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DESIGN THINKING APPLICATION  This paper aims to show how I applied a Design Thinking tool to a current challenge I am working on in  my professional work.

I.  CHALLENGE

I am currently doing projects for the ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (WWF) in the Philippines that  advocates a new concept of Corporate Social Responsibility, but brought down to the level of an  individual, and in particular for the youth. We call this Personal Social Responsibility or Personal CSR  (CSR 3.0) which is anchored on 3 values:

a. Citizenship – where the individual is aware of his or her responsibility in the community, and

society

b. Sustainability – Where each person tries to live in a sustainable way that respects the

environment.

c. Responsiveness—Where each person responds to those in need, and uses his or her talents to

contribute to social good.

The reason why our Foundation believes in this concept of Personal CSR for the youth is because of the  following reasons:

1. The youth in our region (Asia) comprise majority of our population. Therefore they are a force

who can contribute a lot of positive impact for socio-economic development (UNFPA, 2014).

2. Young people are always asking themselves – “How do I create meaning in my life?” “How do I

make a difference?” Hence they are constantly looking for avenues to discover what they want  to do in life, while finding that sweet spot where they use their talents and passions to serve a  specific need in the world (Wong, 2012).

3. Because corporations are always looking for innovative ways to contribute to society, it is

recommended that they engage more young people in their CSR efforts because the youth have  these innovative ideas, and have the passion and ability to execute them (Klein, 2012).

Obviously , Personal CSR is a big concept that can be a challenge for young people to understand. Hence  the project I am working on is a Digital Lifestyle Magazine for the Youth in Asia (starting with those in  college). It aims to showcase inspiring stories of young people and organizations who are creating  positive social and environmental impact, and who embody the values above. It hopes to show role  models that young people in Asia can emulate, and later on realize that doing good for society need not  be hard. They can start with themselves and in their own community. We also want it to be digital in  order to reach as many youth as possible, in this age of social media and connectivity.    My team and I are currently in the brainstorming stage for the pilot issue. The challenge however was to  figure out the right “voice”, “personality” and “content” that we must use in our digital magazine, in a  way that will be relevant to our target market. There are many lifestyle content platforms available  already. So we need to develop content that is distinct, innovative and compelling for the youth of

ASSIGNMENT: DESIGN THINKING FOR INNOVATION  By: Mireya Montes    September 4, 2016 PDT

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today. We even had several arguments because they were struggling to understand how the CSR  concept (which normally is discussed among the corporate and academic world) can be brought down  to level of young people.     Hence our team focused on answering the following questions?

 Who exactly is the young person that we are targeting?   What kind of content will resonate with this young person so he/she can be inspired to act and

do good for society?

 How do we reach this young person, and all the other youth who fit this profile?

II. SELECTION  We used the “Storytelling” tool as a starting point to answer the questions above. I agree with Kazi Regan of Mars Inc. who said in the video compiled in Claire Parodi’s course, that storytelling is a great  way to connect with the “emotions, characters and values of the people” we want to serve (Ale,  2016). It is also relevant for the Digital Magazine, because what we are essentially trying to do is to  empower young people by telling stories.    I think the reasons Regan articulated regarding storytelling is most appropriate for the challenge we  face in creating the Digital Magazine:

a. Storytelling can allow us to create energy, excitement and passion around a cause and advocacy.

This is exactly what we are trying to do – we are advocating a way of life: to live a  lifestyle of contributing to the common good in our own way.

b. Storytelling allows us to make strategy accessible.

The concept of this Personal CSR philosophy is actually result of more than a decade of  research on the evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia, particularly in the  Philippines. Our founder believes that in order for the social responsibility initiatives to  be effective, youth engagement is key. Hence this Digital Magazine is indeed an attempt  in the strategy to connect young people to these organizations who need them to  amplify their social impact.

III. APPLICATION  For more than a year, our Foundation has actually collected real interviews with young people to talk  about how they are volunteering to help society (https://www.youtube.com/user/vdrake). I also got to  share stories from youth awardees that our Foundation recognized who are exemplars of this Personal  CSR advocacy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1ZQmZmkaDD,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HePCiQaZo2X, ).

During the brainstorming we had a week ago, I showed these interviews to our Digital Magazine team.  As I mentioned, prior to that, we had several discussions and even arguments about CSR, and what  exactly we are trying to achieve. But when I showed them these videos, which are real stories of young  people, they started understanding the objective.

Some of us in the team are also teachers in a local college, where we teach the subject Social  Responsibility and Good Governance. Our experience was that although there are many inspiring stories

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of young people doing amazing work that tries to address social problems in developing country, many  of our students are not aware about these stories. They either lack awareness, or are apathetic to this  notion of contributing to society. Most of the time, they just care about getting a good job to help their  families (most of them come from middle to lower income brackets).

But exposure is the key to get these young people to be engaged.

The showcasing of real stories to the Digital Magazine team was effective in contextualizing the kind of  direction we can take when creating our content. It also helped us put a “face” to the target market.

We also identified cases of social media content from pop culture that trended in our region, which gave  us an insight as to the digital strategy to reach the target youth. This strategy involves creating content  that is as “sticky” as the current pop culture trends, but has the messaging that we want to get across.  We need to use hashtags to maximize the multimedia platforms, particularly mobile social media, so we  can reach more audience.

The main point was that we must focus on these personal stories. We eventually decided to adopt the  title of the video blog, and launch “CSR Stories” as a pilot to test this content to our target market.

IV. INSIGHT  This storytelling tool gave me the insight that stories are indeed more relevant and more resonating for  people. To deconstruct a business and academic concept like CSR, into shareable content in a Digital  Lifestyle magazine, seemed pretty daunting for our team. But when I showed the videos, that was when  they understood more what we are trying to achieve.

This makes me realize that stories must be indeed the center of our content. We can show short video  clips (like an Instagram or Vine video) of young people sharing their “CSR Stories”. We also realized that  there are existing content platforms like “Humans of New York” that have executed this strategy of  storytelling well, in a way that became a viral movement across the world. Therefore, this became one  of our benchmarks for the Digital Magazine.

V. APPROACH  These insights eventually allowed our team to construct this model which represents (for now), the goal  that our Digital Magazine must create:

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Using the social media hashtag #LiveYourCSR, we want to create a movement for young people to go  through these stages of being involved (attending events, engaging with our magazine content)  then  deciding to volunteer with a purpose (volunteering in an organization of their choice)  then  committing to this concept of Personal CSR with Citizenship, Sustainability and Social Responsibility,   then deciding to Make CSR a Lifestyle by signing some sort of Personal Social Responsibility Pledge  which we will put in our site.

It may still be a little vague and general at this point, but at least for our team, it was a good step  towards concretizing the direction we want to invite our readers to, when they engage with our Digital  Magazine.

Moving forward, we are planning to apply the other design thinking tools like Visualization, Mind- mapping and creating a Learning Launch.

Visualization will be helpful to brainstorm the look / branding / color scheme of our Magazine. We can  also collect real photos of young people and create a customer profile which best represents our target  market.

Mind-mapping will also help us plot and organize the theme and the content for our first issue.

A learning launch is also something we want to do to test the reception of the magazine to our desired  audience. We will establish success measures and articulate the assumptions that we want to validate.

It would be interesting to discover how this impacts our target market. Hopefully, by imbibing the design  thinking philosophy we can create a Digital avenue where the youth of Asia can be inspired and  empowered to do something that helps society.

Works Cited  Klein, P. (2012, March 29). Four Ways To Engage More Young People In CSR. Retrieved from Forbes:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/csr/2012/03/29/four-ways-to-engage-more-young-people-in- csr/#739c579224fa

Liedtka, J. (2016). Retrieved from Design Thinking for Innovation - Coursera.org:  https://www.coursera.org/learn/design-thinking-innovation/lecture/PAXCd/storytelling-tool

UNFPA. (2014). The Power of 1.8 Billion: Adolescents, Youth and the Transformation of the Future.  Retrieved from United Nations Population Fund: https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource- pdf/SWOP%202014%20fact%20sheet%20-%20Youth%20in%20ASIA.pdf

Wong, P. T. (2012). The Human Quest for Meaning: Theories, Research, and Applications. New York:  Taylor & Francis Group (Routledge).


Page 1 of 4 DESIGN THINKING APPLICATION This paper aims to show how I applied a Design Thinking tool to a current challenge I am working on in my professional work . I. CHALLENGE I am currently doing projects for the ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ( WWF ) in the Philippines that advocates a new concept of Corporate Social Responsibility , but brought down to the level of an individual , and in particular for the youth . We call this Personal Social Responsibility or Personal CSR ( CSR 3.0 ) which is anchored on 3 values : a. Citizenship – where the individual is aware of his or her responsibility in the community , and society b. Sustainability – Where each person tries to live in a sustainable way that respects the environment . c. Responsiveness — Where each person responds to those in need , and uses his or her talents to contribute to social good . The reason why our Foundation believes in this concept of Personal CSR for the youth is because of the following reasons : 1 . The youth in our region ( Asia ) comprise majority of our population . Therefore they are a force who can contribute a lot of positive impact for socio - economic development ( UNFPA , 2014 ) . 2 . Young people are always asking themselves – “ How do I create meaning in my life ? ” “ How do I make a difference ? ” Hence they are constantly looking for avenues to discover what they want to do in life , while finding that sweet spot where they use their talents and passions to serve a specific need in the world ( Wong , 2012 ) . 3 . Because corporations are always looking for innovative ways to contribute to society , it is recommended that they engage more young people in their CSR efforts because the youth have these innovative ideas , and have the passion and ability to execute them ( Klein , 2012 ) . Obviously , Personal CSR is a big concept that can be a challenge for young people to understand . Hence the project I am working on is a Digital Lifestyle Magazine for the Youth in Asia ( starting with those in college ) . It aims to showcase inspiring stories of young people and organizations who are creating positive social and environmental impact , and who embody the values above . It hopes to show role models that young people in Asia can emulate , and later on realize that doing good for society need not be hard . They can start with themselves and in their own community . We also want it to be digital in order to reach as many youth as possible , in this age of social media and connectivity . My team and I are currently in the brainstorming stage for the pilot issue . The challenge however was to figure out the right “ voice ” , “ personality ” and “ content ” that we must use in our digital magazine , in a way that will be relevant to our target market . There are many lifestyle content platforms available already . So we need to develop content that is distinct , innovative and compelling for the youth of ASSIGNMENT : DESIGN THINKING FOR INNOVATION By : Mireya Montes September 4 , 2016 PDT Page 2 of 4 today . We even had several arguments because they were struggling to understand how the CSR concept ( which normally is discussed among the corporate and academic world ) can be brought down to level of young people . Hence our team focused on answering the following questions ?  Who exactly is the young person that we are targeting ?  What kind of content will resonate with this young person so he / she can be inspired to act and do good for society ?  How do we reach this young person , and all the other youth who fit this profile ? II . SELECTION We used the “ Storytelling ” tool as a starting point to answer the questions above . I agree with Kazi Regan of Mars Inc. who said in the video compiled in Claire Parodi ’s course , that storytelling is a great way to connect with the “ emotions , characters and values of the people ” we want to serve ( Ale , 2016 ) . It is also relevant for the Digital Magazine , because what we are essentially trying to do is to empower young people by telling stories . I think the reasons Regan articulated regarding storytelling is most appropriate for the challenge we face in creating the Digital Magazine : a. Storytelling can allow us to create energy , excitement and passion around a cause and advocacy . This is exactly what we are trying to do – we are advocating a way of life : to live a lifestyle of contributing to the common good in our own way . b. Storytelling allows us to make strategy accessible . The concept of this Personal CSR philosophy is actually result of more than a decade of research on the evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia , particularly in the Philippines . Our founder believes that in order for the social responsibility initiatives to be effective , youth engagement is key . Hence this Digital Magazine is indeed an attempt in the strategy to connect young people to these organizations who need them to amplify their social impact . III . APPLICATION For more than a year , our Foundation has actually collected real interviews with young people to talk about how they are volunteering to help society ( https://www.youtube.com/user/vdrake ) . I also got to share stories from youth awardees that our Foundation recognized who are exemplars of this Personal CSR advocacy : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1ZQmZmkaDD , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HePCiQaZo2X , ) . During the brainstorming we had a week ago , I showed these interviews to our Digital Magazine team . As I mentioned , prior to that , we had several discussions and even arguments about CSR , and what exactly we are trying to achieve . But when I showed them these videos , which are real stories of young people , they started understanding the objective . Some of us in the team are also teachers in a local college , where we teach the subject Social Responsibility and Good Governance . Our experience was that although there are many inspiring stories Page 3 of 4 of young people doing amazing work that tries to address social problems in developing country , many of our students are not aware about these stories . They either lack awareness , or are apathetic to this notion of contributing to society . Most of the time , they just care about getting a good job to help their families ( most of them come from middle to lower income brackets ) . But exposure is the key to get these young people to be engaged . The showcasing of real stories to the Digital Magazine team was effective in contextualizing the kind of direction we can take when creating our content . It also helped us put a “ face ” to the target market . We also identified cases of social media content from pop culture that trended in our region , which gave us an insight as to the digital strategy to reach the target youth . This strategy involves creating content that is as “ sticky ” as the current pop culture trends , but has the messaging that we want to get across . We need to use hashtags to maximize the multimedia platforms , particularly mobile social media , so we can reach more audience . The main point was that we must focus on these personal stories . We eventually decided to adopt the title of the video blog , and launch “ CSR Stories ” as a pilot to test this content to our target market . IV . INSIGHT This storytelling tool gave me the insight that stories are indeed more relevant and more resonating for people . To deconstruct a business and academic concept like CSR , into shareable content in a Digital Lifestyle magazine , seemed pretty daunting for our team . But when I showed the videos , that was when they understood more what we are trying to achieve . This makes me realize that stories must be indeed the center of our content . We can show short video clips ( like an Instagram or Vine video ) of young people sharing their “ CSR Stories ” . We also realized that there are existing content platforms like “ Humans of New York ” that have executed this strategy of storytelling well , in a way that became a viral movement across the world . Therefore , this became one of our benchmarks for the Digital Magazine . V. APPROACH These insights eventually allowed our team to construct this model which represents ( for now ) , the goal that our Digital Magazine must create : Page 4 of 4 Using the social media hashtag # LiveYourCSR , we want to create a movement for young people to go through these stages of being involved ( attending events , engaging with our magazine content )  then deciding to volunteer with a purpose ( volunteering in an organization of their choice )  then committing to this concept of Personal CSR with Citizenship , Sustainability and Social Responsibility ,  then deciding to Make CSR a Lifestyle by signing some sort of Personal Social Responsibility Pledge which we will put in our site . It may still be a little vague and general at this point , but at least for our team , it was a good step towards concretizing the direction we want to invite our readers to , when they engage with our Digital Magazine . Moving forward , we are planning to apply the other design thinking tools like Visualization , Mind- mapping and creating a Learning Launch . Visualization will be helpful to brainstorm the look / branding / color scheme of our Magazine . We can also collect real photos of young people and create a customer profile which best represents our target market . Mind - mapping will also help us plot and organize the theme and the content for our first issue . A learning launch is also something we want to do to test the reception of the magazine to our desired audience . We will establish success measures and articulate the assumptions that we want to validate . It would be interesting to discover how this impacts our target market . Hopefully , by imbibing the design thinking philosophy we can create a Digital avenue where the youth of Asia can be inspired and empowered to do something that helps society . Works Cited Klein , P. ( 2012 , March 29 ) . Four Ways To Engage More Young People In CSR . Retrieved from Forbes : http://www.forbes.com/sites/csr/2012/03/29/four-ways-to-engage-more-young-people-in- csr/#739c579224fa Liedtka , J. ( 2016 ) . Retrieved from Design Thinking for Innovation - Coursera.org : https://www.coursera.org/learn/design-thinking-innovation/lecture/PAXCd/storytelling-tool UNFPA . ( 2014 ) . The Power of 1.8 Billion : Adolescents , Youth and the Transformation of the Future . Retrieved from United Nations Population Fund : https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource- pdf / SWOP%202014%20fact%20sheet%20-%20Youth%20in%20ASIA.pdf Wong , P. T. ( 2012 ) . The Human Quest for Meaning : Theories , Research , and Applications . New York : Taylor & Francis Group ( Routledge ) .