DESIGN THINKING FOR INNOVATION ASSIGNMENT

COURSERA

Miguel Fernandes

THE CHALLENGE1

I am a systems thinker, learning to think-design. In the last six months I have been involved  in a multidisciplinary design project led by design teachers and students from Alliance University. The project has to do with Concord, an amusement park under construction in  Costa Rica.  Concorde is going to be a park able to offer its Costa Rican’s (CR) visitors a  space-time shell for both a ludic reunion with their culture and with ancestral mother earth.  And for non-Costa Ricans an opportunity to know more about this rich culture-nature.  As a  matter of fact, the originators and financial supporters of this undertaking aim at building a  thematic park able to offer visitors a variety of ludic interactive experiences to recover both  the meanings that historically have shaped CR’s cultural identity and the respect for their  natural legacies.

In preliminary meetings with management to define the design challenge, they pointed out  that they had paid much attention to the “reunion with the culture” aspect of the project but  that they needed to think more thoroughly the “reconnecting with mother earth” aspect.   Accordingly, management posed the following challenge: design experiences that could  open the senses of the visitors to the surrounding nature and to the particular disruptive ways  we relate to her.

We began our design-thinking process with the what is stage. Accordingly, we launched a  series of activities such as interviews to management, gathering of relevant written and video  materials and visits to the park under construction. Using tools like mind mapping, several  issues began to emerge from the data thus collected. One issue was related to management  preoccupation with appropriate waste disposal in the park and how to relate this to the need  to contribute to raise consciousness on the harm done to nature and to the future viability of  the planet, shall our intensive-waste economies continue to rule the world. In this direction  they felt an amusement park could be a powerful educational tool. As a matter of fact, they  said   the park should be a living example to their visitors of respect and care for nature. They  wanted to make transparent to the visitors the innumerable provisions management has taken  during the construction of the park (35% so far) to protect the surrounding flora and fauna,  the natural sources of water, and to ensure a clean energy supply. Another “proof” of their  concern with environmental issues was their adoption of circular economy practices in the  operation of Concord. An interesting insight arose from one interview in which one of the  managers explained why the park’s name was Concord: We want visitors learn to weave a  new covenant with mother nature. Some design criteria also began to emerge. The

1 The information presented here is confidential. No use of this material is permitted without the author´s consent. Names and places have  been changed in order to protect the clients’ privacy.

educational activities of the park should make ample use of ludic and experiential learning.  Visitors should be invited to experiment and play to become aware of their connection with  nature (or the lack of it). With these and other insights and design criteria we went into the  what if stage. Using idea generation methods such as brainstorming and collage techniques,  several ideas and combinations of them emerged. For instance, the use of augmented reality  apps to allow visitors enter any of the basic park attractions ---e.g. traveling by boat on a  small scale representation of the main river of the region--- and by pointing their cell phones  or tablets to, for instance the river, display on the screen phone which species of fish are  native of this region and what is their level of extinction risk. Another idea related to the  previous one was the use of banners throughout the park with pictures representing flora and  fauna of the region and a QR code to obtain 3D eco-information on the spot.

After a couple of months, we programmed the first meeting with management to elicit their  feedback on some of these ideas to tackle the challenge. Their reaction was: we like them but  they are quite unarticulated both between themselves and in relation to some attractions of  Concord like the Butterfly Nursery or the mythological malokas (like huts where mother  nature plays a central role). At this point comes into play the Storytelling Tool whose  application I would like to present in this written assignment.

SELECTION OF THE TOOL

We felt our power point presentations were far from inspirational. Furthermore, as  management has pointed out, our business ideas were quite unarticulated.  A story, we  thought, could help us to string them together in a coherent meaningful whole. Which in turn  will help us to inspire our clients, in relation to the challenge. Storytelling is a powerful tool  used by design thinkers to communicate business concepts in a way that is inspirational for  business leaders and stake holders involved in a design-challenge situation. (Week 2. Video:  Storytelling tool). Its power lies in that we are, as many have said, storytelling beings. That  is why we all resonate with a good story. There is an emotional connection with it that allows  design thinkers to more easily communicate with business managers.

APPLICATION OF THE SELECTED TOOL

Voyage to the center of mother earth. This was the Vernian-like title of the story we created.  Visitors would undertake a reunion journey with mother earth to ask her forgiveness and  listen to her breezy words of wisdom to help humanity draw a new covenant to save Pacha- Gaia-Us. In this new covenant the earth will recover its sacred condition and humans will  become again her sacred children, committed both to mend the harm made, and care and  honor their mother ever after.

The journey starts in a Maloka (American Indian hut) with an introduction to the visitors to  the local Pachamama mythologies of ancestral cultures of Central and South America. The  universality of this archetypal figure is shown to the visitor by introducing Gaia, the ancestral  mother of all life in Greek mythology. These mythologies were powerful “stories” which  inspired and organized human action for centuries in complete harmony with nature. How  have we become to the present condition on the verge of the total destruction of the earth?

Perhaps we need a new powerful mythology, within which a new covenant with mother  nature can be embedded. These reflections will set the tone for the journey to the center of  mother earth (Pacha-Gaia).

The trip will unfold through a trail which has five stations related to the five senses. In each  station the initial message will be revisited. In effect, visitors will receive a gift from mother  earth followed by a short video showing how that gift has been destroyed by us, consciously  or unconsciously. In the first station visitors will come across Dancing Colors. It is a butterfly  nursery. Butterflies of the region are well known for the beautiful colors of their wings.  In  this setting, one will be able to appreciate their magnificent colors flying and drawing all  kinds of color patterns in the air. In the same place visitors will see a video showing how  intensive agriculture based on agrochemicals has poisoned this beautiful gift. Before heading  to the next station, visitors will be asked to reflect on how are they responsible of this tragedy.  In the next four stations, Healing Fragrances (a flower garden), Golden Nuggets (Maize, a  sacred plant, a gift from the Sun God), Garden of  Sounds (nature-made sounds),  and  Caress  (barefooting walking on grass, or a path of stones and water, or simply plain earth), the gift  followed by the gift destruction and the self-reflection pattern will be repeated, the only  difference being that  the reflection at each station will be compounded with the previous  reflections  to finally reach  a climax: the encounter with Pacha-Gaia at the end of the trail.

The storytelling approach to communicate to management our business concept was  remarkably much better than our previous ppt. presentation. In addition, the voyage story    allowed management to see how this whole narrative could help to define more clearly the  identity of the Concord park. In fact, some of the settings required in each stage of this  Journey were already in place in the park (particularly the butterfly’s nursery and the  mythological hut), and others could be integrated into the narrative to provide visitors with a  holistic experience.

INSIGHT AND APPROACH

An eye opener was to see how difficult was to communicate a complex business concept  using traditional ppt. presentations (even when taking care of choosing very carefully the  images in such presentations). The story telling tool improved communication with  management 100%. An alternative approach came to mind during the application of the ST  tool. It was the use of Visualization in the form of a storyboard.  The linear direction of the  cells in a storyboard is quite suitable for storytelling.


DESIGN THINKING FOR INNOVATION ASSIGNMENT COURSERA Miguel Fernandes THE CHALLENGE1 I am a systems thinker , learning to think - design . In the last six months I have been involved in a multidisciplinary design project led by design teachers and students from Alliance University . The project has to do with Concord , an amusement park under construction in Costa Rica . Concorde is going to be a park able to offer its Costa Rican ’s ( CR ) visitors a space - time shell for both a ludic reunion with their culture and with ancestral mother earth . And for non - Costa Ricans an opportunity to know more about this rich culture - nature . As a matter of fact , the originators and financial supporters of this undertaking aim at building a thematic park able to offer visitors a variety of ludic interactive experiences to recover both the meanings that historically have shaped CR ’s cultural identity and the respect for their natural legacies . In preliminary meetings with management to define the design challenge , they pointed out that they had paid much attention to the “ reunion with the culture ” aspect of the project but that they needed to think more thoroughly the “ reconnecting with mother earth ” aspect . Accordingly , management posed the following challenge : design experiences that could open the senses of the visitors to the surrounding nature and to the particular disruptive ways we relate to her . We began our design - thinking process with the what is stage . Accordingly , we launched a series of activities such as interviews to management , gathering of relevant written and video materials and visits to the park under construction . Using tools like mind mapping , several issues began to emerge from the data thus collected . One issue was related to management preoccupation with appropriate waste disposal in the park and how to relate this to the need to contribute to raise consciousness on the harm done to nature and to the future viability of the planet , shall our intensive - waste economies continue to rule the world . In this direction they felt an amusement park could be a powerful educational tool . As a matter of fact , they said the park should be a living example to their visitors of respect and care for nature . They wanted to make transparent to the visitors the innumerable provisions management has taken during the construction of the park ( 35 % so far ) to protect the surrounding flora and fauna , the natural sources of water , and to ensure a clean energy supply . Another “ proof ” of their concern with environmental issues was their adoption of circular economy practices in the operation of Concord . An interesting insight arose from one interview in which one of the managers explained why the park ’s name was Concord : We want visitors learn to weave a new covenant with mother nature . Some design criteria also began to emerge . The 1 The information presented here is confidential . No use of this material is permitted without the author´s consent . Names and places have been changed in order to protect the clients ’ privacy . educational activities of the park should make ample use of ludic and experiential learning . Visitors should be invited to experiment and play to become aware of their connection with nature ( or the lack of it ) . With these and other insights and design criteria we went into the what if stage . Using idea generation methods such as brainstorming and collage techniques , several ideas and combinations of them emerged . For instance , the use of augmented reality apps to allow visitors enter any of the basic park attractions ---e.g . traveling by boat on a small scale representation of the main river of the region--- and by pointing their cell phones or tablets to , for instance the river , display on the screen phone which species of fish are native of this region and what is their level of extinction risk . Another idea related to the previous one was the use of banners throughout the park with pictures representing flora and fauna of the region and a QR code to obtain 3D eco - information on the spot . After a couple of months , we programmed the first meeting with management to elicit their feedback on some of these ideas to tackle the challenge . Their reaction was : we like them but they are quite unarticulated both between themselves and in relation to some attractions of Concord like the Butterfly Nursery or the mythological malokas ( like huts where mother nature plays a central role ) . At this point comes into play the Storytelling Tool whose application I would like to present in this written assignment . SELECTION OF THE TOOL We felt our power point presentations were far from inspirational . Furthermore , as management has pointed out , our business ideas were quite unarticulated . A story , we thought , could help us to string them together in a coherent meaningful whole . Which in turn will help us to inspire our clients , in relation to the challenge . Storytelling is a powerful tool used by design thinkers to communicate business concepts in a way that is inspirational for business leaders and stake holders involved in a design - challenge situation . ( Week 2 . Video : Storytelling tool ) . Its power lies in that we are , as many have said , storytelling beings . That is why we all resonate with a good story . There is an emotional connection with it that allows design thinkers to more easily communicate with business managers . APPLICATION OF THE SELECTED TOOL Voyage to the center of mother earth . This was the Vernian - like title of the story we created . Visitors would undertake a reunion journey with mother earth to ask her forgiveness and listen to her breezy words of wisdom to help humanity draw a new covenant to save Pacha- Gaia - Us . In this new covenant the earth will recover its sacred condition and humans will become again her sacred children , committed both to mend the harm made , and care and honor their mother ever after . The journey starts in a Maloka ( American Indian hut ) with an introduction to the visitors to the local Pachamama mythologies of ancestral cultures of Central and South America . The universality of this archetypal figure is shown to the visitor by introducing Gaia , the ancestral mother of all life in Greek mythology . These mythologies were powerful “ stories ” which inspired and organized human action for centuries in complete harmony with nature . How have we become to the present condition on the verge of the total destruction of the earth ? Perhaps we need a new powerful mythology , within which a new covenant with mother nature can be embedded . These reflections will set the tone for the journey to the center of mother earth ( Pacha - Gaia ) . The trip will unfold through a trail which has five stations related to the five senses . In each station the initial message will be revisited . In effect , visitors will receive a gift from mother earth followed by a short video showing how that gift has been destroyed by us , consciously or unconsciously . In the first station visitors will come across Dancing Colors . It is a butterfly nursery . Butterflies of the region are well known for the beautiful colors of their wings . In this setting , one will be able to appreciate their magnificent colors flying and drawing all kinds of color patterns in the air . In the same place visitors will see a video showing how intensive agriculture based on agrochemicals has poisoned this beautiful gift . Before heading to the next station , visitors will be asked to reflect on how are they responsible of this tragedy . In the next four stations , Healing Fragrances ( a flower garden ) , Golden Nuggets ( Maize , a sacred plant , a gift from the Sun God ) , Garden of Sounds ( nature - made sounds ) , and Caress ( barefooting walking on grass , or a path of stones and water , or simply plain earth ) , the gift followed by the gift destruction and the self - reflection pattern will be repeated , the only difference being that the reflection at each station will be compounded with the previous reflections to finally reach a climax : the encounter with Pacha - Gaia at the end of the trail . The storytelling approach to communicate to management our business concept was remarkably much better than our previous ppt . presentation . In addition , the voyage story allowed management to see how this whole narrative could help to define more clearly the identity of the Concord park . In fact , some of the settings required in each stage of this Journey were already in place in the park ( particularly the butterfly ’s nursery and the mythological hut ) , and others could be integrated into the narrative to provide visitors with a holistic experience . INSIGHT AND APPROACH An eye opener was to see how difficult was to communicate a complex business concept using traditional ppt . presentations ( even when taking care of choosing very carefully the images in such presentations ) . The story telling tool improved communication with management 100 % . An alternative approach came to mind during the application of the ST tool . It was the use of Visualization in the form of a storyboard . The linear direction of the cells in a storyboard is quite suitable for storytelling .