[MUSIC] So in the previous three modules of this course and the first course, you have got a sense of the variety of uses that 3D printing can be put to by individuals like you and me, by entrepreneurs, and by small and big businesses. And we hope that this has inspired you to start thinking about turning your ideas into objects. In the next two courses, you will learn about the software skills to turn your ideas into objects and the hardware to make it possible. However, before you do that it's important to get some insight into the process for finding a need or a problem, and going towards a prototype or a functional product, and perhaps a service that provides a solution. And once you learn such an approach it becomes easier for you to put a framework around your efforts and go towards creating the solutions that you're looking for. This framework will also help you leverage the skills in software and hardware that you will learn in the next two courses. So in this module, we're going to try and introduce you to one such approach which is design thinking. Now design thinking is really not a prescriptive approach. It's more a set of guidelines. And there are many frameworks that have formed around this broad field of design thinking. But they all leverage a few basic principles. Essentially dealing with finding solutions for complex or, as some people call them, wicked problems. Now wicked problems are those where both the problem and the solution are unclear or undetermined when you start out. So this is where a framework really helps. So some of the common principles that I've found in my research, one is being user-centered or being empathetic. So that's quite intuitive that you're creating a solution for somebody, you should spend time and effort in focusing on what the user really needs. Given the fact that you're looking at often complex or wicked problems, most frameworks ask you to embrace ambiguity in the problem space itself. So do not shy away from dealing with the complexity that you find when identifying what the real problem is. And being empathetic and user centered helps in that phase as well. The second thing all of them talk about is that you should look for a lot of variety in the potential solution that you are exploring. And don't discard the crazy ideas essentially. Once you move on from the ideation phase, all of them, all the frameworks, talk about frequent with what is called low fidelity prototypes. That means don't wait for that perfect prototype in the process. Start early, get something out in the hands of the users, and be willing finally be willing to fail many times before you land up with a product that you can actually use. So given these principles there are several frameworks and you'll see some of them referred to in the additional readings. You know the prominent ones are from the Stanford school of the designed school. And the firm ideal as well. So have a look at those. Now I'm not an expert in design thinking but we were lucky to find an expert at the University of Illinois in the School of Art and Design and he's professor David Weightman and you will see an interview with him in this module. Then to show you some examples of design thinking in action. We picked two great projects which our students worked on under mentorship with either Professor David Weightman or another instructor in another course. And they will share with you how they leveraged the design thinking process to create prototypes, and functional prototypes, and perhaps end use products as well. So join me in this module as we learn about design thinking. [MUSIC]