I have a confession to make. I may have learned something! I´ll tell you more just keep on reading..
Chaos is a good word to describe my feelings on day one of the two contact sessions titled Design Thinking. Two foreign experts where invited to give the lectures. I must tell you I came totally unprepared and found the speed in which things got rolling a bit too fast. But as we proceeded things got clearer. Things started to get shape and the chaos was tamed. We were Learning by Developing and I got to tell you, it worked! It has great advantages as it turned out.
After a brief introduction to history and present state of Design Thinking by Dr. Katja Tschimmel she introduced us to a Design Thinking Model Evolution 6² that she has developed. We were divided into groups of four or so and assigned to find opportunities aka. problems that emerge to us as we look more closely at Laurea Universitry of Applied Sciences.
At this point Mariana Valença took over and intoduced us more closely to the Evolution 6² Mindshake Design Thinking model step by step. Soon we found ourselves innovating a new user interface for Laurea students and teachers alike in our group.
The Model progresses through six phases, each phase adding to to the former. It´s more or less a linear process. In each phase there are six different tools that can be used. Not all tools suit each case and so the tools should be chosen with thought. Visualization and prototyping is used in each phase a lot. We got to draw, use a lot of post-its, play with legos and act scenes, which may sound a bit strange, but actually got us closer to our goal faster.
We went through the phases in just two days but usually the process is carried out on a longer scale. It might take anything from half an year to 18 months. Anyway the advantage of Design Thinking is the speed at which the product or service is ready to be used.
There without any doubt is power in a heterogeneous cluster. Us four all come from different backgrounds and got along splendidly and most importantly progressed. IDEO uses various experts in their sessions (YouTube) and I can see why. We all look at the world differently and in best case supplement each other.
The dynamic energy was present at all times during the sessions. We all learned from each other and shared our thoughts. It was empowering to realise how the group formed and started building on each other’s ideas.
To me who is very curious and likes to experiment different things those two days were some of the best days ever. The problem-solving approach is genius but takes time to adapt. Gladly I´m a fast learner;)
So the confession! It´s the fact that I may be in love with Design Thinking and I certainly love LbD. What a journey it has being so far! Although I wish it´s just a beginning of far greater adventure.
-Markus Alavaikko
Sources:
Design Thinking contact lessons by Katja Tschimmel and Mariana Valença, Laurea Leppävaara, Sep. 2nd-3rd 2016.
Tim Brown: “Change by design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation.”
Tschimmel, Katja 2012. Design Thinking as an Effective Toolkit for Innovation in Proceedings of the XXIII ISPIM Conference: Action for Innovation from Experience.
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