Design thinking training in BrisbaneCheck the problem before Queensland spends.
A hands-on workshop for Brisbane teams who need a live problem checked before a build is funded.
- Brisbane, in person or hybrid
Brisbane
Brisbane teams, before the build is funded
Brisbane product and policy teams book this when a build is about to be approved for people who will use it on a site, at a counter or on a ward. The session is how you check that problem before the money moves.
We facilitate at your Brisbane office or a room in the city, or hybrid if part of the group is elsewhere in Queensland. You bring the challenge. You leave with a method the team can run without us.
- For Brisbane product, policy and operations teams about to spend.
- In person in Brisbane, or hybrid when part of the group is elsewhere.
- Half a day, one day or two days, on a challenge you bring.
- No design background required.
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The problem
Sound familiar?
Solutions first
Teams jump to "build it" before anyone's confirmed it's a problem worth solving.
Assumed, not asked
Decisions get made on what the room thinks the customer wants, not what they actually do.
Expensive guesses
Months of build time sunk into features that quietly get no use.
What you'll walk away with
By the end of the day, your team will have
- A clearly defined problem worth solving, grounded in real user insight
- Firsthand customer empathy, not assumptions dressed up as facts
- A pile of tested ideas, and the confidence to kill the weak ones early
- At least one low-fidelity prototype in hand
- A repeatable method they can run again without us in the room
What we cover
The flow of the day
- 01
Frame the challenge
Align on the real problem and who we're solving it for.
- 02
Empathise
Get into the user's world, interviews, observation, empathy mapping.
- 03
Define
Turn messy insight into a sharp, solvable problem statement.
- 04
Ideate
Diverge wide, then converge, structured brainstorming that avoids groupthink.
- 05
Prototype & test
Build something rough, put it in front of real people, learn fast.
Who it's for
Who should be in the room
No prior experience needed, the workshop is built for cross-functional teams from scratch.
Product & innovation teams
Anyone responsible for building the right thing, not just building it right.
Cross-functional squads
Mixed teams who need a shared language for solving problems together.
Leaders
Executives who want customer-centricity to be a habit, not a poster.
Format & logistics
How it runs
Duration
½-day taster, 1-day intensive, or 2-day deep dive.
Delivery
In-person at your office, offsite, or fully remote.
Group size
8-30 is the sweet spot. Larger cohorts by arrangement.
Tailoring
Built around a live challenge you bring, not a generic case study.
Facilitators
Lead facilitator
Tessa Kowaliw
An incredibly personable design thinking facilitator with years of experience across the private and public sectors, and a passion for driving community outcomes.
Founder, facilitator
Steve Glaveski
Founder of Collective Campus, author of two Wiley books, host of the Future Squared podcast, and regular contributor to Harvard Business Review.
What changes afterwards
Proof
What changes afterwards
“They now question everything, see things through a different lens, and have started to spread that approach throughout the business.”
Brisbane
Questions about running this in Brisbane
Can people outside Brisbane join the workshop?
Yes. Put the decision makers in the Brisbane room and bring others in hybrid, or fly them in if the day is short.
Do Brisbane teams need designers in the room?
No. The useful group is the people who will own the build: product, policy and operations.
How do we book design thinking in Brisbane?
Use the contact form. Name the problem, who must be in Brisbane and whether anyone is joining hybrid. Half a day, one day or two days.
Can we use the problem we are about to fund?
Yes. If the people who deliver it cannot recognise the brief, it is not ready.
Ready to solve the right problem?
Tell us the challenge, we'll shape a workshop around it.