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By Holly Burton; Learning Producer, Schools and Colleges.
At this year’s V&A Innovate National Schools Challenge finals, the judges were brought to tears. All the finalists presented ideas that were thoughtful, empathetic, and routed in passion for making the world a better place, but they were particularly moved by the idea presented by the team from Outwood Academy Haydock: The Connect and Care Companion. The team came away with the Overall Winners prize. In this article, we’ll share how the team followed the V&A Innovate design thinking model to develop their inspiring, award-winning idea.
The winning team from Outwood Academy Haydock with their teachers and judges
The Outwood Academy Haydock team presenting their idea to the judges
V&A Innovate is the museum’s annual National Schools Challenge, asking students in years 7,8 and 9 to come up with an idea that could help solve a real-world problem. Students are given three themes to explore, inspired the V&A collection, and follow a human and planet-centred design process to come up with a new idea. An industry judging panel selects ten finalist teams, who are invited to the V&A to pitch their ideas to the judges with winning teams coming away with certificates, trophies and prizes. All students that take part (finalists or not) receive a participation certificate and feedback from the judges on their idea. The programme aims to build key design skills including creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. It scaffolds key skills and mindsets needed for further study.
‘We as teachers have really enjoyed the process, watching our pupils engage with what they have chosen to pursue, fuelling their curiosity, developing divergent thinking skills, their proactive approach to trying out ideas and seeing their confidence grow has been a privilege.’
Participating teacher
‘As a non-specialist it has enabled me to gain a better insight into the D&T curriculum and the ways it can be used to challenge students in areas such as communication, problem solving and creativity.’
Participating teacher
When taking part in V&A Innovate, we ask students to follow a design thinking process we call: Collect, Make, Share.
Collect: Explore, research, discover everything they need to know to help find and define a unique design opportunity.
Make: Explore and model various design possibilities informed by research, test and evaluate them, and develop a solution based on feedback.
Share: Define their idea and bring it to life through visualisations and narration of the process.
Collect, Make, Share in action
Here's how the winning team from Outwood Academy Haydock followed the process:
Collect...
The team started by exploring the ‘Care’ theme, which asked how we can use design to help care for ourselves and others.
After initial exploration and discussion, the team decided to focus on caring for mental health and personal wellbeing, recognising that it is amongst one of the biggest social issues in their school community and nationally. They asked: ‘Can we design a product to help care for our mental health?’
Design sheet 1
They undertook detailed research. First, they spoke to their school Mental Health Lead and found that there is a gap in provision between what support is offered at primary and secondary school. An opportunity was therefore spotted, to design a product that would help bridge that gap.
To further understand the support needed, they sent out a questionnaire in school and then extended it to share with the public to collect more data. They found that over 70% of respondents were in favour of using technology to record thoughts and feelings to share with a mental health worker, particularly one they haven’t met before.
They also delved into the V&A online Explore the Collections and found inspiration from V&A objects connected to mental health, communication and help, including the Mon Mon, a cuddly toy that enables parents working away from home to stay in touch with their children. By squeezing its tummy, a child can listen to, or record, voice messages via WeChat.
Mon Mon, designed by 1 More Design, 2015, China (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Make...
Taking their research on board, they wanted a product with recording and playback technology, and that’s easy to use, calming, and visually appealing to age-range. Then came the idea for the Connect and Care companion: a hand-held device that young people can use to record their concerns, worries, anxieties, which can they be played back to a mental health professional.
They made multiple models, and the design went through many rounds of feedback, tests, and iterations, including trialling PLA as a more environmentally friendly material, and removing the smiley face from the design after feedback that this might be off-putting.
Once they had a more finalised design, they used the school 3D printer to test out a range of designs and shapes. Through this prototyping they were able to test out the removable speaker that could be placed into different shaped bases, to suit personal preference or mood.
Design sheet 2
Share...
Their final presentation of their design really impressed the panel. The A3 sheets were clearly and creatively presented, showing their journey from start to finish, and including detailed reflection on their experience working together on the project. Their presentation at the Pitching & Awards Day was enthusiastic, well-prepared, and full of passion for the potential of their design to improve young people’s experience at school.
The team recognised the importance of really listening and responding to their research findings, gained important understanding of user needs through prototyping and iterating, and, overall, showed so much care and compassion for the people who would use their design.
As overall winners, the team won the chance to come back to the museum to take part in a Forest Crayon making workshop with the inspiring design duo, Playfool.
Making Forest Crayons
You can here from them and the other finalists about their experience in this short video:
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