Abstract
For many years, design thinking has been recognised as an important process in creating and commercialising new digital products and services. Increasingly, design researchers are attending to design thinking applied in real-world, interdisciplinary settings for entrepreneurial activity. In this paper, we surface and interpret examples of design thinking in the setup and delivery of a multi-cohort education programme connecting Edinburgh’s creative industries with local expertise in digital product innovation and entrepreneurship. Through a thematic analysis of 20 in-depth interviews with programme educators and participants, we explore the role of design thinking in bridging siloed industries and ecosystems. We interpret design thinking at two levels: featured implicitly within the programme curriculum, and implied in the structure of the programme itself. We share insight into the interactions with design thinking that enabled educators to adapt the programme to its local context, and participants to navigate opportunities for entrepreneurship in the real world.
Keywords
design thinking, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship education, creative industries
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2820
Citation
Franks, B., Terras, M., Newbery, J., and Lechelt, S. (2026) Exploring design thinking in entrepreneurship education: A pre-accelerator programme for the creative industries, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2820
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Exploring design thinking in entrepreneurship education: A pre-accelerator programme for the creative industries
For many years, design thinking has been recognised as an important process in creating and commercialising new digital products and services. Increasingly, design researchers are attending to design thinking applied in real-world, interdisciplinary settings for entrepreneurial activity. In this paper, we surface and interpret examples of design thinking in the setup and delivery of a multi-cohort education programme connecting Edinburgh’s creative industries with local expertise in digital product innovation and entrepreneurship. Through a thematic analysis of 20 in-depth interviews with programme educators and participants, we explore the role of design thinking in bridging siloed industries and ecosystems. We interpret design thinking at two levels: featured implicitly within the programme curriculum, and implied in the structure of the programme itself. We share insight into the interactions with design thinking that enabled educators to adapt the programme to its local context, and participants to navigate opportunities for entrepreneurship in the real world.