Asking the right questions is one of the most important insights that PhD Falk Uebernickel from the University of St. Gallen, brought to the Agora’ FIP classroom last week during the first week of the Food Innovation Program.

Design thinking is a dynamic process that helps us to create real solutions using the right questions. In order to understand consumer needs we need a holistic view, understand the context, and do some research. After that, design thinking includes open brainstorming in order to bring to the table disruptive ideas that will help us create solutions to build a prototype.

The process never ends, because we always keep designing and improving. Using Post-it notes and empathy, we divided in groups and studied three videos of different consumers, to determine their beliefs and habits linked to food and health. The methodology helped us to find the right questions, to build on the ideas in order to determine the best solutions in an organized and creative way.

Professor Uebernickel currently leads a group of scientist in the research area Design Thinking and Information Management in cooperation with Stanford University and other global partners.

By Karla Gonzalez Ramos, FIP Student, Class of 2015