In recent years, the Internet Technologies (IT) industry has seen a number of initiatives promoting the importance of human-centered solutions focused on acknowledging and addressing the needs and preferences of its diverse user base. These initiatives are only expected to become more relevant in the coming years, eventually leading to a complete change in the way industry experts choose to approach the processes of designing, implementing, and marketing their products. The rapidly changing technological landscape requires a new wave of engineers educated in the topics of accessibility, inclusivity, and ergonomics. Therefore, higher education institutions (HEI) are the key stakeholders bearing the responsibility of recognizing these trends and incorporating them into the curricula.

At the University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, these topics are comprehensively explored as part of Human Factors in Computing, an elective course offered to third-year undergraduate students. While regular lectures provide students with terminology, examples, and design principles, it was previously proven that hands-on assignments greatly benefit the comprehension of the syllabus.

This motivated us to enhance the practical component of the course, placing particular emphasis on team-based activities. Since students are likely to work in project teams in their future professional environments, it is essential that they gain experience in collaboration, communication, and problem-solving within a group setting. In this paper we present the efforts to apply inclusive design thinking into an HEI subject through a workshop that lasted one semester and was performed in several components.

We introduced the students to this methodology during an interactive lecture and workshop to familiarize them with the way of working. They were also provided with basic information and were given tasks which were separated into three parts. The first part focused on fostering a deeper understanding of the assigned problem and the target users. The second part encouraged them to creatively elaborate on the ideas created in the first part. Finally, they were instructed to create a high-level prototype of their proposed solution and test it with other students during live presentations.

In total, forty-five students divided into eight teams developed inclusive solutions on separate topics. After finalizing the practical assignments, the students were encouraged to fill out an anonymous survey through which feedback was collected. The aim of this was to assess the effectiveness of this learning approach and to gather their experience of the practical assignment as well as their readiness to adopt these practices in their future work. The results indicate that students appreciated the experience, enjoyed working in teams, and are likely to apply the acquired knowledge in their future work. Based on the positive feedback we plan to retain the approach for the following academic year.

Keywords: Inclusive Design Thinking, Education, Engineering Students, Team-based Learning, Human-Centred Design.