recorded threats and opportunities.
Conclusion
Design thinking, particularly the Stanford Design Thinking Process, can be a valuable tool for tackling wicked problems in career development planning. Through activities and assessments at each stage of the process, students can gain a deeper understanding of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and develop a personalized career development plan. By connecting knowledge, skills, and abilities with job requirements, students can take a more proactive approach to career planning and achieve their career goals.
Creating a Career Development Plan with Design Thinking
Design thinking is an innovative, empathetic, iterative, and reflective process used for solving wicked problems. In a recent study, design thinking was used to help students develop a career development plan by investigating career pathways and exploring personal contributions to the workforce. The Stanford Design Thinking Process was used to structure the course, and a SWOT Analysis was used in the Ideate stage to create a prototype of a career development plan.
Using a SWOT Analysis
Students used a Success Tracking worksheet and a Mistake Tracking worksheet to document successes and mistakes for a week, and tracked external threats and opportunities that could help or hinder their career development. The SWOT Analysis was used to categorize their ideas, and students were asked to create their SWOT Analysis in Canva, Visme, Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, Microsoft PowerPoint, or Google Slides. The assignment rubric assessed formatting, ability to present information/data in a visual format, and content.
Students were honest and thoughtful when assessing their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. For instance, one student listed dependability as a strength, procrastination as a weakness, the prevalence of technology as an opportunity, and A.I. as a threat to their career goal of graphic design. In keeping with the stages of design thinking, the SWOT Analysis was used to create a prototype of a career development plan, which was then presented to the entire class.
Testing the Prototype
The testing stage was fulfilled through verbal peer feedback on student presentations and assignment feedback from the professor. Continuous improvement via feedback and insights from peers, customers, managers, and industry experts was stressed as part of the testing stage going forward. Research has found that business educators who teach using design thinking most often use class presentations in the testing stage, while role playing and observations are other ways prototypes can be tested.
Conclusion
Overall, design thinking was found to be an effective instructional method to help students think about careers in new ways using an innovative, empathetic, iterative, and reflective process. The study demonstrated how design thinking can be used to solve wicked problems in career development planning. By connecting knowledge, skills, and abilities with job requirements, students can take a more proactive approach to career planning and achieve their career goals.
This article provides a list of references related to design thinking and career development. It includes a review of organizational culture and design thinking, as well as various resources and studies that demonstrate how design thinking can be applied to career development.
The references cited in this article include studies on the use of design thinking in business education, as well as the development of design thinking models and frameworks. The authors also reference literature on the use of design thinking in career development and provide examples of how it can be implemented in the classroom.
Overall, these references provide a comprehensive overview of the benefits of using design thinking in career development, and highlight the ways in which it can be applied to help individuals explore career interests, develop career plans, and find fulfillment in their professional lives.
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