A scientific lecture at Arabian Gulf University discussed the role of design thinking in innovation management and the development of solutions that address real-world challenges, through a methodology that begins with understanding user needs and transforming them into opportunities for innovation and development.

The lecture, titled “Design Thinking in Innovation Management,” was presented by Professor Ahmed Bu Hazza, a consultant in digital innovation, and was organized by the Department of Business Administration as part of the activities of the Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa Chair in Technology Management, with the participation of doctoral students in innovation management and a number of faculty members.

Bu Hazza discussed design thinking as one of the modern approaches to developing innovative solutions, reviewing tools and methods that contribute to the development of critical thinking, stimulate brainstorming, and transform challenges into opportunities through a methodology centered on the user and their actual needs.

He highlighted the key stages of design thinking, beginning with understanding the user and accurately defining the problem, moving on to generating ideas and exploring creative alternatives, and culminating in developing prototypes and testing and evaluating solutions—all of which contribute to outcomes that meet real-world needs and are scalable and implementable.

He also reviewed practical experiences and applications of design thinking principles in the education, healthcare, and social services sectors, explaining that understanding beneficiaries’ needs and experiences helps redesign services, improve their quality, increase their efficiency, and innovate solutions that are more responsive to societal challenges.

For his part, Professor Dr. Owda Al-Jayousi, Professor of Innovation Policy at Arabian Gulf University, emphasized the importance of employing innovation methodologies and design thinking in developing local solutions based on a deep understanding of the community’s needs and priorities, stressing the need to move away from replicating ready-made solutions and experiences toward building innovative models that take the local context into account and generate economic, social, and knowledge-based added value.

Al-Jayousi explained that effective innovation is not measured merely by the production of new ideas, but rather by its ability to address real challenges and transform them into practical and sustainable solutions, thereby strengthening the role of academic institutions in linking knowledge to application and directing scientific research to serve society and development.