Design Thinking Challenge

Improving Town SquareJackson, WY

The town of Jackson has a problem. They want to make the downtown square area more inviting to all people so it gets more people traffic, thus increasing the local economy…locals, visitors, elderly, teens, small children, families and so on.

The town has enough funding to create one major “enhancement” but are stuck on what that enhancement should be…not to exceed $1 million.

The town has come to you for help in generating ideas that would be beneficial to all subgroups mentioned previously and that would work in all seasons.

Step One: EmpathyDiscuss as a group the different perspectives you must use when approaching this project. Who are the “clients”? What point of view do they have? What will they need/want? Do you need to research any information to be more informed?

Step Two:Define the ProblemIn order to generate ideas, you must first clearly articulate the problem(s) you are trying to solve. This step may also require research…especially if it’s a topic you know little about.

On post-it notes, write down as many problem statements that you can identify clearly. Place them on the whiteboard.

Usually written by using “Who, What, When, Where and Why” into one or two sentences around the problem.

Example:

In order to get all JHHS (where) students (who) to use the design-thinking method (what), we need to incorporate its use into all core content areas through the school year (when). These types of activities promote creativity and innovation in our students…something colleges and businesses look for in applicants. (why)

Decide on a Problem Definition• Now that you have all practiced writing to define a problem and

articulate it…you must collectively agree on one “definition of the problem”.• Explore the post-it notes and find common themes/terms• Have one person condense the “best” themes/terms used into one

definition (with group assistance)• This is your working definition….come back to it as needed to refocus

your work.

Step Three:Ideate(generate ideas)Now that you have a working definition, you must generate ideas to “solve” the problem.

Be creative.

Use your imagination.

Don’t be hindered by others comments.

Shoot for the moon!

Nothing is too weird or silly.

There are no right or wrong answers…only ideas!

Don’t stop thinking and writing down ideas until the time is up. Use the post-its and place on the whiteboard.

Narrow it down…• Obviously some ideas are better than others for any number of

reasons. We need to narrow down the ideas to 1 concept.• You have 2 votes. Place one hash mark underneath the two ideas

that you like the best out of all that were generated.

Step Four: Prototype• You can prototype anything, anywhere• Use the blank paper to sketch, draw, outline, rough out or describe

what YOU believe the solution should look like. Making multiple sketches is totally fine. Messy is fine. Jot down your thoughts to capture them.

• If you need to refer back to the original defined problem to help you, go for it!

Step Five:Test & RefiningTesting & Refining are an essential part of this process. Rarely is a first product a final product.

Testing your design could be as simple as showing it to others to get feedback. This could be valuable prior to actually paying to build a more expensive model.

Using feedback helps you refine, improve and “fix” your ideas. Getting feedback from a variety of perspectives is also important.

Your assignment:

Create a prototype that is “clean” enough to share with other people so they can understand your idea. Explain the assignment to them and have them give you some feedback about your prototype. Record this in your journal as Journal Assignment #3 (or #2 if periods 1,3,5).