Project	
  from:	
  Sonia Salinas	
  	
  (Spain).	
  	
   1.	
  Challenge:	
  Describe	
  your	
  challenge,	
  including	
  all	
  relevant	
  information	
   The	
  challenge	
  presented	
  is	
  how	
  (dis)comfort	
  is	
  perceived	
  for	
  the	
  workers	
  of	
  an	
   existing	
  tertiary	
  building	
  (whose	
  spaces	
  are	
  destined	
  to	
  offices	
  and	
  labs),	
  and	
  know	
   if	
  it	
  is	
  possible	
  that	
  their	
  participation	
  individually	
  and	
  as	
  a	
  collective	
  influences	
  in	
   a	
   better	
   building	
   intervention,	
   more	
   accurate,	
   precise,	
   and	
   if	
   possible	
   with	
   time	
   and	
  money	
  saving.	
   	
   2.	
  Selection:	
  in	
  your	
  own	
  words,	
  briefly	
  describe	
  the	
  tool	
  you	
  selected,	
  what	
  it	
  is	
   and	
  why	
  you	
  selected	
  it	
  for	
  your	
  challenge,	
  including	
  any	
  appropriate	
  video	
  lecture	
   references	
   The	
   selected	
   tool	
   is	
   Visualization.	
  This	
   tool	
   facilitates	
   the	
   aim	
   of	
   a	
   common	
   and	
   comprehensive	
  understanding	
  of	
  a	
  problem.	
  Moreover,	
  the	
  culture	
  level	
  and	
  the	
   ability	
   of	
   communicate	
   themselves	
   could	
   be	
   very	
   different	
   depending	
   on	
   the	
   stakeholder	
  considered,	
  their	
  expertise	
  and	
  they	
  background.	
  So,	
  evidence	
  based	
   on	
  images,	
  symbols,	
  photos,	
  or	
  similar,	
  helps	
  to	
  summarize,	
  focus	
  on	
  the	
  concept	
  or	
   idea	
  to	
  work	
  with,	
  and	
  to	
  express,	
  even	
  to	
  report,	
  personal	
  situations	
  detected	
  by	
   them	
   (for	
   instance,	
   by	
   users,	
   at	
   home).	
   This	
   tool	
   also	
   fosters	
   the	
   stakeholders	
   participation.	
   At	
   the	
   same	
   time,	
   it	
   favors	
   the	
   common	
   understanding	
   when	
   someone	
  expresses	
  an	
  idea	
  or	
  concept,	
  helping	
  to	
  assure	
  the	
  comprehension	
  of	
  this	
   term.	
  	
   The	
  later	
  reflections	
  based	
  on	
  those	
  photos,	
  individually	
  and	
  collectively	
  improve	
   the	
   project,	
   approaching	
   the	
   reality	
   to	
   researchers	
   and	
   practitioners	
   in	
   an	
   imaginative	
   and	
   creative	
   way.	
   It	
   allows	
   to	
   use	
   the	
   whole	
   brain	
   for	
   better	
   and	
   unexpected	
  connections	
  that	
  find	
  different	
  solutions	
  (as	
  Nicole Brandt	
  said	
  in	
  her	
   video-­‐intervention	
  describing	
  the	
  tool).	
   	
   3.	
  Application:	
  Describe	
  how	
  you	
  applied	
  the	
  tool	
  you	
  selected	
  to	
  your	
  challenge	
   (whay	
  you	
  did	
  and	
  how	
  the	
  tool	
  was	
  applied	
  effectively	
  or	
  ineffectively)	
   In	
  the	
  Project,	
  visualization	
  was	
  applied	
  through	
  photographs,	
  taken	
  by	
  the	
  own	
   participants,	
   to	
   express	
   graphically	
   their	
   concerns,	
   lacks	
   or	
   problems	
   related	
   to	
   their	
   perception	
   of	
   workplace	
   comfort.	
   These	
   photos	
   would	
   later	
   be	
   used	
   as	
   vehicles	
   to	
   trigger	
   their	
   storytelling	
   about	
   their	
   perception,	
   and	
   also	
   Foster	
   debates	
  among	
  participants,	
  to	
  consense	
  ideas	
  or	
  concepts	
  to	
  work	
  with,	
  and	
  later,	
   propose	
  solutions.	
  	
   The	
  participants	
  were	
  15,	
  divided	
  in	
  3	
  groups	
  of	
  5	
  each,	
  according	
  to	
  their	
  building	
   and	
  energy	
  knowledge.	
  All	
  of	
  them	
  evaluated	
  and	
  debate	
  on	
  the	
  whole	
  of	
  photos	
   taken	
   (more	
   than	
   50),	
   and	
   in	
   groups,	
   their	
   chose	
   their	
   representative	
   ones,	
   explained	
   to	
   the	
   rest	
   of	
   the	
   group	
   why,	
   and	
   searched	
   solutions	
   together,	
   categorizing	
  them	
  with	
  the	
  facilitator	
  (me)	
  help.	
   We	
   applied	
   this	
   tool,	
   a	
   kind	
   of	
   visualization	
   trough	
   participant	
   own-­‐photos,	
   because	
   it	
   had	
   the	
   power	
   of	
   give	
   objectivity	
   to	
   situations	
   that,	
   narrated	
   by	
   someone,	
  could	
  be	
  understood	
  as	
  exaggerated	
  or	
  just	
  distorsion-­‐perceived.	
  But	
  if	
   someone	
  takes	
  a	
  photo	
  of	
  a	
  particular	
  situation,	
  the	
  result	
  is	
  more	
  credible.	
  And	
   also,	
  to	
  use	
  those	
  images	
  as	
  triggers	
  of	
  debate,	
  critical	
  awareness,	
  and	
  search	
  of	
   solutions.

4.	
  Insight:	
  describe	
  the	
  insight	
  you	
  gained	
  from	
  applying	
  the	
  tool	
  you	
  selected	
  to	
   your	
   challenge	
   (how	
   an	
   insight	
   affected	
   your	
   thinking	
   about	
   the	
   challenge	
   and	
   about	
  design	
  thinking	
  more	
  broadly)	
   Qualitative	
  approaches	
  offer	
  to	
  researchers	
  lots	
  of	
  insights	
  that	
  quantitative	
  can´t	
   do.	
   So	
   it	
   was	
   a	
   great	
   interest	
   to	
   choose	
   this	
   kind	
   of	
   approaches.	
   Specifically,	
   visualization	
   offered	
   the	
   possibility	
   to	
   work	
   with	
   people	
   with	
   different	
   studies	
   level,	
   building	
   comfort	
   and	
   energy	
   comprehension,	
   age,	
   and	
   interests.	
   It	
   was	
   a	
   challenge	
   for	
   them	
   (also	
   for	
   researchers)	
   wait	
   for	
   photo-­‐results	
   representing	
   something	
   so	
   abstract	
   such	
   as	
   “comfort”.	
   But	
   either	
   taking	
   their	
   own	
   photos,	
   or	
   debating	
  on	
  them,	
  it	
  was	
  very	
  helpful,	
  efficient,	
  and	
  grateful.	
  	
   There	
  also	
  appeared	
  lots	
  of	
  insights,	
  for	
  instance	
  comfort	
  experts	
  that	
  worked	
  in	
   this	
  building,	
  and	
  who	
  were	
  part	
  of	
  those	
  participants,	
  “forgive”	
  in	
  some	
  way	
  all	
   the	
   comfort	
   lacks	
   that	
   they	
   also	
   suffered	
   as	
   users,	
   due	
   to	
   their	
   comprehensive	
   understanding	
   of	
   certain	
   building	
   circumstances.	
   It	
   was	
   very	
   surpresing	
   for	
   me,	
   because	
  I	
  hoped	
  a	
  more	
  critical	
  point	
  of	
  view.	
  	
   Another	
   insight	
   was,	
   that	
   those	
   comfort	
   and	
   energy	
   experts,	
   due	
   to	
   their	
   discomfort	
  at	
  workplace,	
  needed	
  to	
  use	
  (and	
  took	
  their	
  photos)	
  about	
  non-­‐efficient	
   solutions	
   to	
   heat	
   their	
   internal	
   spaces,	
   for	
   instance.	
   When	
   their	
   explained	
   their	
   shoots,	
   the	
   argued	
   that	
   they	
   knew	
   that	
   behavior	
   was	
   not	
   proper	
   to	
   pursue	
   a	
   sustainable	
   waste	
   of	
   energy,	
   with	
   inefficient	
   solutions,	
   but	
   they	
   could	
   not	
   work	
   with	
  such	
  cold	
  indoors.	
  	
   	
   5.	
  Approach:	
  Describe	
  what	
  you	
  might	
  do	
  differently	
  next	
  time-­‐	
  applying	
  the	
  same	
   tool	
  you	
  selected	
  or	
  a	
  different	
  one-­‐and	
  the	
  reason(s)	
  why.	
   I	
   think	
   this	
   tool	
   has	
   more	
   advantages	
   than	
   disadvantages.	
   But	
   in	
   a	
   workplace	
   environment,	
  their	
  application	
  has	
  to	
  be	
  followed	
  and	
  approved	
  by	
  the	
  institution	
   managers	
  or	
  directors,	
  and	
  also	
  by	
  department	
  chiefs,	
  to	
  avoid	
  mis-­‐understandings	
   on	
   what	
   are	
   shooted,	
   and	
   why.	
   If	
   not,	
   it	
   could	
   be	
   looked	
   with	
   distrust	
   and	
   suspicion.	
  	
   Planification	
  is	
  also	
  very	
  important,	
  in	
  the	
  whole	
  process,	
  to	
  collect	
  data	
  (photos	
   are	
   a	
   kind	
   of	
   qualitative	
   data,	
   as	
   well	
   as	
   storytelling),	
   the	
   way	
   to	
   communicate	
   facilitators	
  (researchers)	
  and	
  participants,	
  the	
  means	
  of	
  transfering	
  data	
  (internet,	
   whatsapp	
  or	
  similar,	
  etc),	
  the	
  space	
  to	
  work	
  in,	
  the	
  number	
  of	
  sessions	
  	
  and	
  tasks	
   to	
  do	
  during	
  each	
  one,	
  and	
  the	
  resources	
  to	
  facilitate	
  debate	
  (press,	
  pcs,	
  screens,	
   pens	
  and	
  paper,	
  something	
  sweet	
  to	
  help	
  people	
  think	
  in	
  a	
  good	
  mood…).	
  	
   Next	
   time	
   I	
   will	
   try	
   to	
   work	
   more	
   efficientlywith	
   photographs,	
   avoiding	
   silly	
   conversations	
  or	
  silent	
  gaps,	
  to	
  make	
  debates	
  shorter,	
  but	
  more	
  interesting.

