VISUALIZATION   BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE

1.  Challenge:

I am currently working on a project aiming at energy savings in mall of India applying the  models of behavioural economics under a bigger Indian initiative of the Indian Ministry of  Environment. In general, it is under the umbrella of the climate change mitigation efforts.  The project is not directly entrepreneurial one, but actually beyond the climate action skills  and motivation it contributes to building also social and economic skills of children in  Government schools. They calculate energy and financial savings, they decide how to  spend the saved money and they gain leadership and communication skills.

One of the first steps of the project is a Training of Trainers program for university  professors, who are Training a teachers’ training program and are elaborating the relevant  teaching materials and handouts and tools for students. The work in schools with the  students is planned as extracurricular work in which teachers establish so called energy  teams who after being trained conduct the initiative for energy savings with their  classmates, teachers, maintenance personnel and parents from the whole school. The  challenge here is how to involve the teachers and students to co-create the tools that they  use in their work in order to give them ownership, self-identification and thus strongest  commitment to the initiative.

2.  Selection

Because of this they made many changes and other public buildings seems at first glance  easy, but it’s actually tough. And this so because the bills for electricity and heating, as well  as for energy efficiency refurbishment are paid by the municipality or government, say, by  everybody, not by the single user of the building. But actually these bills depend very much  on the way the end-users of the building behave, how they use the building. This gap  between the interests and incentives of the one who pays the bill and the one who makes  the bill appears to be a kind of a black box. For this reason, as we were convinced already  in the fourth and fifth lectures of the first week the stated problem is appropriate to be  tackled by design thinking tools.

For me to elaborate this I think this is an appropriate tool of design thinking to implement in  this project was the visualization as an opportunity to involve all entities in the project  (professors, teachers, students) in the co- creation of the tools which are used in the project  implementation. All three groups of actors need to develop concepts and messages  together with their targeted audiences. As demonstrated in the Good kitchen story of the  first week session, was the best session for explaining this tool. Visualization is anyway is  the best tool, because all final products need it for better understanding of the measures  promoted in the schools and leading to energy savings.

3.  Application:

The very first step which I took is asking the team of university professors to give me each a  short list of concepts, objects which they would like to be illustrated in their teachers’  manuals and students working materials. Of course, I explained to them the reason I am  asking them for this and the upcoming steps. I generated a long list of those, such as the  Globe, water, frog, river, impact, experiment, temperature, light, flask, hand, car, thermal  plant, cloud, sun, greenhouse, electrical bulb, etc.

Then what next? I met with a graphic designer whom I know and believe is always  happy to experiments beyond drawings and computer design, as well as open minded  and with positive personality. I explain to her my concept introducing to her in the

simplest possible way the approaches of co-creating and in general the visualization  tool as an option in the design thinking for finding creative solutions for complicated  problems. The task I am giving to her is to create for us examples of images of the  above listed objects using only simple geometrical figures, as well as to propose font  and set of colors.

In a workshop setting with the professors we exercise to visualize a much wider list of terms  and objects using the same simple geometric figures – triangle, circle, ellipse, line, arrow,  square, etc. They take it as a game and it works perfectly. And because professors from  different subject matters (chemistry, biology, geography, physics, pre-school pedagogic) are  curios people and have teaching skills, they immediately grasp the methodology and apply  it in their teachers ’training courses. In this way we get to a co-created educational materials  – teachers’ manual and students’ handouts.

In their work with the students teachers implement the same technique. The students really  like the game of co-creation of visual tools which they use to convince their classmates turn  off the lights when they are not in the class room, to air the room for five minutes, opening  the window wide or making draft between two windows, instead of keeping the window  slightly open all the time, etc.

4.  Insight:

During my attendance of the course I was realizing that in some cases in my professional  work I have actually implemented some elements of the design thinking concept, but these  were intuitive and not planned and structured exercises I was doing with my stakeholders in  the projects. Now and in this particular first attempt to implement thoughtfully and in a  planned manner the design thinking approach is really giving me the confidence and self-  esteem to use the different tools of design thinking in the appropriate situations in my work.

5.  Approach:

I will use this tool next also for doing the experiment of design thinking already at the stage  of my project design and development together with my colleagues and/ or stakeholders. In  this case, which I described above I simply realized that I have this opportunity to use the  budget for the corporate design of the project and materials multipurpose and add value to  this budget line by taking the opportunity to enrich the scale of project results by  empowering the motivation and incentives of students to do their “energy saving job” while  giving them ownership of the product they use..


VISUALIZATION BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE 1 . Challenge : I am currently working on a project aiming at energy savings in mall of India applying the models of behavioural economics under a bigger Indian initiative of the Indian Ministry of Environment . In general , it is under the umbrella of the climate change mitigation efforts . The project is not directly entrepreneurial one , but actually beyond the climate action skills and motivation it contributes to building also social and economic skills of children in Government schools . They calculate energy and financial savings , they decide how to spend the saved money and they gain leadership and communication skills . One of the first steps of the project is a Training of Trainers program for university professors , who are Training a teachers ’ training program and are elaborating the relevant teaching materials and handouts and tools for students . The work in schools with the students is planned as extracurricular work in which teachers establish so called energy teams who after being trained conduct the initiative for energy savings with their classmates , teachers , maintenance personnel and parents from the whole school . The challenge here is how to involve the teachers and students to co - create the tools that they use in their work in order to give them ownership , self - identification and thus strongest commitment to the initiative . 2 . Selection Because of this they made many changes and other public buildings seems at first glance easy , but it ’s actually tough . And this so because the bills for electricity and heating , as well as for energy efficiency refurbishment are paid by the municipality or government , say , by everybody , not by the single user of the building . But actually these bills depend very much on the way the end - users of the building behave , how they use the building . This gap between the interests and incentives of the one who pays the bill and the one who makes the bill appears to be a kind of a black box . For this reason , as we were convinced already in the fourth and fifth lectures of the first week the stated problem is appropriate to be tackled by design thinking tools . For me to elaborate this I think this is an appropriate tool of design thinking to implement in this project was the visualization as an opportunity to involve all entities in the project ( professors , teachers , students ) in the co- creation of the tools which are used in the project implementation . All three groups of actors need to develop concepts and messages together with their targeted audiences . As demonstrated in the Good kitchen story of the first week session , was the best session for explaining this tool . Visualization is anyway is the best tool , because all final products need it for better understanding of the measures promoted in the schools and leading to energy savings . 3 . Application : The very first step which I took is asking the team of university professors to give me each a short list of concepts , objects which they would like to be illustrated in their teachers ’ manuals and students working materials . Of course , I explained to them the reason I am asking them for this and the upcoming steps . I generated a long list of those , such as the Globe , water , frog , river , impact , experiment , temperature , light , flask , hand , car , thermal plant , cloud , sun , greenhouse , electrical bulb , etc . Then what next ? I met with a graphic designer whom I know and believe is always happy to experiments beyond drawings and computer design , as well as open minded and with positive personality . I explain to her my concept introducing to her in the simplest possible way the approaches of co - creating and in general the visualization tool as an option in the design thinking for finding creative solutions for complicated problems . The task I am giving to her is to create for us examples of images of the above listed objects using only simple geometrical figures , as well as to propose font and set of colors . In a workshop setting with the professors we exercise to visualize a much wider list of terms and objects using the same simple geometric figures – triangle , circle , ellipse , line , arrow , square , etc . They take it as a game and it works perfectly . And because professors from different subject matters ( chemistry , biology , geography , physics , pre - school pedagogic ) are curios people and have teaching skills , they immediately grasp the methodology and apply it in their teachers ’ training courses . In this way we get to a co - created educational materials – teachers ’ manual and students ’ handouts . In their work with the students teachers implement the same technique . The students really like the game of co - creation of visual tools which they use to convince their classmates turn off the lights when they are not in the class room , to air the room for five minutes , opening the window wide or making draft between two windows , instead of keeping the window slightly open all the time , etc . 4 . Insight : During my attendance of the course I was realizing that in some cases in my professional work I have actually implemented some elements of the design thinking concept , but these were intuitive and not planned and structured exercises I was doing with my stakeholders in the projects . Now and in this particular first attempt to implement thoughtfully and in a planned manner the design thinking approach is really giving me the confidence and self- esteem to use the different tools of design thinking in the appropriate situations in my work . 5 . Approach : I will use this tool next also for doing the experiment of design thinking already at the stage of my project design and development together with my colleagues and/ or stakeholders . In this case , which I described above I simply realized that I have this opportunity to use the budget for the corporate design of the project and materials multipurpose and add value to this budget line by taking the opportunity to enrich the scale of project results by empowering the motivation and incentives of students to do their “ energy saving job ” while giving them ownership of the product they use ..