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About the Afrikan Design Thinking Stories project
The Afrikan Design Thinking Stories is a project of the Afrikan Design Thinking Network in partnership with the Afrikan Chapter of the Global Design Thinking Alliance. The project is resourced and coordinated by Hasso Plattner at the University of Cape Town. Strategic guidance was provided by a project advisory group consisting of individuals from the American University in Cairo (Egypt), Ashesi University (Ghana), African Nazarene University (Kenya) and Makerere University (Kenya), along with d-school Afrika.
Why we initiated Afrikan Design Thinking Stories
The Afrikan Design Thinking Stories project emerged from a collective vision seeded in 2022 and was built in consultation with several Afrikan educators and practitioners of Design Thinking.
Many people in the field of Design Thinking were frustrated with the lack of locally relevant stories to draw on when teaching design thinking, ones that are familiar to our contexts in the Global South. Many such stories from the Global North exist for this purpose. We needed Afrikan stories of design thinking created in Afrika by Afrikans and for Afrikans.
What is our Process?
The Afrikan Design Thinking Network embarked on a process to gather and build an open source collection of multimedia stories that demonstrate the practice and application of design thinking in a variety of sectors and African settings.
In our advisory group and in a number of online Conversation Circles we gathered ideas, understood the need, framed the project, and opened a Call for Stories (see the video guide alongside). The advisory group selected a few stories to start with, from the responses to our Call and from other suggestions along the way.
We have experimented with ways to develop and test the Stories. Our journey led us to establishing a team of learning designers and subject matter experts, and then testing the stories in real teaching contexts. We also prototyped a collaborative way of producing the Stories.
In June 2026 we publish and launch the first Stories in the collection. We welcome all learners and educators of design thinking to visit our test site, enjoy the Stories, and access the Facilitator Resources. Feedback and comments in this next phase of Testing will inform how we continue to the next stage.
Watch this video guide to learn more about how this project started.
What do we mean by ‘Stories’?
We chose the term Stories intentionally.
While these resources are influenced by teaching cases and case studies, we did not want to be limited to formal academic or research-based formats. “Stories” is a more inclusive and flexible term that honours Afrikan storytelling traditions and recognises that knowledge can be shared through narrative, dialogue, visuals, audio, reflection, and lived experience.
The term also reflects our belief that learning is co-created rather than simply transferred. These stories are designed to invite participation, interpretation, and discussion.
The collection remains open and evolving, with space to prototype multiple formats — including multimedia narratives, reflective accounts, and teaching cases. In simple terms, these are examples of design thinking in practice within Afrikan contexts, and serve as teaching and learning resources for design thinking education.
What kind of stories are we gathering?
We set out to find stories from Afrikan contexts that offer real-world examples of design thinking for teaching and learning purposes, to make design thinking practical, relatable and contextually grounded. They are intended to be accessible for self-directed learning as well as offer additional resources that support teaching and facilitation, whether for introductory courses or more advanced learning.
The collection may include Stories that:
Illustrate how design thinking was applied to a particular challenge, or
Demonstrate particular aspects of design thinking, such as the stages, mindsets, tools, and principles.
Provide evidence of its benefits as well as show its limitations and challenges.
Show examples of both success and failure and the lessons therein
Highlight how design thinking is adapted for local contexts and shaped by collaborative problem-solving traditions
Our first story prototypes
In the pilot phase of Afrikan Design Thinking Stories, we are proud to present three stories rooted in Africa and spanning various sectors.
Lion Lights traces Richard Turere’s journey to create Lion Lights, showing how the Design Thinking approach - applied intuitively in this case - can foster creative solutions for a complex real-world problem.
Change Management engages us in a podcast with Hoda Mostafa as she welcomes Mahmoud Sherif ElBanhawy, who shares his unique journey as a change management consultant discovering the powerful intersection of human-centered design and organisational transformation.
Gender sensitivity in design and innovation investigates groundnut oil extraction in Nigeria, where we discover the importance of gender awareness in design thinking for more inclusive innovation, through the experiences of women extracting groundnut oil in northern Nigeria.
Other Stories are already in the pipeline.
How can design thinking educators navigate, use and adapt the resources
Depending on your context and curriculum, you will have a sense of how best to use the Stories as well as the Facilitator Resources to support your teaching. Feel free to adapt the content to fit your situation - your students, your existing curriculum, and the time you have available.
The CC-BY licence of these open educational resources allows you to share, adapt, and build upon a creator's work as long as you give the original creator credit. If you adapt the Resources or create your own, please consider sharing them for the Teaching and Learning community to use.
We invite you to engage with our Afrikan Design Thinking Stories by:
reading one of our stories
accessing the associated facilitator page
completing the form to request access to our free facilitator resources
utilising our free facilitator resources in your teaching context
submitting your feedback about the story and the facilitator resources
exploring how you can contribute to this collection
How you can contribute and connect
The Network and this project rely on the contributions and collaboration of its members.
We would love to connect with you, receive feedback about the Stories and Facilitator Resources, and see any additional resources you have created.
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