Along with my partner, Michelle Ovalle, I dove into the Design Thinking process by viewing the Crash Course video constructed by the Institute of Design at Stanford. I was pleasantly surprised at the conclusion of the video at how much I learned about myself, collaboration and Design Thinking. The moderators of the video gave step-by-step instructions on the process and kept things light and enjoyable.
View my Design Thinking process worksheet below.
Both Michelle and I were a little nervous at the beginning of our Zoom call. We were not sure how this was going to go or if we were prepared enough, but we talked and got to know each other before beginning. The moderators of the video began by saying that things were going to move quickly, which was intimidating, but I was interested to see what we would be doing.
We started the first step of the activity with the interview about our most-recent gift-giving experience. I explained to Michelle that the last gift I gave was to my parents for Christmas – it was a hand-crafted wooden sign that had the state of Georgia on it with the words “Atlanta, Georgia” underneath. Michelle had most recently given a gift to her best friend’s sister, who had Stage 4 cancer.
For Michelle’s gift-giving experience, she explained that she sent a gift after ordering it from a website. The gift was an aromatherapy spa package for her friend who was sick. Michelle mentioned that she wanted to send her friend something that she could use during the difficult time of the pandemic and to help her feel pampered and lift her spirits.
Even though we were not actually with each other in person, the interviews and steps went by pretty seamlessly. We were able to ask each other questions and explain our stories or situations. I did not feel totally rushed during each step, but Michelle had mentioned that she wished she had a little more time in the first two stages to ask more questions.
I felt as though I had a small break through after the sketching stages were completed. At the beginning, I felt confused and that maybe I was not understanding the directions clearly. But, once I got to the final couple of stages, the final idea started to fully form. In addition, I felt like I was on the right track when I explained the problem statement to Michelle, and she gave great feedback. Having the validation about Michelle’s gift-giving experience helped me to push through to the end and really zone in on the final solution.
Problem Statement: Michelle needs a way to support her friends during difficult times.
Solution: Creating a website (ideally) that allows gift-givers to send their friends and family gifts when they are need and/or when the gift-giver cannot be there in person. The website allows users to pick anything from simple to extravagent gifts that are packaged beautifully and sent in a timely manner. In addition, there would be a way to see the reaction of the receiver when they open the gift.
The only thing that was difficult for me was sketching out and making a physical prototype for my idea, which I had envisioned as something intangible. My final idea was a place (most likely a website) for people to buy and send personalized gifts for friends and family in an intimate way while in a non-intimate world. One fact of Michelle’s gift-giving experience was that she could not physically be with her friend, and she wished she could have seen her reaction, which is something I incorporated into the design of my idea.
The final stage was the stage where Michelle and I could help each other the most and add the final touches to our ideas. We both felt that the process truly represented the Design Thinking ideals and how important collaboration is. I felt a surge of creativity during this process that sparked a different kind of thinking. Michelle and I both enjoyed bouncing ideas off each other and working through the steps together.
In the end, the 90 minutes went by quickly, and I was surprised at how much I learned through a simple process. The crash course created a streamlined way to look at the Design Thinking process. I was also surprised as to how much my idea came together in the end (at least in my head), even though it started off all over the place. Michelle and I enjoyed the collaboration and learned about each other and how we think along the way.
MAGGIE PRUITT 