This course was a great complement to the Sustainability Inspired Innovation course I took last semester. Although they differ in content and objectives, they both drew upon collaboration and the design process to teach me four key lessons.
Be Bold
Throughout the project, there were opportunities for us to share our ideas. There were overt opportunities to be creative and share, such as the brainstorming sessions. But there were also more covert instances of creativity. For example, the insight synthesis portion of the project pushed us to comb over all of our extensive research to synthesize information and generate a need that we want to address. This portion seems to be driven by data, but is actually very innovative, as it requires you to evaluate the weight of statements surrounding certain topics. For me, I had difficulty in choosing between statements that discussed health and statements surrounding social activities. I realized that making a decision, while difficult, requires creativity because there is no right answer. The only validation behind some decisions is sound logic, and when you are unsure, you just have to trust your reasoning and be bold.
Invite Evaluation
Our greatest lessons as a group came from the Evaluate mode of the design process. We had a solidified concept that we liked, but we had spent so much time with the same material that it felt almost uncomfortable to consider changing our idea. I feel that this actually happens quite often throughout my other courses. I spend so much time creating a product that my favor of it is tied to my effort. To contrast, our focus group activity felt as if we could disassociate with our pride in our effort to lay everything bare and take a hard look at our proposed solution with others. As business students, we spend a lot of time trying to convince others that we have a good idea in the form of pitching. In fact, we do this so much that we had to fight the urge to defend our idea when criticized by a focus group participant. When we overcame that tendency, it felt as if the evaluators were there to assist us instead of “criticize” us. This taught me that evaluation is just part of learning, which goes beyond the confines of the classroom to the world beyond.
Focus on the Experience
A continuing guiding light for us throughout the project was the idea of creating an experience. We kept that in mind during the prototype phase, which is why we chose to create a prototype that was visual in nature. We used a website, and a mockup of an application to show how users will interact with the product we proposed. The best part about focusing on the experience is that it draws better feedback. Users have a better idea of how the product will work, but more importantly, how it fits into their life. In addition, drawing upon the experiential aspect of our product was useful for us as a team. It allowed to better capture our vision of the project as well, and ask important questions. While creating the website, we had to ask ourselves about details, such as those concerned with building layout and location in order to explain our product fully.
Define the Problem
When I first heard about applying the design process to the housing industry, I felt intimated by the task because it is inherently difficult to define. There were so many questions in my head. Who is in dire need of innovation? Is this going to be financially feasible? What hasn’t been created already? It was somewhat overwhelming. However, that soon changed after we picked a target market and began our secondary and primary research. Learning about a target market and their tendencies, struggles, and preferences helped bring the focus back to the customer and increase our confidence in moving forward. I learned that our best preparation to find an answer was to better understand our problem. I believe I can take that lesson beyond just the classroom in order to create better solutions.
Conclusion
Overall, this class has taught me a lot. Although I’ve shared some key takeaways, my experience has also sharpened some of my skills. This class has developed my knowledge and abilities in relation to teamwork, the design process, qualitative research, and critical thinking. I’m grateful for the experience, and look forward to carrying these tools into the professional world.