The Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, through the Centre for Population Health (CePH), hosted an exciting and hands-on Design Thinking Workshop on Saturday, 21 June 2025. The workshop, themed ‘Human-Centred Design: A Practical Experience,’ was expertly led by Pn Sharliza Mohd Haris, a respected design thinking practitioner and former UM Elite Fellow.
Held from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM, the session attracted nearly 25 postgraduate participants, mostly MPH and DrPH students, who immersed themselves in the five phases of design thinking: Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test.
Understanding the Design Thinking Process
Participants learned to reframe problems and build user-centred solutions, following Stanford d.school’s human-centred approach.
From Ideas to Action
In three dynamic groups, participants applied the design thinking approach to real-world public health scenarios. Using the ‘Yes, And…’ brainstorming method and empathy mapping, they explored user perspectives and translated those into meaningful prototypes.
Testing the Assumptions
Activities like the Spaghetti Marshmallow Challenge encouraged critical thinking, creativity, and a strong team spirit. Participants created low-fidelity prototypes and conducted live testing sessions.
Participant Feedback
The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with participants highlighting:
- ✔️ Excellent venue and logistics
- ✔️ Well-paced and engaging delivery
- ✔️ Practical, relevant content
- ✔️ The lecturer’s deep knowledge and facilitation skills
One MPH student shared:
“This workshop helped me connect the dots between theory and practice, especially in designing services that truly reflect what users need.”
About the Facilitator
Pn Sharliza Mohd Haris is an experienced design thinking trainer and innovation strategist who has facilitated sessions across sectors. Her affiliation with UM as an Elite Fellow added great depth and familiarity to the session.
This workshop marks another successful initiative by CePH in empowering future public health leaders with practical, people-first innovation tools.
This write-up was prepared by A/P Dr Farizah Mohd Hairi and Dr Kwong Soke Chee from the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya.
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