Storytelling

Challenges

I was in a mini Design Thinking Hackathon. The whole process lasts for two hours. There  were four people in our group, and we were supposed to deliver a minimal viable product by  the end of the two hours. We did not know each other before, and therefore, it is super  challenging to come up with new ideas, challenge each other’s ideas, and express our  thoughts with teammates we barely know.  Our challenge is to design or create an  optimization strategy for our product line to better serve better home officing trends. I want to  share one step in the process with you, where the Storytelling tool comes along and serves as  a big favour for our group.

Selection

We have used other design thinking tools during the whole process, such as the visualization  tool, the mind-mapping tool, the brainstorming tool, etc. However, the storytelling tool is the  tool, which serves from the beginning (introduction of the topic) to the end (elevator pitch). In  short, storytelling is the easiest and the most challenging tool to manage. It builds the bridge  where we can connect and share emotional visions.

Application

I realized that the storytelling tool is the tool that all of us use to introduce the other team  members into our imaginative world.  Due to the time limit, we do not have the time or  resources to gain little details of our customers. Therefore, we decide to treat ourselves as  customers. We are all home officing in the past one and half years. We want to design a  procedure or a product to solve our problems. After that, we were all on the same page as the  customers; we immediately started to recall situations where we would like to change or  improve when we are home officing. I told stories about me having no time to cook, no time  to do my laundry, the internet is constantly reconnecting, construction noise is always by my  side. Those inconveniences during my home officing resonate well with my teammates, and I  am very sure also with our customers we want to serve. Another story I gave is about how I  feel when I sit by the dining table before home officing, just purely relaxed and cosy at home,  a place where I can toss all the pressure for one second. Now I constantly feel anxious at  home because I cannot dress how I usually dress at home; I must expect the video calls when  I am cooking for myself. These details of our life help us to set a clear direction for our  prototype. A system that allows people to manage their private and professional life would  ease the pressure and clear the border to find peace still when they are home officing. Later in  the brainstorming stage, we came up with several different ideas about how we can set the  boundaries and how the developed artificial intelligence could help us finish the repetitive  chores. Finally, we gave a remarkable fictional story at the elevator pitch time, yet reflect the

real life of lots of work class. Our main character is called John, he is 38 years old and works  for a very famous international company. During this pandemic time, he home-offices a lot  and seems like he does a lot of overtime. He felt very burdened by the vague border between  his private time and work time. He hired a housekeeper to clean his room while he is at work,  which is not possible anymore because he has to be constantly at home. Our prototype, which  can help him clear the border again to gain some peacetime, will help the people who have  similar issues during the home officing time.

Insights and Approach

Based on the fact that we were total strangers to each other, we had to propose a prototype in  two hours.  The design thinking process works the best when we feel relaxed and trusted.  Storytelling is one of the most excellent tools that shorten the distance and builds connections  subconsciously. After the whole process, we were satisfied with the results we were able to  deliver, but we also feel like we know each other better. We share so many similarities in our  life stages even though our life experiences, our cultural backgrounds are different. That is the  charm of storytelling. It is the most potent tool to raise emotional resonations and build  rapport in a short time. Upon the final approach, we still have to do the iterations judging on  the results of the learning launch. As I mentioned earlier, lots of design thinking tools are of  great help in different situations. I will keep devoting myself to the design thinking process  and improve the innovative skills.

