Design Thinking and Project Conceptualization are essential frameworks for innovation and problem-solving. This topic explores how empathy, creativity, and strategic thinking converge to generate impactful ideas. By applying iterative processes, participants learn to design user-centered solutions and effectively conceptualize projects, transforming abstract concepts into actionable plans that address real-world challenges.
At the end of this module, the students must have:
· Evaluate the problems that may be answered using IT solutions
· Effectively convince the evaluators of an IT solution through pitching
· Empathized with clients as a core step in design thinking
Design Thinking an iterative process in which we seek to understand the user, challenge assumptions, and redefine problems in an attempt to identify alternative strategies and solutions that might not be instantly apparent with our initial level of understanding.
Design thinking is outside-the-box thinking.
The first stage of the design process is to understand the perspective of the target audience/customer/consumer to identify and address the problem at hand. To do this, design thinkers are encouraged to cast aside all assumptions (because assumptions can stifle innovation!) about the problem, the consumers, and the world at large. This allows them to objectively consider any and all possibilities about the customers and their needs.
Typical activities:
· Observations: You’ll go where your users go and see what they care about.
· Qualitative Interviews: You’ll hold one-on-one interviews with a handful of your users to understand their attitudes on the topic you are exploring. Asking someone to tell a story about the last time they experienced the problem you’re investigating provides a rich description that highlights details you might not have otherwise considered.
Immersions: Step into your user’s shoes so you can feel and experience their day-to-day.
Tools like empathy maps can be a great way to consolidate all of the valuable information gleaned from interviews. Empathy maps capture what people do, say, think, and feel in the context of the problem. They help colleagues understand the context of the problem and how people experience it, too.
Putting together all of the information gathered in the first stage, the next step is to define the problem statement clearly. The resulting problem statement should be captured in human-centered terms rather than focused on business goals. For example, instead of setting a goal to increase signups by 5%, a human-centered target would be to help busy moms provide healthy food for their families.
Based on the frustrations, you observed or heard about come up with questions for how you might solve them.
Typical Activities
· Clustering and Themes: There’s a lot of different ways to go about the Define phase, but it’s safe to say you’ll need a wall of sticky notes; these will be filled with the quotes, observations, and ideas you heard throughout your research. Group and cluster ideas together until you find the prevailing or most prominent themes.
As you explore the empathy data, focus on identifying patterns and problems across a diverse group of people. Gathering information on how people are currently solving the problem provides clues on how to give a more innovative solution. You can’t solve all of your users’ problems. Know the most significant or most impactful issues that you want to consider as you move forward.
Now that the problem is apparent, it’s time to brainstorm ways to address those unmet needs. You collect as many ideas as possible at the start, so that by the end, your team can investigate and test them.
The ideation stage marks the transition from identifying problems to exploring solutions. It flows between idea generation and evaluation, but it’s important that each process remains separate from each other. When it’s time to generate ideas, do so quickly without focusing on the quality or feasibility of the idea for now. After ideas are collected, move into the evaluation phase. This is where you can go around the room and discuss the ideas presented to get clarification if needed.
The ideation phase is usually a very creative and freeing phase for a team because they have permission to think of out-of-the-box ideas before deciding what they are going to prototype.
Explore solutions and think out-of-the-box in the ideation phase of the design thinking process.
It’s time to experiment! Through trial and error, your team identifies which of the possible solutions can best solve the identified problem(s). This typically will include scaled-down versions of the products or systems in question so you can present and get feedback from the people they are intended to serve.
The goal is to start with a low-fidelity version of the intended solution and improve it over time based on feedback. Beginning with a paper prototype can help you learn quickly with minimal effort. The prototype should be a realistic representation of the solution that allows you to gain an understanding of what works and doesn’t work. It is changed and updated based on feedback from the Test phase in an iterative cycle. The low-cost, lightweight nature of prototyping also allows you to develop multiple solutions to test in tandem to identify the best possible solution for meeting those unmet user needs.
All of the work and information come together to test the product in the final stage. It’s important to note that this is still an interactive stage. You will want to hear from your users again —just as you did in the Empathize phase. The difference is that you are showing them your prototype to get feedback on whether or not it solves their problem.
Testing is essential because everything, ultimately, should be about the people who will use your products. Now’s the time to revisit the problem statement and make sure the end solution is meeting those needs and resolving frustrations.
You want to see what real people think about your idea. This stage allows for all details to be flushed out and refined to create the best solution possible.
1. Experience
2. Environment
3. Culture
4. Personal
5. Observational
6. Anthropological
1. Problem Generation
2. Conceptualize an Idea
Limit it your imagination to creating a website, mobile app, arduino-based project
3. Pitching
1. Prepare a one-page /two-minute pitch of your idea. Do not forget to include the following:
a. Describe your target customer
b. Describe their problem(s)
c. Describe your solution (product)
d. Describe how you will prototype your Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
e. Describe how you will test your MVP
Imagine a group of farmers who watch in frustration as their crops are attacked by pests. Imagine their pain.
Imagine a group of Out-of-School Youths who wants to drive a public utility vehicle to earn a living but cannot differentiate a gas pedal from a brake pedal. Imagine their pain.
Imagine the farmers’ wives who would spend their free time gossiping when they could have done something productive. Imagine the farmers’ pain again.
Imagine a group of teachers who have been donated sets of computers to aid them in integrating technology in the classroom but lacking the skills to do so, ended up playing solitaire. This time imagine their guilt.
Imagine a group of senior citizens, persons with disability, indigenous people who ached to learn a skill to help augment the family’s income and prove their worth in the society. Imagine their silent cries.
The good news is, the State Universities and Colleges have pool of “painkillers” or extension workers who are willing to extend research-generated and community-responsive technologies, training and skill development such as pest control management, livelihood projects, waste management, organic farming, functional literacy, food processing, computer literacy, etc. to the aforementioned “patients” or clients. The services are for free as this is part of their quadruple function being faculty members.
The real pain, however, is that the clients and service providers seldom meet. The former have no idea that there are training programs available while the latter do not know who to train, what to train them, where they are, and when do they need the training.
With the aid of TrainME which is a web-based and mobile-responsive training needs assessment and management system, the clients can submit their profile and training needs, as well as enroll in a specific training program. Trainers on the other hand will need to submit their portfolio and will be given a unique username and password to access clients’ information. A system administrator will manage the training areas, trainers, schedule, notifications, statistics, and reports via a web-based system.
After a desired number of clients in a certain location is reached, and availability of extension workers is identified, the “Patients” and “Painkillers” will eventually meet.