W08: Final Project Determination

Welcome to TECH 120. This is a 3 credit hour course and meets for 2 hours and 50 minutes weekly. The syllabus describes the course:

Students in this course will engage in critical analysis of real-world problems and global challenges. They will demonstrate the ability to recognize opportunity and to take initiative in developing solutions applying the principles of human-centered design. Students will be able to communicate effectively and to work well on teams. Problems and solutions will be examined from societal, cultural, and ethical perspectives.

View the entire syllabus at: http://bit.ly/design-thinking-syllabus

View the course schedule at: http://bit.ly/design-thinking-course-schedule

Design process review

In-class: identify a problem

During class we refine our issue by exploring the issue chosen for the final project. This exercise will be moderated by the instructor:

1. Teams will take 30 minutes to discuss and refresh on the challenge selected. Ask each other the following questions and have one team member record the answers in their journal:
   • What is the overarching challenge we will address?
   • What was the final issue chosen to develop a design solution?
   • What did our POV statements reveal about the challenge?
   • What are we not considering in the discussion of our challenge?
   • Answer the following root-cause questions:
     • What is the main problem?
     • Why did it happen?
     • When did it occur?
     • How can it be avoided in the future?
2. Afterward, each team will report on their findings during an in-class discussion.
3. Together we will review the Five Whys and perform a root cause analysis for Pat, a student who is habitually late for class.
4. As a group, students take 20 minutes and complete the Five Whys' worksheet below to identify the root cause for the challenge they chose to address.

Select a final solution to ideate

Last week each student was required to develop five solution proposals. After the creation of these proposals, students where then asked to complete a Decision Matrix Worksheet. In your groups:

1. Each student will share their five ideas, their decision matrix, and then discuss why the solution chosen is the best place for the team to start work. (15 mins)
2. After teams have completed this exercise, teams will create another Decision Matrix Worksheet:
   • Brainstorm criteria on post it notes
   • Take a picture of the post it notes
   • Select at least five criteria to use to evaluate the individual solutions and place them on the worksheet
   • Complete the worksheet
   • Next meeting, students will present a standing presentation to present the teams winning solution that includes the following:
     • Team members
     • Presentation of each team member's five solutions and individual decision matrix
     • Final team decision matrix, solution selected, and why

Develop group core values and accountability

It is often advantageous to develop operating rules to ensure group member accountability and maximum performance. In-class, students will:

• research core values
• brainstorm your team's core values
• develop a professional team name
• begin brainstorming a team logo
• create a team charter

Watch the video below to understand core values and their use. Now, use the instructions in the homework section below to create a team values document.

In-class core values exercise

In a Google Doc capture the following components of the team's core values:

• research core values (25 points) - Using online search tools, find the core values of five Fortune 500 companies and create a page at the end of your document for each company that includes these core values as well as the APA reference.
• brainstorm your team's core values (25 points) - After reviewing the core values video above and the five companies you selected, enter a team brainstorming session:
  • In 10 minutes, capture the core values that are important to each of your team members
  • take a picture of the sticky notes created during the brainstorming session (you should have at least twenty)
  • After reviewing all sticky notes:
    • categorize - find and group like items
    • reduce - remove items that won't work or are not feasible at this time
    • analyze - bring best ideas forward
  • Select the six most resonating core values your team agrees upon
  • Take a picture
  • On the first page of your Team Charter, list the six core values
  • On page two of your document, insert both brainstorming image on a single page (ensure they are legible).
• develop a professional team name (15 points)
• complete the first page of the team charter and include (25 points):
  • Team Name - developed from a review of your core values
  • Mission Statement - a summary of the core values (research mission statements online)
  • Core Values - the six values your determined during brainstorming
  • Six team statements
    • List six things each team member agrees to do as a team member
    • List six things each team member agrees not to do as a team member
  • Signature lines and signatures for each team member (include date signed)
• ensure the team charter is creative, makes good use of the page, themed and includes all required components (5 points)
• submit a single file that includes all requirements listed above, as a single PDF file (5 points).

Research and Benchmarking

1. What is benchmarking and how is it used to evaluate design?
2. How do research techniques contribute to benchmarking?
3. Besides research, what are other ways to benchmark design?

See the homework assignment below for instructions to complete an individual benchmarking assignment.

Homework

See Course Schedule at: http://bit.ly/design-thinking-course-schedule.

1. W08: Group - Five Whys Worksheet (30 Points)
   • Submit the W10: Five Whys Worksheet used during the in-class exercise
2. W08: Group - Team Charter (100)
   • Research core values (25 points) - Using online search tools, find the core values of five Fortune 500 companies and create a page at the end of your document for each company that includes these core values as well as the APA reference. TIP: Tired for formatting web sites in APA? Use this Chrome extension to automate the process.
   • Brainstorm your team's core values (25 points) - After reviewing the core values video above and the five companies you selected, enter a team brainstorming session:
     • In 10 minutes, capture the core values that are important to each of your team members
     • Take a picture of the sticky notes created during the brainstorming session (you should have at least twenty)
     • After reviewing all sticky notes:
       • categorize - find and group like items
       • reduce - remove items that won't work or are not feasible at this time
       • analyze - bring best ideas forward
     • Select the six most resonating core values your team agrees upon
     • Take a picture
     • On the first page of your Team Charter, list the six core values
     • On page two of your document, insert both brainstorming image on a single page (ensure they are legible).
   • Develop a professional team name (15 points)
   • Complete the first page of the team charter and include (25 points):
     • Team Name - developed from a review of your core values
     • Mission Statement - a summary of the core values (research mission statements online)
     • Core Values - the six values your determined during brainstorming
     • Six team statements
       • List six things each team member agrees to do as a team member
       • List six things each team member agrees not to do as a team member
     • Signature lines and signatures for each team member (include date signed)
   • Ensure the team charter is creative, makes good use of the page, themed and includes all required components (5 points)
   • Submit a single file that includes all requirements listed above, as a single PDF file (5 points).
3. W08: Individual - Research Design and Benchmarking (100 points)
   • Research the final design chosen and benchmark it against other products/service available. Students will use scholarly sources
   • Select five similar designs from the literature
   • Each student will create an individual Google Doc that includes a listing for each product in the following format:
     • A title that includes: NAME OF PRODUCT, COMPANY {ALL CAPS and BOLD}
     • One paragraph (3 or more sentences) for each for the following:
       • Description of the product
       • What problem the product solves
       • Description of the product's customers
     • APA source for the reference
     • Include an image of the product below the three paragraphs and APA source
     • Insert a horizontal line (this feature is found in the Insert menu of Google Docs
     • Repeat until you have five complete references
   • Submit a single PDF file
   • NOTE: You will use this research next week, so ensure you bring or have access
   • NOTE: SafeAssign will be used for this exercise to check for plagiarism

Be sure to review each rubric prior to submission.