From 4 to 6 June 2025, the final meeting of our project consortium took place in Zagreb, Croatia. The event marked the culmination of our multi-year journey in the development and implementation of Inclusive Design Thinking (IDT) within technically-oriented higher education subjects. This meeting focused on reflecting on the entire process, sharing experiences, and evaluating the outcomes of implementing IDT principles in real educational settings.
The meeting was attended by 19 participants from 9 institutions. Lecturers presented how they integrated the IDT methodology into their subjects over the previous academic year. Each presentation highlighted the practical application of the IDT phases (Challenge, Empathy, Definition, Ideation, Prototype, and Test), the benefits, obstacles, and feedback collected from both students and educators.
Throughout the two-day session, lecturers shared their experiences of applying IDT in subjects such as Social Networks, Human Factors in Computing, Basics of Software Testing, Descriptive Geometry, and Innovation Projects. They emphasized how inclusive tools (e.g. personas, empathy maps, prototyping exercises) helped students better understand user diversity and enhanced their creativity and teamwork.
Key takeaways included:
- Successes: Improved student awareness of user needs, higher engagement, and more meaningful project outcomes.
- Challenges: Time constraints, classroom layouts, initial student resistance, and difficulty applying all IDT phases in one course.
- Future directions: Further integration of prototyping and testing phases, structured student feedback, and inter-university collaboration on real-world challenges.
Increased Empathy and Awareness
Increased Empathy and Awareness
Students across institutions reported a deeper understanding of diverse user needs, particularly appreciating activities such as persona creation and user interviews. At IMT Atlantique, students highlighted the value of feedback from real users, stating that prototypes became more meaningful after incorporating empathy-driven insights.
Learning New Methods
Learning New Methods
At the University of Debrecen, students enjoyed the creative structure of the redesigned assignments and especially noted that the challenge-based learning made the content more engaging and relevant to real-life applications.
Appreciation for Collaboration
Appreciation for Collaboration
Students at Universitat Politècnica de València reflected positively on co-creation and iteration as learning principles. They valued the opportunity to receive continuous feedback and said that IDT “helped them understand the value of design as a social process, not just a technical task.”
Constructive Criticism
Constructive Criticism
Some students found it difficult at first to understand the IDT approach or struggled with time limitations during prototyping and testing. Nevertheless, most presentations included comments that students ultimately recognized the added value and suggested more sessions or deeper integration into future curricula.
Real-World Application and Motivation
Real-World Application and Motivation
At the University of Žilina, students worked on improving their faculty’s website with inclusive principles. They appreciated the chance to address a real-world problem and reported high satisfaction with teamwork and practical tools like customer interviews and brainstorming exercises.
This final meeting confirmed that Inclusive Design Thinking not only enhances educational practices but also empowers students to consider real human needs in their technical problem-solving. Lecturers acknowledged that while there were challenges in adapting traditional teaching methods, the outcomes, both pedagogically and socially, were significantly positive. As a result, the consortium agreed to continue promoting the use of the Inclusive Design Thinking Cookbook, supporting fellow educators, and exploring long-term collaboration for cross-institutional activities and further innovation in higher education.