DESIGN THINKING2014

ALLISON LANK

CONVERSATIONSWHAT IS DESIGN THINKING?

EMPATHY

DEFINE

IDEATE

PROTOTYPE

TEST

So I said that the little individual can be a trim tab. Society thinks it's going right by you, that it's left you altogether. But if you're doing dynamic things mentally, the fact is that you can just put your foot out like that and the whole big ship of state is going to go.

So I said, call me Trim Tab.

--Buckminster Fuller

Our sensory system becomes a means through which we pursue our own development.

But the sensory system does not work alone: Language, the arts, science, values, and the like.

With the aid of culture we learn how to create ourselves.

--Elliot Eisner

One needs to constantly remind oneself to play with the abandon of the child who is just learning the cello. Because why is that kid playing? He is playing for pleasure. He is playing because making this sound, expressing this melody, makes him happy.

That is still the only good reason to play.

--Jonah Lehrer

I like... I wish...

CORE VALUESHUMAN-CENTERED DESIGNempathy and feedback

EXPERIMENT AND PROTOTYPEbuild to learn

BIAS TOWARD ACTIONdoing and making

SHOW RATHER THAN TELLcreate experiences

POWER OF ITERATION�uency in cycles

COMPREHENSIVE ANTICIPATORY DESIGN SCIENCE

WHAT IS DESIGN THINKING AND HOW CAN I INCORPORATE IT INTO MY LIFE AND DISCIPLINE?

A NEW WAY OF THINKING.

That’s what I kept hearing. That’s what I’ve been doing without realizing it.

Like any other student, I had tackled problem solving long before encountering Design Thinking. Problems exist all around us—the classroom, our relationships, even in our own churning heads.

We are quick to recognize these problems but rarely act upon changing them. Maybe it is because it’s out of our hands? What power does an individual have in facilitating institutional, cultural or behavioral change?

These were my doubts in the �rst weeks of class. And I still have my doubts. But it all comes back to the trim tab—the power of the individual. There are times when our individual actions and thoughts seem so meaningless, especially in places like shopping malls. This class has taught me how to think di�erently, not only about how we solve problems, but also about how I must think di�erently as an individual.

When I started thinking about my project at the beginning of this semester, I knew I was interested in media and how it a�ects or interacts with the individual. As a media studies major, this came as no surprise. I am constantly examining the mediated environment around me with a critical eye.

I feel that I am hyper aware of how strangers interact with their cell phones and how they project themselves on social media. So when the class began brainstorming, even the process of topic selection seemed mediated.

Imagine each sticky note as a tweet. The sticky notes with the most “re-tweets,” or human interest, would inevitably attract the most attention. Did the more interest in a topic generate a better project? Is the most popular tweet always the most critical? Not necessarily.

Through the semester, my thoughts kept relating back to the individual. How were my daily decisions and conversations impacting the individual? How was this speci�c project a�ecting the individual? And even broader, how was the Design Thinking process a�ecting the individual?

I’m not sure if I have an answer to that last question yet.

But I have an inkling that this new method of designing has permanently changed the way I look at a problem. I know what has not changed.

I still observe technology-human interactions with an academically inclined critical eye. I still lack the undivided, religious faith in the power of the individual that Buckminster Fuller may have attained.

So what made the di�erence from the �rst day to the moment you are reading this?

EMPATHY. This was the missing connection between the human-centered design process and the futility of the individual. In Design Thinking, empathy cannot simply be researched. It takes personal conversations and observations to reach a level of understanding.

In the beginning stages of my group project, conversation was essential to understanding. My partner Ben and I had never met. So for weeks, our conversations were unfocused and all over the place. We were getting to know one another, getting to know one another’s ideas and thoughts and opinions, so much so that after three

weeks of this, we could begin the ideation process on solid ground.

Though I felt behind when compared to other groups, this team dynamic came to bene�t our project in the long run. As a group of two, there had to be clear agreement on every decision. This proved to be the largest challenge for my partner and I. We are both mildly stubborn. He was a jumbled, �ourishing thinker and I sifted our ideas. The tensions worked. Our contrasting methods of problem solving, when grouped together under the program of Design Thinking, proved to be frighteningly innovative.

Our constant backtracking between de�nition, ideation and prototyping a solution was sometimes frustrating. However, the iterative nature of our project was new and di�erent. With every new prototype, our senses tingled with increasing excitement.

We spent so much time practicing empathy and consciously returned to empathy throughout the process to guide our many iterations. Our �nal solution maintained focus on an individual level through the practice of conversation. In the end, our prototype proposal was an artistic, auditory installation meant for individual re�ection. Individual conversations can have meaning in the most unexpected places.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

ARTS AND EDUCATION MEDIA AND BODY IMAGEANGELA THORP | PIXIE CLAUSON | PIPPA MALLOCHERIN WAINRIGHT | DAILLEN CULVER | PAIGE MCDERMOTT

REMY ENOUCH | MICHAELA BUBIER

PROBLEM: how can we provide elementary school refugee students with an outlet for creative self-expression & cultural identity exploration?

EMPATHIZE:children in art classes have a consistent outlet

child refugees from “Bridging the Gap” embrace their cultural heritage and connect with their history in a new setting

IDEATE:exploring their heritage through the arts

PROTOTYPE:weekly arts program meeting with regular volunteers

learning about their cultural heritage by engaging with artistic precedents and expressing their cultural history through art projects

creating a safe space studio for children and parents to practice art

PROBLEM: how can we mitigate the negative e�ects of media on body image?

EMPATHIZE:recognized that media is a major contributor to feelings of inadequacy because it presents us with the “correct” body image

imagine how di�erent the world would be if accepted ourselves

IDEATE:With all these fantastic awareness and educational resources in place, why is the problem still largely unaddressed? Is there a better way, a new and di�erent, more e�ective way to draw attention to the educa-tional resources?

PROTOTYPE:videos that parodied over the top commercials to reveal media’s dis-torition of reality

reveal media’s highly stylized version of everyday events by juxtapos-ing them with the “real deal”

WORKPLACE HAPPINESS WATER WASTEANAT GILBOA | KAYLEIGH ROY | LUKE ESCOBAR

PROBLEM: how can we reduce water overuse without changing human behavior?

EMPATHIZE:consumer measures their own water use within frame of money

IDEATE:device that makes visual connection between consumption and money

PROTOTYPE:device attaches to home and sends water usage data to app

adds personal awareness and responsibility to a pre-existing measuring system

PROBLEM: how can we make changes in an o�ce environment to increase workplace happiness?

EMPATHIZE:local Charlottesville employees appreciate large and small changes, physical or programatic

employees value community sharing

IDEATE:program that encourages communication between employees in a casual constructive way

PROTOTYPE:weekly program that allows a new employee to share a skill or story of their choice with their organization

there are no rules, everyone takes a turn

EMILY ANNE SELF | MARY KATHRYN FISHER | KIENAN ADAMSKATE BONDURANT | TOLLIVER BELL