Design Thinking for Innovation

Peer-graded Assignment: Reflection

1. Challenge

I am a member of faculty member of the university that looking on the welfare of the students.  Here we are looking on how we can provide the support mechanism to the students from first  generation and low income students. Here, we applied one of the design thinking methodology  to understand elements that lead to success in higher education among first generation and  low-income students. Through this exercise, we would like to determine what are the support  systems that can be offered to this group in order to succeed or overcome their challenges that  faced by them.

2. Selection

In this exercise, storytelling tool is selected to be used to achieve a shared understanding of the  elements that leads to success in higher education among first generation and low income  students. Stories generate questions and questions expand the breadth and depth of stories,  leading to lots of innovative thoughts and ideas. Storytelling becomes an important tool for  feedback, which is the basis of the iterative process of prototyping that lead to solutions. Stories  and prototypes are intertwined, explaining and repositioning experiences through a multitude of  potential interpretations, which allow me to test new solutions before committing exclusively to  a particular policy, program, or service.

3. Application

We started the process by creating a storyboard of the problem domain through visualization of  the scenario of the case. To validate this, we have conducted the interviews with the first  generation/low-income students who have studied abroad and capture their stories. I believe that  listening with empathy is the first step toward explaining these unexplained transformations.

a. Preparation of the Storytelling exercise    Firstly, we audience is first generation and low-income students. A group of different  background, example 12 students as the personas will be invited to this session.

  In this exercise, on average, 1-2 hours of time is required. Add or subtract time depending  on the breadth of the experience. For this activity, the number of participants are one  facilitator and two or three story-mappers.

  Other than the targeted audience, other group that should participate in this exercise are  the core team, typically consisting of the product owner, project manager, design lead,  technical/development lead.

  We prepare the supplies, which a large chunk of wall space or Post-it tabletop pads,  Sharpies for each participant, different colored Post-it will be given.

b. Activity    In this activity, a set out a bundle of supplies for each participant that includes a Sharpie  marker and two colors of large size Post-Its is prepared. We also print-outs the project  goals. On the wall, we created a key that identifies what each of the Post-It colors mean.  In this exercise, the blue Post-It is the “step” and yellow is the “user story.” It’s best to  start by explaining the exercise from start to finish so that every stakeholders can

understand how it works, what the goals of the exercise are, and what the output of the  exercise will be. The beauty of this activity is that it can be summed up very simply: the  personas (students) will be telling stories about how they grew up and managed the  challenges throughout the journey. To be more specific, they will be telling stories about  the way how they grew up and managed their journey until the university despite the  hurdles and challenges. What are the challenges and issues that they faced?

  From these stories I have created a prioritized backlog of features and functionality. This  useful model will outline the support systems that can be provided to this group of  audience. This will be summarized as the functionality, key feature bundles and/or  releases that will add the most value for users, and an understanding of any missing  features that need deeper exploration or vetting.

  All the story by the personas are mapped out on a wall prior to meeting with the audience,  so more can be discussed and accomplished in a shorter period of time. However, this  doesn’t have to be done in order to host a successful story mapping session.

  As this story is being read, I begin to map out (in story-telling order) each of the major  activities like. After that, once all questions related to basics of the story, I asked another  questions to ensure that we have covered as many of the use cases as possible.  For  example, what happens if students are having family issues during their life? Try to map  out stories for these situations too.

4. Insight

  Listening to and empathizing with their needs, I gained enormous insights into the types of  support services and mentoring first gens feel will help them navigate the academic and social  challenges they face from the time they complete high school throughout college. Anxiety  and bewilderment are patterns of behavior I found among first generation low-income  students when they share stories about their first encounter with campus culture.

  Many feel like outsiders, confused by the academy’s social and academic expectations. The  social isolation, low self-confidence, and academic paralysis generated by these feelings seem  to melt away among first generation/low-income students who study abroad. Why? What  happens when they and their middle- and upper-middle class peers travel to countries and  experience unfamiliar cultures and languages?

  It is also concluded that the changes in behavior among first generation/low-income students:

o An increase in confidence, self-efficacy, openness, perceptual acuity, resilience —

general effectiveness in cross-cultural situations.

o Are these trends anecdotal or are we really on to something? Does study abroad add

value to the college experience of first generation/low-income students in ways that  are fundamentally different from their middle- and upper-middle class peers?

5. Feedback

The storytelling is a powerful communication tool that enables us as a human being to understand  more about our emotional experiences. This makes it an effective method to use during the design  process. It can be used during the design thinking process phases with a different goal in each  stage. Storytelling can help us to gather personalised emotional data about our consumer’s  experience which can be hard to collect using other research methods such as the survey and  consumer journey mapping.

6. Approach

Given that our team has already gone through several design thinking activities/tools and are at  this stage in the timeline, the storytelling is the appropriate tool. As previously mentioned, our  team needs to to understand elements that lead to success in higher education among first  generation and low-income students. Through this exercise, we would like to determine what are  the support systems that can be offered to this group in order to succeed or overcome their  challenges that faced by them. Future launch designs should reflect insight gained, progress made,  and come closer to a compelling solution ready for full rollout.


Design Thinking for Innovation Peer - graded Assignment : Reflection 1 . Challenge I am a member of faculty member of the university that looking on the welfare of the students . Here we are looking on how we can provide the support mechanism to the students from first generation and low income students . Here , we applied one of the design thinking methodology to understand elements that lead to success in higher education among first generation and low - income students . Through this exercise , we would like to determine what are the support systems that can be offered to this group in order to succeed or overcome their challenges that faced by them . 2 . Selection In this exercise , storytelling tool is selected to be used to achieve a shared understanding of the elements that leads to success in higher education among first generation and low income students . Stories generate questions and questions expand the breadth and depth of stories , leading to lots of innovative thoughts and ideas . Storytelling becomes an important tool for feedback , which is the basis of the iterative process of prototyping that lead to solutions . Stories and prototypes are intertwined , explaining and repositioning experiences through a multitude of potential interpretations , which allow me to test new solutions before committing exclusively to a particular policy , program , or service . 3 . Application We started the process by creating a storyboard of the problem domain through visualization of the scenario of the case . To validate this , we have conducted the interviews with the first generation / low - income students who have studied abroad and capture their stories . I believe that listening with empathy is the first step toward explaining these unexplained transformations . a. Preparation of the Storytelling exercise  Firstly , we audience is first generation and low - income students . A group of different background , example 12 students as the personas will be invited to this session .  In this exercise , on average , 1 - 2 hours of time is required . Add or subtract time depending on the breadth of the experience . For this activity , the number of participants are one facilitator and two or three story - mappers .  Other than the targeted audience , other group that should participate in this exercise are the core team , typically consisting of the product owner , project manager , design lead , technical / development lead .  We prepare the supplies , which a large chunk of wall space or Post - it tabletop pads , Sharpies for each participant , different colored Post - it will be given . b. Activity  In this activity , a set out a bundle of supplies for each participant that includes a Sharpie marker and two colors of large size Post - Its is prepared . We also print - outs the project goals . On the wall , we created a key that identifies what each of the Post - It colors mean . In this exercise , the blue Post - It is the “ step ” and yellow is the “ user story . ” It ’s best to start by explaining the exercise from start to finish so that every stakeholders can understand how it works , what the goals of the exercise are , and what the output of the exercise will be . The beauty of this activity is that it can be summed up very simply : the personas ( students ) will be telling stories about how they grew up and managed the challenges throughout the journey . To be more specific , they will be telling stories about the way how they grew up and managed their journey until the university despite the hurdles and challenges . What are the challenges and issues that they faced ?  From these stories I have created a prioritized backlog of features and functionality . This useful model will outline the support systems that can be provided to this group of audience . This will be summarized as the functionality , key feature bundles and/or releases that will add the most value for users , and an understanding of any missing features that need deeper exploration or vetting .  All the story by the personas are mapped out on a wall prior to meeting with the audience , so more can be discussed and accomplished in a shorter period of time . However , this does n’t have to be done in order to host a successful story mapping session .  As this story is being read , I begin to map out ( in story - telling order ) each of the major activities like . After that , once all questions related to basics of the story , I asked another questions to ensure that we have covered as many of the use cases as possible . For example , what happens if students are having family issues during their life ? Try to map out stories for these situations too . 4 . Insight  Listening to and empathizing with their needs , I gained enormous insights into the types of support services and mentoring first gens feel will help them navigate the academic and social challenges they face from the time they complete high school throughout college . Anxiety and bewilderment are patterns of behavior I found among first generation low - income students when they share stories about their first encounter with campus culture .  Many feel like outsiders , confused by the academy ’s social and academic expectations . The social isolation , low self - confidence , and academic paralysis generated by these feelings seem to melt away among first generation / low - income students who study abroad . Why ? What happens when they and their middle- and upper - middle class peers travel to countries and experience unfamiliar cultures and languages ?  It is also concluded that the changes in behavior among first generation / low - income students : o An increase in confidence , self - efficacy , openness , perceptual acuity , resilience — general effectiveness in cross - cultural situations . o Are these trends anecdotal or are we really on to something ? Does study abroad add value to the college experience of first generation / low - income students in ways that are fundamentally different from their middle- and upper - middle class peers ? 5 . Feedback The storytelling is a powerful communication tool that enables us as a human being to understand more about our emotional experiences . This makes it an effective method to use during the design process . It can be used during the design thinking process phases with a different goal in each stage . Storytelling can help us to gather personalised emotional data about our consumer ’s experience which can be hard to collect using other research methods such as the survey and consumer journey mapping . 6 . Approach Given that our team has already gone through several design thinking activities / tools and are at this stage in the timeline , the storytelling is the appropriate tool . As previously mentioned , our team needs to to understand elements that lead to success in higher education among first generation and low - income students . Through this exercise , we would like to determine what are the support systems that can be offered to this group in order to succeed or overcome their challenges that faced by them . Future launch designs should reflect insight gained , progress made , and come closer to a compelling solution ready for full rollout .