In this episode of Great minds design think alike, we speak to Rob Kellas, the programme lead at the D-School and design thinking consultant at Future World. We talk about the history of the D-school in South Africa and the future education and design thinking training.

Rob talks to us about how design thinking principles can be taught when looking at product creation and service delivery, which is historically what its been used for. In South Africa, he has seen a growth in the application of design thinking to solve systemic problems such as gender based violence. The solution for this may well end up being a product, but it may also be policy changes, etc.

We also chat about the various reasons why design thinking can be used in the corporate world and how it can be applied, and then how design thinking should be packaged for each instance. Rob also talks to us about the industries in SA he has seen a bigger adoption of design thinking and why he believes that is the case. We also chat about design thinking and the mining industry in South Africa in particular, and although they may not have adopted design thinking per say, they are using the principles to design their business of tomorrow, i.e innovation and the impact it will have on their business in the next 10 years. This leads into a detailed discussion around tech and the future impact of the technology available to us now.