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Sunday, March 31, 2013

Design Thinking Process - Co Barry TEDx


Check out the diagram before reading further. This is 'Design Thinking' in a nutshell. (source)



I've been trying to learn a little more about design thinking since it was first introduced to me. I have been involved tangible projects that involved this process, I don't recall doing it from the very beginning, with a local community (empathy) in mind, and an actually building something long-lasting. (the feedback) Maybe I'm wrong - I've been involved in many community-oriented projects in and out of school, but not with this process consciously in my head. The TED Talk below gives a nice anecdote of design thinking in action. (my summary and comments following)

Design Thinking: Maximizing Your Students' Creative Talent (Co Barry at TEDxDenverTeachers)



Co Barry begins with a reflection on how she learned - figuring out what the teacher wants and the 'correct answer', but not really learning to deal with complex problems, or take the risks to effectively solve them. She starts with describing a basic part of the process: identify a need and ask questions about it. (and, significantly, Barry points out that after going to the community you may often find that your perceived problem wasn't really the problem at all, but that the problem was deeper)

Empathy - going to the community and learning.

Prototype - looking for the best possible solution. 

She makes several comments, but essentially Co Barry points out that this kind of approach to learning leads to higher levels of engagement and overall achievement. The concept she offers that I will adopt fully is that 'we don't know what (future) we're preparing children for, but we can prepare them to deal with complex change and complex challenges'.

What a great way to put it. There is a deeper understanding to design thinking, but this video is a nice start to getting an idea about what design thinking is.

A couple more diagrams. (source)

And a couple of links (not commented on in this):






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