Learning Launch

Challenge  I am working as a design engineer in a Scandinavian company. The tasks are mainly design and  development of mathematically and algorithmic software for our products. Acting in a global market it is  important that we are able to develop our products efficiently and providing a high quality as demanded by  our customers. Development of such specialized software as we do involves several engineering disciplines:  people with skills within mathematic and dynamic behavior of mechanical systems, and software engineers  with skills in how to implement the algorithms into microcomputers. A challenge we face in our daily work  is the efficient flow of information between people spread among the various disciplines. Historically we  have used one set of tools for development of the mathematic and algorithms and another set of tools for  the final implementation into a microcomputer. (In this sense the ‘tools’ are special programs running on a  PC). This involved a manual translation process from the development domain and into the implementation  domain; a translation which is both time consuming and error prone.

New tools has emerged which is able to combine the development domain with the implementation  domain in automating the translation process. The idea we were going to test was if we could make this  new tool operational in our organization; a task which involved both technical skills and personal skills in  joining the multi engineering disciplines closer together.

Selection  The task I am describing here was carried out a couple of years ago, - before I took the Design Thinking  class. By reflecting back I now realize what we did at that time was close to the concept of the Learning  Launch tool as Luz Marina described so good. Therefore, I will address the sequence of test we went through  from a Learning Launch point of view.

Alternatives? Well, we needed to do some hands on experiments with the tool, so Visualization,  Storytelling and Mind Mapping would not fit here.

Application  The purpose with Learning Launch is to learn; the first thing we did was to gather a team of engineers  representing the disciplines which typically are involved in a development and implementation workflow.  Because of the new tool, which was able to automate part of the software implementation, the particular  tasks each engineer would do was about to undergo a transformation. This change represents an unstable  situation which possibly could lead to antipathy against the new tool amongst some people, hence, to  address this it was important that each engineer found it professional challenging to be involved.  Fortunately the motivation was high, indicating a great learning mindset and curiosity to achieve new  experiences; i.e. each team member’s repertoire was broadened during the work.

What we did in practice, was to redesign a sub-part of one of our existing products using the new tool. This,  in first hand, provided learnings on the tool itself, i.e. how to use it effectively and how to take benefit of  the new technical features it provided. After reflecting on the knowledge we gained and after discussions  with the tool vendor, which helped us to correct some of our misunderstandings, we were ready for the  second round of the learning process: to optimize the outcome of the tool, that is the software to be  implemented in a microcomputer. Because we were able to benchmark the outcome against an existing  design made with our previous tools and workflow, we gained a lot of knowledge that helped us in tuning  in to the most optimal design process.

In a third launch of the learning process, we applied all what we have gained until now in the design of a  new feature for a completely new product; It was now time to acquire the final learnings on workflow  efficiency and usability and eventually prove the advantage of the new design tool and workflow.

Insight & Approach  As I mentioned, this investigation of a new design tool was ran long before I took the Design Thinking class,  so at that time I was not able to put a name (Learning Launch) on the method we approached. From  previous experiences we felt this was the right thing to do. The demand came from a specific need for a  more efficient workflow, and at the same time being able to develop products with higher quality; New and  more modern design tools provided this opportunity, - if we were able to transform the way we worked,  bot as individuals and as teams.

The insights I have got from this is that is important that team members are prepared for the innovation  process (module 2). By seeing the new tool as an opportunity to broaden the repertoire of professional  skills, instead of something that has to feared because it represent a turnaround of all what is known,  leaded to motivated people, which undoubtedly resulted in the increased learnings we did. Another thing I  will like to highlight is the stepwise approach: After realizing the size and importance of the task (we were  about to make a quite dramatic change in the way many engineers worked), we decided to split the  learnings into three parts: 1) How to use the tool, 2) Technical benchmark of the produced software, 3)  Workflow benchmark, i.e. was the new method more efficient and did it guarantee a better quality. I  believe this consciousness of what we wanted to learn helped us in designing the test cases, - something I  will carry on to next time I am involved in a similar task.

As a closing remark I can mention that we succeeded in transforming the way we work. Almost all our new  development projects are now making use of the new tool and methods.


Learning Launch Challenge I am working as a design engineer in a Scandinavian company . The tasks are mainly design and development of mathematically and algorithmic software for our products . Acting in a global market it is important that we are able to develop our products efficiently and providing a high quality as demanded by our customers . Development of such specialized software as we do involves several engineering disciplines : people with skills within mathematic and dynamic behavior of mechanical systems , and software engineers with skills in how to implement the algorithms into microcomputers . A challenge we face in our daily work is the efficient flow of information between people spread among the various disciplines . Historically we have used one set of tools for development of the mathematic and algorithms and another set of tools for the final implementation into a microcomputer . ( In this sense the ‘ tools ’ are special programs running on a PC ) . This involved a manual translation process from the development domain and into the implementation domain ; a translation which is both time consuming and error prone . New tools has emerged which is able to combine the development domain with the implementation domain in automating the translation process . The idea we were going to test was if we could make this new tool operational in our organization ; a task which involved both technical skills and personal skills in joining the multi engineering disciplines closer together . Selection The task I am describing here was carried out a couple of years ago , - before I took the Design Thinking class . By reflecting back I now realize what we did at that time was close to the concept of the Learning Launch tool as Luz Marina described so good . Therefore , I will address the sequence of test we went through from a Learning Launch point of view . Alternatives ? Well , we needed to do some hands on experiments with the tool , so Visualization , Storytelling and Mind Mapping would not fit here . Application The purpose with Learning Launch is to learn ; the first thing we did was to gather a team of engineers representing the disciplines which typically are involved in a development and implementation workflow . Because of the new tool , which was able to automate part of the software implementation , the particular tasks each engineer would do was about to undergo a transformation . This change represents an unstable situation which possibly could lead to antipathy against the new tool amongst some people , hence , to address this it was important that each engineer found it professional challenging to be involved . Fortunately the motivation was high , indicating a great learning mindset and curiosity to achieve new experiences ; i.e. each team member ’s repertoire was broadened during the work . What we did in practice , was to redesign a sub - part of one of our existing products using the new tool . This , in first hand , provided learnings on the tool itself , i.e. how to use it effectively and how to take benefit of the new technical features it provided . After reflecting on the knowledge we gained and after discussions with the tool vendor , which helped us to correct some of our misunderstandings , we were ready for the second round of the learning process : to optimize the outcome of the tool , that is the software to be implemented in a microcomputer . Because we were able to benchmark the outcome against an existing design made with our previous tools and workflow , we gained a lot of knowledge that helped us in tuning in to the most optimal design process . In a third launch of the learning process , we applied all what we have gained until now in the design of a new feature for a completely new product ; It was now time to acquire the final learnings on workflow efficiency and usability and eventually prove the advantage of the new design tool and workflow . Insight & Approach As I mentioned , this investigation of a new design tool was ran long before I took the Design Thinking class , so at that time I was not able to put a name ( Learning Launch ) on the method we approached . From previous experiences we felt this was the right thing to do . The demand came from a specific need for a more efficient workflow , and at the same time being able to develop products with higher quality ; New and more modern design tools provided this opportunity , - if we were able to transform the way we worked , bot as individuals and as teams . The insights I have got from this is that is important that team members are prepared for the innovation process ( module 2 ) . By seeing the new tool as an opportunity to broaden the repertoire of professional skills , instead of something that has to feared because it represent a turnaround of all what is known , leaded to motivated people , which undoubtedly resulted in the increased learnings we did . Another thing I will like to highlight is the stepwise approach : After realizing the size and importance of the task ( we were about to make a quite dramatic change in the way many engineers worked ) , we decided to split the learnings into three parts : 1 ) How to use the tool , 2 ) Technical benchmark of the produced software , 3 ) Workflow benchmark , i.e. was the new method more efficient and did it guarantee a better quality . I believe this consciousness of what we wanted to learn helped us in designing the test cases , - something I will carry on to next time I am involved in a similar task . As a closing remark I can mention that we succeeded in transforming the way we work . Almost all our new development projects are now making use of the new tool and methods .