1.3 An example of a design thinking project
The below example of a design thinking project aims to address the following problem:
How can we design and build a helpful and thoughtful backpack for a friend?
It is a project designed for elementary school students. It includes the following steps:
The teacher helps students understand what ‘empathise’ means – this is the starting point of the process of design as it relates to what end-users (in this example students) think, feel and do about the problem of designing a helpful and thoughtful backpack.
To empathise with end-users, students can ask questions like:
- Walk me through the contents of your backpack (or tote bag, etc.)?
- Why do you have a particular item in your backpack?
- When do you carry your backpack?
Students synthesise the information they gathered and define the problem with greater detail in a statement:
‘________ (friend’s name) needs a way to ________ (friend’s need) because (or ‘but…’ or ‘surprisingly…’) __________ (insight).’
e.g. Jeremy needs a way to carry a large notebook (bigger than A4 size) to class because he needs to use it for project work but does not have a large enough space in his current bag.
Students brainstorm ideas of how to solve the problem (or come up with possible solutions) which should relate to their statement above. Students can write their ideas down.
Students discuss and decide on one idea they would like to build or create.
Students build the best solution to the problem by creating a prototype – this is a first prototype of the solution. The teacher have provided them with physical material such as cartons, bottles, scissors to create a backpack.
Students test their prototypes by checking if they work well, or as intended. They ask other students questions like:
- What does their friend like about their backpack?
- What is helpful about this backpack?
- How is the design of this backpack thoughtful?
Adapted from Edtech Classroom (2021) [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]
Activity 1 The added value of using technology in design thinking
Think of the backpack example shown above − what activities would you normally do to teach students:
- How to empathise (collect data from others about what they think, feel, need).
- How to amend and improve ‘prototypes’ or solutions.
- How could you teach the above with the help of technology (think of any useful applications you know about)?
- Could technology help you to teach in an easy and more effective way than other means such as cartons and bottles?
Write down your thoughts and reflections in the box below.
Discussion
Students can collect data about their end-users by using web applications such as Google Forms or by designing and printing out questionnaires.
As in the example of the backpack, using materials such as cartons and bottles to create a backpack is a great idea. However, students should be able to iterate and improve the design of their backpacks, after they collect feedback from others. This may prove to be quite challenging when reusing physical material that has already been cut and processed. For example, cartons may not be fit for purpose anymore and students may have to start the design process again from scratch.
In the example above, the process of design iteration can be easily managed online; with the right software, an online version of the backpack could be tweaked, manipulated, and improved with the press of a button.
1.2 How is design thinking different to problem-based learning?
