Accumulated Practical Experience of the Past for Building the Future of Design Innovations: Janus Project and Next-Gen Design Thinking Game

In this paper, we review the current state of the future of Design innovations including the Janus Initiative at Stanford and propose the active use of game-based methods as the important element of introducing the Next-Gen Design Thinking process, to understand the corporate history of innovation. Next-Gen Design Thinking (NG DT) is significantly extending the traditional Design thinking approach with a strong focus on the historical and cultural elements of participants. Next-Gen Design Thinking Innovation Game was developed based on Stanford Janus Initiative research as a tool for supporting the Next-Gen Design Thinking process for Engineering, Management, and IT students. Next-Gen Design Thinking Game supports a robust understanding Design thinking process, the corporate culture of industry partners, and innovation products history. Next-Gen Design Thinking Game implementation results will be compared with the traditional design thinking process. The way forward will be addressed, and the authors will propose future research directions.