ABOUT US
We are the Design Thinkers Academy London, a training organisation for business, specialising in collaborative innovation. We bring with us the systematic methodology of Design Thinking, a structured and evidenced approach to learning. We provide time and space for teams and individuals to be inspired and challenged, to learn by doing and finally, to strengthen their ability for creative problem solving. We organise live courses, online courses, events, lectures and personal coaching programs. We are the training arm of design consultancy DK&A and part of the Design Thinkers Academy network, founded in Amsterdam in 2011.
We have trained over 1000 people in Design Thinking with a 99% recommendation rate for our courses.
To navigate the complexities of advancing technology and increased competition, we need to become more agile and adopt an innovation culture. Design Thinking drives us to look through the eyes of our customers.
It provides the connection between creativity and innovation. It gives us a solution-based approach to solving problems. Increasingly being adopted by some of the most successful businesses in the world, Design Thinking opens up new ways of approaching complex problems, enabling companies to serve the needs of users today and in the future.
The impact of Design Thinking in business:
- Design-led companies outperformed the S&P index by 219% over 10 years.
- McKinsey studied 300 public companies over 5 years and those that were most skilled at executing design principles achieved 32% more revenue and 52% more total returns to shareholders.
- IBM report showed that teams who used Design Thinking did better user research and thus reduced the product development and testing time by 33%, making savings of up to $1.1M.
A photographer’s studio in Amsterdam was the setting for the very first Design Thinkers Bootcamp in 2011. It was the brainchild of leading Dutch design thinkers Marjo Staring, Arne van Oosterom and Tim Schuurman. One of the coaches was David Kester, former CEO of the UK Design Council and founder of DK&A, our parent company, a strategic design consultancy that helps clients to innovate and improve the services they offer. Over the week-long Bootcamp, the four of them were delighted as 30 business executives from 15 countries became Design Thinkers. Together, they resolved to build a centre of excellence for Design Thinking in Europe. And in 2016, the Design Thinkers Academy London was born.

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David Kester
Co-founder, Design Thinking Expert
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Sophia Adamou
Finance & Operations Director
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Goldie Chaudhuri
Learning Designer
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Susana Osório
Head of Design and Learning Programmes
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Lena Nielsen
Studio Manager
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Blythe Wild
Producer
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Arushi Gupta
Strategy Associate
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Arnoud Koning
Design Thinking Facilitator
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J. Paul Neeley
Designer & Researcher
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Catherine Collins
Service Designer and Facilitator
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Holly May Mahoney
Facilitator
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Joe Ferry
Brand & Experience Architect
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Clive Grinyer
Consultant & Service Designer
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Eddie Obeng
Innovation & Change Leader
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Becky Rowe
Ethnography & Research Expert
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Fiona Myles
Leading Brand Strategist
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Rachel Smith
Visual Thinking Coach & Facilitator
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Emma Bowen
Senior Graphic Designer
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Shanna Bent
Customer Relationship Coordinator
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Craig Tomkins
Senior Service Designer
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Kate O’Dwyer
Financial Controller
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Mel Taylor
Marketing Director
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Ben Crisp
Marketing & Research Manager
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Ellen Davies
Experience Designer
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Broni Lloyd-Edwards
Photographer
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Mo-Ling Chui
Creative director, strategist & consultant
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Arne van Oosterom
Service Designer
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Tim Schuurman
Co-owner and Senior Facilitator
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Ezri Carlebach
Writer & Consultant
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Jeroen van der Weide
Partner and Senior Facilitator
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Simon Gough
Design Consultant
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Filo
Office Support
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Philippa Rose
Service Designer & Facilitator
Office
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David Kester
Co-founder, Design Thinking Expert
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View profile
Sophia Adamou
Finance & Operations Director
-
View profile
Susana Osório
Head of Design and Learning Programmes
-
View profile
Lena Nielsen
Studio Manager
-
View profile
Goldie Chaudhuri
Learning Designer
-
View profile
Blythe Wild
Producer
-
View profile
Craig Tomkins
Senior Service Designer
-
View profile
Shanna Bent
Customer Relationship Coordinator
-
View profile
Emma Bowen
Senior Graphic Designer
-
View profile
Kate O’Dwyer
Financial Controller
-
View profile
Mel Taylor
Marketing Director
-
View profile
Ben Crisp
Marketing & Research Manager
-
View profile
Arushi Gupta
Strategy Associate
-
View profile
Ellen Davies
Experience Designer
-
View profile
Broni Lloyd-Edwards
Photographer
-
View profile
Filo
Office Support
Coaches
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David Kester
Co-founder, Design Thinking Expert
-
View profile
Joe Ferry
Brand & Experience Architect
-
View profile
Susana Osório
Head of Design and Learning Programmes
-
View profile
Goldie Chaudhuri
Learning Designer
-
View profile
Philippa Rose
Service Designer & Facilitator
-
View profile
Tim Schuurman
Co-owner and Senior Facilitator
-
View profile
Mo-Ling Chui
Creative director, strategist & consultant
-
View profile
Simon Gough
Design Consultant
-
View profile
Clive Grinyer
Consultant & Service Designer
-
View profile
J. Paul Neeley
Designer & Researcher
-
View profile
Catherine Collins
Service Designer and Facilitator
-
View profile
Arnoud Koning
Design Thinking Facilitator
-
View profile
Eddie Obeng
Innovation & Change Leader
-
View profile
Becky Rowe
Ethnography & Research Expert
-
View profile
Holly May Mahoney
Facilitator
-
View profile
Rachel Smith
Visual Thinking Coach & Facilitator
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View profile
Fiona Myles
Leading Brand Strategist
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View profile
Arne van Oosterom
Service Designer
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View profile
Jeroen van der Weide
Partner and Senior Facilitator

Companies graduated


The Design Thinkers Academy is all you need to start changing your company's design culture.
Miquel Mora, Technicolor
This bootcamp made me live and breath design thinking and it wouldn't have been possible without David and the eminent coaches.
Kranthi Bairi, Head of Delivery, Atos
I left this course feeling genuinely empowered to change the way we do things for the better. Thank you!
Toby Garrood, Consultant Rheumatologist at Guy's and St Thomas' (NHS Foundation Trust)

Contact us
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Get in touch
+44 (0) 20 8432 3222 | info@designthinkersacademy.co.uk