Design Thinking Studio
Understand people, frame meaningful challenges, generate ideas, prototype possibilities and learn through testing.
Explore studio →An independent innovation platformOpen your thinking.
Open your thinking.
Find a way forward.
OpenStudios brings together guided projects, visual-thinking methods and interactive tools that help individuals, teams and organisations understand complex problems, explore possibilities and turn ideas into action.
Begin with what you need—not with the name of a framework.
Find a pathway
What are you trying to understand, create or decide?
Choose the need that feels closest. OpenStudios will suggest a useful place to begin—you remain in control of the path.
Explore OpenStudios
Studios purpose-built places for learning, inquiry and action
Each studio brings together an intentional pathway, specialist guidance and practical tools. Your work remains yours to shape.
Emerging Technology Studio
Investigate technologies, examine value and readiness, identify risk and develop responsible strategic responses.
Explore studio →Entrepreneurship Studio
Discover opportunities, test assumptions, develop a venture proposition and plan a credible path towards launch.
Explore studio →Opportunity Iceberg Tool
Move beneath visible events to uncover hidden influences, connected topics and strategic opportunities.
Explore tool →Explore OpenStudios
More ways to explore, create and make sense of ideas
Map connections, generate possibilities, uncover hidden influences or sketch freely. Choose a tool and make your thinking visible.
Mindmap
Connect ideas, organise information and reveal relationships. Build a visual picture of your challenge and the possibilities around it.
Brainstorming
Capture fresh ideas, explore different directions and build on emerging possibilities in a flexible visual workspace.
Empathy Map
Organise what users say, think, do and feel to understand their needs, experiences and perspectives.
LiveInk
Sketch, write and draw on an open canvas. Develop ideas visually and bring your thinking together in one shared space.
Your innovation toolkit
All tools, A–Z
Find a familiar tool or discover a new way to approach your work.
S/A: Simple and Advanced · A: Advanced · Cloud: cloud saving available when signed in
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Make thinking visible
Move from a blank space to meaningful shared understanding
Sketch, map, cluster, connect, question and rearrange. OpenStudios gives thinking a visible form so it can be examined, developed and communicated.
- Flexible visual workspaces
- Guided activities and project pathways
- Clean outputs for review and discussion
How it works
Begin with the challenge, not the tool
- 1
Describe your challenge
Start with what you need to understand, create or decide.
- 2
Follow a suitable pathway
Choose a practical tool from the library or a suggested starting point.
- 3
Develop and share your thinking
Save, refine, review and export work as understanding grows.
Designed for real work
One platform. Different reasons to begin.
Build confidence with unfamiliar challenges
Use structured pathways and visual methods to make evidence and emerging ideas easier to understand.
Build a shared understanding
Bring ideas, evidence and practical methods together to collaborate and move work forward.
Turn complexity into practical movement
Investigate evidence, reveal connections, compare possibilities and create a clearer basis for action.
Studios for different disciplines
Could your learners benefit from a studio of their own?
OpenStudios is being developed as a shared platform of maintained tools that can be organised into purpose-built studios for different disciplines, units and projects.
Explore further with Stephan Hitchins
Explore the thinking behind the tools
Discover ideas, approaches and practical guidance on Stephan Hitchins’ website. Links open in a new tab.
Stephan Hitchins
Explore Stephan’s work across design thinking, innovation and learning, and discover resources for turning ideas into action.
Visit website ↗Design Thinking
Build your understanding of design thinking, from research and empathy to creative exploration, prototyping and learning.
Explore design thinking ↗About the 5E Framework
Understand the purpose and principles of a flexible framework for human-centred innovation, decision-making and change.
About the framework ↗Explore the Five Stages
Discover Engage, Evaluate, Explore, Expand and Execute, and how they connect as ideas develop through practice.
Explore the 5 Stages ↗The Innovation Knowledge ArchiveEvery idea has a history.
Every idea has a history.
Explore the connections.
Understand where ideas come from – and find new connections for your own.
Innovation grows through people, discoveries and ideas that connect across time. Explore the thinkers, books, methods and movements that shaped how we create—and see your next challenge from a fresh perspective.
Start exploring the archive Follow the ideas. Make connections. Find inspiration.Research and development
Developed through practice and ongoing innovation research
OpenStudios is an independently developed platform exploring how guided digital environments and visual-thinking tools can help people navigate complex innovation and strategic challenges.
Project Hub
Current Project
- Project title
- Untitled OpenStudios Project
- Organisation
- Not supplied
- Industry
- Not supplied
- Strategic challenge
- Not supplied
- Workspace mode
- Individual workspace
- Individual / team name
- Not supplied
ACTIVE WORKSPACE
Emerging Technology Workspace
Technology shifts, readiness, systems insight and strategic implications.
Admin workspace
Content Studio
Author, organise, assign and export OpenStudios learning media without entering the Project Hub.
This workspace is available to authorised OpenStudios administrators.
Content Studio
Digital Asset Manager
Upload, organise, assign and reuse OpenStudios media.
Asset Library
Article Media
Select Knowledge Explorer, then select article to manage Hero, inline slots and section-based placements.
Publishing and Export
Exports do not automatically publish to GitHub or Vercel.
Storage Status
Repository assets
Published with the OpenStudios codebase and visible to all users.
Local draft assets
Stored only in this browser on this device.
Cloud publishing
Not configured.
Content management
Media Library
Manage diagrams, illustrations, photographs and visual learning assets used throughout OpenStudios.
Repository-managed media: add files to assets/media/, register metadata in assets/media-catalogue.js, then commit the catalogue change.
Domain knowledge system
Knowledge Explorers
Explore the concepts, frameworks and relationships that shape each OpenStudios professional domain.
Designed to scale from focused release catalogues to 40–60 professional topics per domain without changing the explorer experience.
Design Thinking Knowledge Explorer
Explore the principles, practices and relationships that shape human-centred problem solving.
Innovation Knowledge Explorer
Explore the concepts, systems and capabilities that influence innovation and organisational renewal.
Entrepreneurship Knowledge Explorer
Explore opportunity recognition, venture development, business models and entrepreneurial growth.
Strategy Knowledge Explorer
Explore strategic analysis, choice, implementation and the forces that shape organisational direction.
Management Knowledge Explorer
Explore organisational capability, leadership, people, systems and management practice.
Emerging Technology Strategy Knowledge Explorer
Explore technology as a strategic capability, from adoption choices to governance and risk.
Marketing Knowledge Explorer
Market insight, positioning, customer value and go-to-market capabilities.
Leadership Knowledge Explorer
Leadership judgement, influence, culture, change and executive practice.
Sustainability Knowledge Explorer
ESG, stakeholder value, responsible strategy and organisational transition.
Business Analytics Knowledge Explorer
Data-informed decision making, analytics capability and performance insight.
Suggested starting point
Emerging Technology Knowledge Explorer
Explore what is visible and what shapes the outcome beneath the surface.
Select any item to learn more. All visible and underlying factors are shown from the start.
Highlighted factors are closely connected to the selected topic.
Visible FactorsEmerging Technology Strategy
Command Centre
Continue your strategic investigation
Your workspace, notes and recently opened tools now remain connected across the platform.
Tool Explorer
Find the right tool for the task
Search the tools currently available on the platform, then refine results by category and purpose.
Learning Studios
Explore OpenStudios’ professional studios for design thinking, strategic management, digital entrepreneurship and emerging technology strategy.
5E Design Thinking Framework
Use a human-centred sequence to engage with people and context, evaluate evidence, explore ideas, expand promising concepts and execute tested responses.
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Strategic Management Studio
Strategic analysis, competitive positioning and business decision-making.
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Entrepreneurship Studio
Practical tools for discovering opportunities, validating ideas, building business models and launching digital ventures.
Emerging Technology Studio
Evaluate emerging technologies, organisational readiness and strategic implications.
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Workspace & Collaboration
Organise projects, work with your team and access supporting resources.
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Reports & outputs
Export or present your work
Use the report builder when you are ready to combine completed studio outputs.
Learning & Support
Learn OpenStudios and build confidence
Everything you need to get started, choose the right tools and successfully complete your projects.