[Related Links of This Week]
01 Introduction & Beginner’s Mind—20 mins
1) What’s your name?
2) Where do you work?
3) Why are you taking this course?
4) What would you like to learn during the course?
5) What would you like to be doing in five years?
6) Tell a story about the last activity that you tried for the first time. Was it exciting or scary? How did being a novice help you?
Discussing the last question more.
02 Icebreaker: Visual Telephone—20 mins
Small game to warm up.
03 Logistics—10mins
Setting rules for meeting.
04 Human-Centered Design Discussion—25 mins
05 Mini Design Challenge: Design a Better Commute—1 hour
Human-centered design begins with in-depth interviews and qualitative research. This helps us get a better sense for the people we’re designing for. For this activity, divide into groups of two (or three, if your workshop team has an odd number of people). Interview your partner and then switch. Keep track of the time alloted for each portion of the activity.
Interview your partner. Begin by understanding their morning commute. Ask not just about logistics, though: find
out how things makes them feel. At the seven minute mark, start transitioning
• Try asking “Why?” in response to five consecutive answers from your partner.
• Ask your partner to visualize their morning commute with a drawing or a diagram
Take five minutes to read over your notes from the interview with your partner. Write down answers
to the questions below.
• What are three unique aspects of your partner’s commute?
• What are three needs that your partner faces each morning?
Now’s your chance to imagine some new solutions that might address your partner’s needs. Work with your partner
and sketch four to six radical new ways to improve the commute. You should focus on ideas of each others’. However, work collaboratively and try to come up with a few ideas that might improve the commute for both of you.
Making something visual or physical will help you better imagine the possibilities and the pitfalls of your solution, as well as explain it more easily to others. Your prototype can be a model, a diagram, or a more detailed drawing.
Share your favorite ideas with another team. Get feedback from them.
06 Reflect & Share—15 mins
• What did you learn through the experience of prototyping during this mini design challenge?
• Were there certain parts of the process that were particularly surprising or helpful, or struck you as an “aha moment”? “Ahas” can be key takeaways, new perspectives on an issue, memorable comments or questions, surprises, challenges, or parting thoughts from this workshop.
• What are parts of the human-centered design process that you think are particularly useful or insightful for tackling larger social sector challenges?
• Share your prototype with the group. Do you have ideas for further refining your idea based upon the feedback you received?
• Share and discuss your “Ahas” with the group. Were there similar or different takeaways?
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