Focus Forum Format Using Design Thinking

Using Design Thinking Principles to Gather Student Voice

In the design thinking process, quite simply, participants are asked to 1) consider a problem, 2) brainstorm solutions to the problem, 3) refine the brainstorm list, and 4) prioritize the list choosing a solution or set of solutions. This is a simplification of the process, to be sure, but these are the basic steps that many organizations have been using for years to solve problems. In this scenario, I will walk you through the design thinking process based on developing an advisory mission statement.

Step 1 – Define the problem. This is a great opportunity to ignite student brainpower to improve your school.Here are some examples:

How can students meet the school wide graduate expectations and still personalize their education?

How can our school improve climate?

How can our school work with the community?

H Your school may have previous research, public actions or identified needs that have already defined the problem, but step one in design thinking is being clear about the problem that you are trying to solve.

Step 2 – Brainstorm solutions to the problem. It is critical to make sure that the brainstorming process is allowed to occur without evaluation. Nothing shuts down a brainstorming process faster than someone saying, “We could never afford that”. There are several ways to approach brainstorming, but most include having some time to personally reflect and write down ideas first. For years, I participated in the format where everyone was able to add one idea to the group brainstorm list before anyone had an opportunity to add a second idea. In that format the facilitator scribed the ideas until the group had exhausted all their ideas. A more modern take on that format involves using post-it notes and individually writing the ideas and saying them aloud as you post them on a wall. With either format it is important that all participants have an opportunity to express all their ideas and that everyone feels equally supported and encouraged to think outside the box during this part of the process.

Step 3 – Refine the brainstorm list. This part of the process contains several steps in most protocols.

1) The first task in step three is that ensure participants have an opportunity to see everyone’s ideas and ask for clarifications for any specific ideas. This part of the process must be genuinely encouraged. Imagine a post-it note that said “Teachers hang with students” We know that students can use terminology that is less than clear to the average teacher ,parent or community member. A sincere request at the beginning of the process that everyone be as clear as possible will go a long way to promote accessibility for the parents, students, teachers and community members.

2) Once clarification questions have been answered there is a second step, which allows for deep probing questions such as, “Can you explain what it means to develop a home base where students feel safe?” This is when stakeholders can extrapolate meaning from the abbreviated notes on the post-its. Still, during this part of the process there is no evaluation. The purpose here is to understand the meaning of the notes.

3) The third step in the refining process is often to order or organize the ideas. If you are using post-it notes it often means the group members physically move post-it notes to similar ideas. In the following figure you will notice that in the example below from the Partnership for Change’s Community Learning Conversation event in November of 2013, when asked how to create a personalized learning program for students, several participants had ideas related to allowing students to earn credit beyond the classroom were grouped. Step three may be an iterative process that then goes back and further defines the organized categories depending on your data and your time constraints. A good rule of thumb is to ask the group if they feel they are ready to move to the fourth step or if they need more refinement.

Step 4 – Prioritize your list. Using sticky dots or hash marks from markers participants then prioritize their ideas. In many focus forum groups where we have used sticky dots, participants are able to take their five dots and apply them wherever they would like. That means they may either put one or all five on a particular idea. In some cases people are asked to use hash marks in the same manner or to put a “1”, “2” or “3” next to the list of ideas. As you can see in the figure above in some instances the dots are placed directly on the post-it note and in some cases they are placed in the realm of that idea. In the end, whether by numbers, sticky dots or hash marks, your list will indicate clearly what the salient ideas from the group are to solve the problem from step one. Using these ideas, the group will then create a vision statement that was truly developed through a horizontal leadership process that values the voices of all stakeholders.

These broad statements, however, must be supported with clearly articulated goals for the program that are devised to meet the needs of the school. Suggested goals were previously listed in Chapter 1 and are also found in Appendix A. Once this process of determining the vision and the goals is complete, the work to develop advisor roles and responsibilities, schedules for implementation and a professional development plan for providing support can begin, but the vision statement and goals must be the first step.