ViVet to offer Design Thinking webinars
Design Thinking can be a useful way to frame problems as opportunities.
A free webinar series on Design Thinking has been announced by the RCVS ViVet initiative, open to all members of the professions.
Design Thinking, a team-based creative approach to problem solving, was first articulated by Nobel Prize laureate Herbert A. Simon, and uses five stages to reframe problems in a human-centric manner.
Although not always linear, Design Thinking is often thought of as a five-stage process, these stages are empathise, define, ideate, prototype and test, which are all intended to contribute to a deeper and more human understanding of complex problems.
ViVet manager Sophie Rogers commented on Design Thinking: “Design Thinking is an incredibly useful way for us to frame problems as opportunities so we can explore solutions in a positive way.
“We’re putting on these sessions as we believe that this human centred approach to innovation can be used in day-to-day practice life to help staff to come up with ideas.”
The sessions will be interactive, and will last for 75 minutes each – attendees can decide whether to attend one, two, or all three sessions.
Dates for the webinars are as follows:
• Webinar 1 – Design Thinking, Manage client expectations, Prototype session: 31 March 12.30pm
• Webinar 2 – Design Thinking, Innovating your client's veterinary experience, Empathy session: 8 June 12.30pm and 7pm
• Webinar 3 - Design Thinking, Making client interaction skills seen as a valuable investment for both employee and employer alike: 21 September 12.30pm.
“We hope that these workshops will encourage people to not shy away from problems, and instead, view them as a means of working collaboratively to improve their practice’s day-to-day life for everyone,” Sophie added. "We will cover how to use these techniques with client interactions, in practice life and within the wider veterinary profession.
“I’m really pleased that we are able to offer these sessions free of charge for the professions and I would urge anyone who wants to learn a new way of problem solving in a friendly and supportive environment to register.”
Any members of the professions interested in attending the webinars can sign up here.
Companies marketing medicines for small pets exempt from authorisation must submit their annual return to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) by 30 November 2026.
