School:

National University of Colombia

University of Virginia

Instructor:

Carolina Gomez

Final Assignment:

Reflection - Visualization Tool

Name:

Carolina Finetti

Date:

February 15th, 2021

Challenge

My name is Carolina Gomez, I am currently studying Engineering in Development and

Innovation, where the application of design thinking is crucial for my career to know

how to create a new product idea or even optimizing one that already exists. The

reason why I started this course is because one of our final projects on the subject of

“Innovation and experimentation of creative processes” is to design furniture made

out of cardboard. This sustainable furniture must help the elderly to carry out

different activities, such as putting on shoes, cutting their toenails, moving around,

doing flexibility exercises, and other simple activities that may be difficult for them

due to their age. Thanks to the different steps of the design thinking process, I will be

able to successfully create these innovative cardboard furniture and empathize with

the user in the best possible way.

Selection

I believe that using the visualization tool allowed me to get to the main purpose of

the project, to empathize with the user through innovation. As Angela Weyes said in

her video explaining the visualization tool, this leads us to extrapolation, which is

inductive reasoning and thinking about possibilities that we have not yet seen. Finally

the way we did it was by doing sketches of our ideas, in order for the whole team to

understand what we can not explain in simple words. Fortunately, each member of

the team were from different careers, so having different points of view on how to

make this sustainable furniture allowed us to consider all possibilities and led us to

having one big idea. Later on, each member of the team did their own sketch on the

cardboard furniture, and by the end we created one single final sketch that

complemented each of the other sketches.

Application

Since the objective of the project was the design of the product itself, the team and I

decided that brainstorming would be the best way to get there. This however, was no

easy task, since everyone had different ideas on how the product should be, but at

the same time, it allowed us to share ideas and merge them into one single idea.

Therefore, I think that visualization would have been the most helpful innovation tool

as we wanted to create an idea with a team from a diverse background that offered

expertise and insight in various different subjects.

Furthermore, using the visualization tool allowed us to have a very clear idea on how

the furniture would be and how it can be innovative. As a team, we decided that

making a table that could elevate only by pulling a cardboard bar up and down would

be sufficient enough to cover the necessities of the elderly mentioned above. In this

way, they could use the mini table for any purpose they wanted. Also, the cardboard

table could lift up over 35 kg, which we considered is enough since the whole thing

was made out of cardboard.

Insight

After finishing the course, I learned that in order to generate an innovative product, it

is not enough to have a new idea, you got to know how to implement it in your

day-to-day life. Just like the visualization tool, it takes several steps to even generate

a simple drawing. What I noticed about the team is how we focused on making the

cardboard furniture simpler rather than innovative. To achieve this, we must have a

broad repertoire and think outside the box. Continuously, know how to change the

mindset of people so that they can see what we want to convey, which is how a

simple piece of cardboard can help the elderly in a way that they did not know it

could be done.

Approach

Another tool that I consider important throughout the course was the learning launch

tool. Personally, I think it goes hand in hand with the visualization tool because you

can not use one without using the other. For example, when experimenting with your

final prototype, you should have first generated it by making sketches of it. On the

other hand, when generating these sketches, you should think about whether it really

is a market need, rather than just a design that looks aesthetically good. That is why

it is important to know how to communicate with people and be able to be

empathetic with users in order to generate data that will help the user to use your

product. You must capture your design and make it a reality, because if people start

to believe in your product, you are already creating innovation.


School : National University of Colombia University of Virginia Instructor : Carolina Gomez Final Assignment : Reflection - Visualization Tool Name : Carolina Finetti Date : February 15th , 2021 Challenge My name is Carolina Gomez , I am currently studying Engineering in Development and Innovation , where the application of design thinking is crucial for my career to know how to create a new product idea or even optimizing one that already exists . The reason why I started this course is because one of our final projects on the subject of “ Innovation and experimentation of creative processes ” is to design furniture made out of cardboard . This sustainable furniture must help the elderly to carry out different activities , such as putting on shoes , cutting their toenails , moving around , doing flexibility exercises , and other simple activities that may be difficult for them due to their age . Thanks to the different steps of the design thinking process , I will be able to successfully create these innovative cardboard furniture and empathize with the user in the best possible way . Selection I believe that using the visualization tool allowed me to get to the main purpose of the project , to empathize with the user through innovation . As Angela Weyes said in her video explaining the visualization tool , this leads us to extrapolation , which is inductive reasoning and thinking about possibilities that we have not yet seen . Finally the way we did it was by doing sketches of our ideas , in order for the whole team to understand what we can not explain in simple words . Fortunately , each member of the team were from different careers , so having different points of view on how to make this sustainable furniture allowed us to consider all possibilities and led us to having one big idea . Later on , each member of the team did their own sketch on the cardboard furniture , and by the end we created one single final sketch that complemented each of the other sketches . Application Since the objective of the project was the design of the product itself , the team and I decided that brainstorming would be the best way to get there . This however , was no easy task , since everyone had different ideas on how the product should be , but at the same time , it allowed us to share ideas and merge them into one single idea . Therefore , I think that visualization would have been the most helpful innovation tool as we wanted to create an idea with a team from a diverse background that offered expertise and insight in various different subjects . Furthermore , using the visualization tool allowed us to have a very clear idea on how the furniture would be and how it can be innovative . As a team , we decided that making a table that could elevate only by pulling a cardboard bar up and down would be sufficient enough to cover the necessities of the elderly mentioned above . In this way , they could use the mini table for any purpose they wanted . Also , the cardboard table could lift up over 35 kg , which we considered is enough since the whole thing was made out of cardboard . Insight After finishing the course , I learned that in order to generate an innovative product , it is not enough to have a new idea , you got to know how to implement it in your day - to - day life . Just like the visualization tool , it takes several steps to even generate a simple drawing . What I noticed about the team is how we focused on making the cardboard furniture simpler rather than innovative . To achieve this , we must have a broad repertoire and think outside the box . Continuously , know how to change the mindset of people so that they can see what we want to convey , which is how a simple piece of cardboard can help the elderly in a way that they did not know it could be done . Approach Another tool that I consider important throughout the course was the learning launch tool . Personally , I think it goes hand in hand with the visualization tool because you can not use one without using the other . For example , when experimenting with your final prototype , you should have first generated it by making sketches of it . On the other hand , when generating these sketches , you should think about whether it really is a market need , rather than just a design that looks aesthetically good . That is why it is important to know how to communicate with people and be able to be empathetic with users in order to generate data that will help the user to use your product . You must capture your design and make it a reality , because if people start to believe in your product , you are already creating innovation .