In the Age of AI, the teams that win aren't the ones with the best tools.
They're the ones who think best together.
A hands-on, two-day Design Thinking programme that gives your team a practical, human-centred framework for the challenges actually holding your business back — from siloed teams and communication breakdowns to customers who don't feel understood.
📍 Innovate Durban – Innovation CoLab, Umkhumbane Entrepreneurial Support Centre, 240 Harry Gwala Road, Wiggins, Durban
From R3500R3150 per person · Certificate included
The challenges we're actually here to solve
Every corporate team is solving problems every day. Very few have ever been taught how to do it well. Design Thinking gives your team a structured, replicable way to work through the challenges that most training never touches.
Silos and disconnected teams
Cross-functional collaboration breaks down the walls between departments, so people build solutions together instead of past each other.
Customers who don't feel understood
A customer-first approach that starts with real needs, not internal assumptions — so your products and services actually land.
Communication that keeps breaking down
A shared process and a shared language for how teams talk through problems, so meetings turn into decisions.
Culture and ownership gaps
Because teams build the solution themselves, they own it — accountability is designed into the process, not bolted on afterwards.
Leaders unsure how to build strong teams
Practical facilitation tools that build a leader's confidence to guide a team through ambiguity, not just manage a project plan.
Diverse teams, different instincts
South African teams bring a wide range of cultures and instincts for solving problems. Design Thinking gives everyone a shared framework to work from — turning that diversity into an advantage instead of friction.
These are the problems Design Thinking is built to solve. Not in theory — in the room, with the actual challenges your team brought with them.
Sound familiar? Bring these challenges into the room.
R3500 R3150 per person (10% discount applied) · Limited places available
Software can generate ideas.
Only people can understand people.
AI can produce a hundred options in seconds. It still can't sit with a frustrated customer, read a room, or work out why a solution that looked good on paper falls apart in practice. That's a human skill — and it's the one Design Thinking sharpens. It won't replace your team's judgement and creativity. It gives both a structure to move faster and land better.
Start from the person, not the plan
Build solutions grounded in what people actually need — not what the policy assumed, or what looked good in a proposal.
Test ideas before they get expensive
Prototype and iterate cheaply. Find out what doesn't work in a two-day workshop instead of after a six-month rollout.
A method you can use afterwards
Leave with a structured, replicable toolkit. No design background required — this process was built to work for everyone.
Ready to change how your team solves problems?
R3500 R3150 per person (10% discount applied) · Limited places available
Built for problem-solvers across every sector
You don't need to work in design, tech, or innovation. If your work involves understanding people's needs and creating solutions that serve them, this programme is for you.
Government & Municipal
Service delivery teams, planners, and officials working on citizen-facing challenges
Corporate Teams
Product, operations, HR, and leadership teams looking to fix culture, communication, or customer experience challenges
NGOs & Social Sector
Organisations designing programmes, services, or interventions for communities
Entrepreneurs & Startups
Founders and teams who want to validate ideas and build products users actually want
Academics & Educators
Researchers, lecturers, and educators looking to embed Design Thinking in their work
Individuals
Anyone who wants to think more clearly, creatively, and collaboratively about complex problems
Whoever you are — if you solve problems for people, this is for you.
Register NowIn-person · Durban · 27 & 28 August 2026
Five stages. One powerful framework.
The programme uses the globally recognised Stanford d.school Design Thinking model — proven in government labs, corporates, and universities worldwide, and adapted to the real challenges you'll bring into the room.
Step into your users' shoes. Understand their real needs, frustrations, and experiences — not your assumptions about them.
Turn what you've learned into a sharp, actionable problem statement — the "How Might We" question that focuses your team.
Generate a wide range of creative solutions. Quantity before quality. Reverse brainstorming often unlocks the best ideas.
Build quick, tangible representations of your best ideas — storyboards, service maps, journey blueprints. No engineering required.
Present your prototype, gather structured feedback, and identify what to sharpen. Rich cross-team discussion is the norm.
The stages are iterative, not linear. Going back is not failure — it is the process working exactly as designed.
Experience all five stages using your own real challenges as the material.
Join the Next Cohort — 27 & 28 AugustR3500 R3150 per person · Certificate of Participation included
What two days looks like
Every cohort is shaped by a pre-session needs assessment. Before Day 1, your facilitator analyses the themes that emerge across participants and tailors the tools accordingly — so the programme is always relevant to the challenges actually in the room.
By the end you will have:
- Challenged your assumptions about who you're really solving for
- Reframed at least one real challenge you brought to the room
- Built and tested a prototype of a solution
- A replicable process you can facilitate with your own team
- New connections across sectors and organisations
- A certificate recognising your participation
The tools you'll leave with:
Understand
The Stanford d.school framework (theory and practical application) · empathy mapping, journey mapping, and affinity diagramming · how to write a sharp "How Might We" problem statement
Create
Ideation techniques including reverse brainstorming · prototyping tools: storyboards, service blueprints, concept models
Test & Apply
Structured feedback and testing methods · energiser activities to keep teams engaged and creative · insights from participants across different sectors and organisations · Certificate of Participation (both days required)
Bring a real challenge. Leave with a new way to approach it.
Register for 27 & 28 AugustLimited to a small cohort — book early to secure your place
Led by Susanne Ramsunder
Susanne is the Head of Accelerator at Innovate Durban, where she leads the design, development, and implementation of innovation and commercialisation programmes supporting entrepreneurs and innovators across KwaZulu-Natal. Across a 23-year career — the last five spent deep in the innovation ecosystem — she has driven business development, programme management, and the stakeholder partnerships that help innovators move successfully from concept to market.
A trained Design Thinking Facilitator, Susanne brings hands-on experience mentoring entrepreneurs, facilitating workshops, and building the partnerships that sustain innovation programmes across the region. Her background in public relations, fundraising, and business development gives her a practical, people-centred approach to facilitation — grounded in real organisational and market challenges, not just theory.
Learn from a facilitator grounded in real organisational and market challenges.
Register for 27 & 28 AugustR3500 R3150 per person · Certificate of Participation included
What people say
Quotes collected from post-course feedback across multiple cohorts. All responses are anonymised.
It changed my way of thinking and my approach to problems.
Participant, corporate cohortIt reminded me that designing systems and services is for the receivers, not the designers. I went back to current projects to rework our approach.
Participant, municipal cohortThe try-and-fail-faster method is so beneficial. We don't always get it right the first time, but if we stay committed, we'll get there.
Participant, municipal cohortThe collaboration was perfect — we came from different directorates and I learned about processes I wasn't even aware of.
Participant, municipal cohortInsightful, engaging, and practical — more than theoretical. You don't need to be in IT to learn or implement design thinking.
Participant, corporate cohortThe course lead is passionate and knowledgeable. The accessibility and know-how of the facilitator made all the difference.
Participants, multiple cohortsJoin the next cohort and add your name to this list.
Register Now — 27 & 28 August 2026R3500 R3150 per person · Durban in-person · Certificate included
Everything you need to know before you book
Dates
27 & 28 August 2026
Both days required for certificate
Hours
09:00 – 15:30
Includes breaks and energiser activities
Venue
Umkhumbane Entrepreneurial Support Centre
240 Harry Gwala Road, Wiggins, Durban
Pre-work
Needs Assessment Form
Sent after registration — complete before Day 1
Certificate
Certificate of Participation
Awarded on completion of both days
Format
In-Person Only
Durban-based · No virtual option at this time
Is this accredited? No — this is a hands-on skills workshop, not a formal qualification. You'll receive a Certificate of Participation, not a certification or CPD points. See the FAQ below for how we think about the value of that.
All the details covered? Lock in your place.
Register for 27 & 28 AugustR3500 R3150 per person · Durban in-person · Certificate included
Questions people ask before they book
Is this course accredited or certified?
No. This is a hands-on, two-day skills workshop — not a SETA-accredited course or a credit-bearing qualification. Participants receive a Certificate of Participation confirming they completed the programme, not a certification. Think of it the way you'd think of an executive workshop or masterclass rather than a diploma: the value isn't the paper, it's the working process and prototype your team leaves with.
If it's not accredited, why does it cost R3150?
Because the cost reflects what you leave with, not a credential. That includes a facilitator's time before, during, and after the two days; a pre-session needs assessment that tailors the content to your team's actual challenges; a small cohort size; and a real prototype your team builds and tests against a genuine problem — not a generic case study. Compare that to the cost of a project that stalls months in because the team never properly understood the problem they were solving.
What is Design Thinking, exactly?
A human-centred framework for solving complex problems. Instead of jumping straight to solutions, it starts by understanding the real people affected by a problem, then moves through defining the problem sharply, generating ideas, building quick prototypes, and testing them — often called Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test. It's less "creative brainstorming" and more a structured, repeatable way to think more innovatively about problems your team already has.
Who is this course for?
Anyone solving problems for people — corporate teams, government and municipal officials, NGOs, entrepreneurs, academics, and individuals. You don't need a design, tech, or innovation background. If your work involves understanding what people need and building something that serves them, this is for you.
Do I need any prior experience or a design background?
No. The programme is built to work for complete beginners as well as people who've heard of Design Thinking but never applied it. No design, tech, or innovation background required.
What will I actually be able to do differently afterwards?
You'll leave with a structured, repeatable process you can facilitate with your own team — not just theory. Specifically: a reframed version of a real challenge you brought with you, a tested prototype of a solution, and a toolkit (empathy mapping, problem statements, ideation techniques, prototyping methods, structured feedback) you can apply immediately.
Is attendance required for both days?
Yes — both days are required to receive the Certificate of Participation, and the two days build on each other (Day 2 works from what's produced on Day 1).
Where is it held, and is there a virtual option?
In-person only, at the Umkhumbane Entrepreneurial Support Centre, 240 Harry Gwala Road, Wiggins, Durban. There's no virtual or hybrid option at this time.
What does the price include?
Facilitation across both days, all workshop materials, a pre-session needs assessment, refreshments/energiser activities, and a Certificate of Participation. Full price is R3500 per person; a 10% discount brings this to R3150 per person (inc. VAT) for the current cohort.
How do I register and pay?
Register via the form on this page, then pay securely online through our iKhokha payment link. Your place is confirmed as soon as payment reflects. If you're booking multiple attendees or your organisation needs an invoice first, contact us at info@innovate.durban and we'll arrange it.
Question answered? Your place is one form away.
Register NowIn-person · Durban · 27 & 28 August 2026
Ready to think differently?
Join a cohort of problem-solvers from across Durban. Bring a real challenge. Leave with the tools, the mindset, and a team that knows how to tackle it — and every one after it.
Register for 27 & 28 AugustQuestions? Get in touch · In-person · Durban · R3150 per person (10% off)
Secure your place on the August cohort
Registering takes two quick steps: fill in your details below, then complete your payment securely online via iKhokha. Your place is confirmed as soon as payment reflects — after which we'll send your confirmation and the pre-session needs assessment.
Why the investment
Most training earns you points toward a qualification. This one earns your team a process they'll actually use — a facilitator's time, a cohort shaped around your real challenges, and a tested prototype to walk out with, not just slides. Weigh that against the cost of the next project that stalls because the team didn't understand the problem before they started solving it.
Was R3500
09:00 – 15:30 daily
Certificate included
Booking for a team? Email us for a group invoice and per-person arrangements.
Your Registration Details
Fill in your details below. This tells us who you are, any dietary or access requirements, and gives us what we need to send your pre-session needs assessment and certificate.
Secure Your Place — Pay Online
Once you've submitted your registration details above, complete your payment securely through iKhokha. Your place on the course is confirmed as soon as payment reflects.
Before you pay:
Please make sure you've completed the registration form in Step 01 first — we need those details to send your pre-session needs assessment and prepare your certificate.
The amount payable is R3150 per person (10% discount already applied, inc. VAT). If you're paying for multiple attendees, complete one payment per person or contact us for a group invoice.
🔒 Secure online payment via iKhokha · Please use your name & surname as reference
Confirmation & Pre-Work
Once your registration and payment are both in, here's what happens next:
1. Confirmation email — we'll confirm your place and send your receipt.
2. Needs assessment — you'll receive the pre-session needs assessment form. Please complete it before Day 1 so the programme is tailored to the challenges in the room.
3. See you on 27 August — doors open ahead of a 09:00 start at the Umkhumbane Entrepreneurial Support Centre. Any questions before then: info@innovate.durban.