Design Thinking Workshop – Solutions People Actually Need
Many companies develop solutions for problems their customers don’t have. That’s rarely a matter of incompetence; it’s usually a question of method. Design Thinking workshops with the verrocchio Institute work in a user-focused, human-centered way. We guide your team through a process that thinks consistently from the human perspective: understand, ideate, prototype, test. With the experience of more than 2,000 international innovation projects.
What Is a Design Thinking Workshop?
Design Thinking is neither a creative technique nor a craft. It’s a mindset that turns problem-solving on its head by first understanding the problem instead of collecting solutions. A facilitated workshop guides teams through five clear steps:
- understand empathically
- define precisely
- ideate broadly
- prototype quickly
- test honestly
Participants don’t leave the room with post-its; they leave with solution approaches that have been validated against real users.
In our workshops, one simple rule applies: those who don’t understand the problem solve the wrong one. That’s why every session begins with genuine empathy work, through interviews, empathy maps, contextual observation, or work with personas. Only once the team understands who it’s solving for and why does ideation begin. This sequence is non-negotiable, and it’s the reason verrocchio Design Thinking works.
With us, Design Thinking is never a rigid corset. We use the process as a framework that we adapt to your industry, your challenge, and your participants. The result: not a theoretical concept, but a validated solution approach with clear next steps.
Who is it for?
Design Thinking is the right format for teams facing a challenge where users, customers, or employees are at the center. That could be the development of a new product or service, the improvement of a customer journey, the redesign of internal processes, or the development of offerings for new target groups. Wherever thinking has so far come from the inside out, Design Thinking brings the necessary shift in perspective.
The format has proven particularly effective for cross-functional teams that don’t usually work closely together, such as product development and marketing, IT and sales, or management and customer service. Typical use cases: product innovation, service design, UX optimization, internal process improvement, customer workshops with your own clients.
Our Workshop Formats
No company is like any other, so we don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all format. We always adapt length, depth, and methodology to your specific situation.
Half-Day Workshop (4 hours)
The compact kickoff for teams of up to 15 people. Focused on one concrete topic, with immediately usable results. Ideal as an entry point or as a complement to an existing event.
Full-Day Workshop (8 hours)
Our most-booked format. Enough time for a complete run-through: analysis, creative phase, evaluation, prioritization, next steps. For teams of up to 25 people.
Two-Day Design Sprint
The complete Design Thinking cycle, from the empathy phase through ideation and prototyping to user validation. Teams develop, test, and iterate their solution approaches with real feedback. For complex, user-centered challenges and ambitious teams.
Innovation Project
We support your team on complex innovation projects in whatever role you need: as facilitator, sparring partner, idea generator, or through the transfer of required knowledge.
In-house, hybrid, or online
We run all formats at your premises, at an external location of your choice, or fully remote. The quality of facilitation and results stays the same either way.
Our Methods
We work with a wide variety of methods, always matched to your challenge. Examples include Empathy Maps, Personas, Jobs-to-be-Done, or Rapid Prototyping. They ensure your team understands who it’s solving for before it starts solving, and that solutions are validated against real users rather than simply hoped for. On our innovation.wiki you’ll find more than 1,000 additional methods, which we combine selectively depending on the challenge at hand.
Our Credentials
- 2,000+ international innovation projects
- 25,000+ people accompanied
- 1,000+ proven methods on innovation.wiki
- 15 books
- Experience in 32 countries
- Co-founders: Christian Buchholz & Benno van Aerssen
Why verrocchio?
The verrocchio Institute for Innovation Competence was founded by Christian Buchholz and Benno van Aerssen, two of the most experienced innovation coaches in the German-speaking world. Together they have accompanied more than 2,000 international innovation projects, inspired more than 25,000 people, and written six books, including the standard reference “Das große Handbuch Innovation.” Today the team is complemented by experienced innovation facilitator Christina Westing and a network of verrocchio experts.
What sets us apart from other providers isn’t the methodology alone, it’s the attitude. We work in the engine room of companies, where things get practical and where the new actually emerges. We don’t deliver presentations that end up on a shelf afterward. We work with you until the ideas are running.
Our name says it all: Andrea del Verrocchio was the teacher of Leonardo da Vinci, a master who didn’t put himself at the center but brought out the best in his students. That’s exactly our role in your Design Thinking workshop.
Design Thinking Workshops throughout Germany
We come to you—throughout Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. We offer all our workshop formats in-person, online, and in a hybrid format. Our priority cities, each with its own page:
→ Design Thinking Workshop Berlin → Design Thinking Workshop Hamburg → Design Thinking Workshop Munich → Design Thinking Workshop Cologne → Design Thinking Workshop Frankfurt → Design Thinking Workshop Stuttgart → Design Thinking Workshop Düsseldorf
Related Formats
Alongside the classic Design Thinking workshop, we offer other specialized formats that may fit better depending on your starting situation:
→ Innovation Workshop — when the focus is less on the user and more on broad idea development → Strategy Workshop — when both the solution and the strategic direction need to be worked out → Future Workshop — for organizations that want to anticipate future user needs at an early stage → AI Workshop — when AI-driven solutions are to be developed in a user-centered way → Visualization Workshop — for teams that want to communicate ideas and solutions visually
Get in Touch Now
Talk to us about your project, free of charge and with no obligation. In a 30-minute initial conversation, we’ll clarify where you currently stand, which format fits your situation, what a realistic scope looks like, and how we can move forward together.
Christina Westing will answer your inquiry personally and quickly.
