IntroductionOur most interesting and hands-on project this semester was definitely our design thinking project. This project consisted of us doing hands on experiments, interviews, and making prototypes to test out on fellow classmates and students. In order to get our feet wet and test out what we would be doing for majority of the project, we spent class periods making our own models for a problem that people have with hygiene. We focused on the issues people have when brushing their teeth. With this topic, we had to identify the main issue to focus on and then create solutions for it that would best help the specific group of people.
My partner for this introduction described her issues with brushing her teeth as not knowing the status and wellness of her teeth afterwards. She gave me background information detailing how she struggles with cavities and soreness often so she would want to know if she is improving the health of her teeth after she brushes them. After realizing that I need to come up with a solution that would give her the status of her teeth once she brushes them, I decided to start brainstorming solutions that could beneficial to her. My best solution was an app for an electronic toothbrush that could sense the plaque, cavities, gingivitis, etc. in your mouth and scan it to your phone so that could see how clean and healthy your teeth are after brushing them. My partner found this solution to be the most helpful because it would give her written information on how her teeth are doing and what areas she needs to focus on improving. Doing this activity gave us background information on how to go about our group project. We set out to use the five steps, empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test, in order to complete the process of design thinking
TestThis last step of the design thinking process basically involves testing out our prototype on people who would benefit from the solution. This included us asking our fellow scholars classmates to match the trash items with the corresponding bins made out of the random materials we found. The only catch to this was that we did not tell them that the colors were supposed to match when they placed the trash in the “bins.” We tested our prototype on two students that we found. The first student was able to correctly place the trash in the bins they belonged in, while the second student struggled with the task and eventually got almost all of them wrong. After they had placed the materials in their respective spots, we told them that they were color-coded and each colored item matched each colored bin. When we asked for feedback on our solution we got responses that said it was faster than reading the bins at the diner and it made it easier and less time consuming for them to recycle properly.
Application and ReflectionBased on these class sessions and series of steps for the project, I was able to understand the importance of each step in the design thinking project. Empathizing brainstorms a list of people, things, places, etc. that could be involved in the issue at hand. It sets the foundation for the remainder of the process because it helps the participants gain a better understanding of the issues that may be presented. Defining identifies the issue that needs to be solved and helps set the direction for the remainder of the project. Based on the main issue chosen, the solutions could vary, which makes defining the problem one of the most important parts of the process. Ideating develops solutions that could be used to fix the problem and leads the participants to prototyping because without the solution, the remainder of the steps are impossible. With prototyping, we are able to build a model and dissect it to find what would work about the solution and what would not be able to work well with the people involved in the main issue. When a prototype is made, we can move on to testing, which involves testing the prototype on an audience. This last step can set the participants back a step or keep them moving with making a final version of the prototype. If the prototype does not work well when tested, then the group must go back and fix whatever issue there was. But, if the prototype works fine, then the group can then move on to making a final version that can be used by everyone.
Starting out during class sessions with a smaller version of the design thinking activity set the scene for what our groups were supposed to accomplish during our project. Based on this, we were even able to apply this process to other issues that need solutions outside of class, such as making campus a safer place for students, helping students get around campus easier, and finding ways to help students wake up on time to get to class, which relates especially to me. These class sessions enabled us to go about a different way of thinking when it came to identifying issues and solving them. |