Phase One: Look, Listen, and Learn
Often in design thinking, you’ll see people start with empathy. While we included this in our LAUNCH Cycle framework, we chose to go broader. Sometimes it’s a problem or a process that sparks the design process. Sometimes it’s a great idea and only later does one think about the audience. But the beginning part always starts with this sense of awareness. This might involve tapping into prior knowledge but it might also involve providing a new question, scenario, story, or phenomenon that pushes students to question their prior knowledge.
The process of establishing awareness will vary from project to project. It will look different depending upon the subject you are teaching, the mix of students that comprise the class, their age, and the final product you want them to create. It’s important to realize that you can’t make someone aware.
Awareness isn’t something you create in another person. It’s an experience you have to tap into as a teacher. However, you can construct scenarios to expand your students’ awareness and increase their curiosity. Here are sine strategies you might want to use.
#1: Start with the observation of a phenomenon.
Observation is a natural tool for math and science. Students see a specific phenomenon and they start growing in awareness. It might involve looking at magnets or plants. Whether they realize it or not, they will compare what they are observing with past observations.
They might even tap into former observations they had in those really cool labs they did previously in your class. Sometimes, what they see will confirm what they know. Other times, new insights will challenge their preconceived notions of how the world works. Either way, they will grow more aware about the subject.
#2: Start with awareness about a specific issue.
Design thinking is often associated with STEM or with the business world (because it is so similar to the product-market cycle). Remember, however, that awareness can lead to services rather than tangible goods. When students see something that breaks their hearts, their social awareness often leads to empathy, exploration, and potentially, the development of a solution.
Students don’t have to have a solution in mind at the beginning. They don’t even have to have a deep sense of empathy with those who are affected by the issue. In many cases, they will develop both the conceptual understanding and the empathy toward those they serve as they explore the issue in the research phase. All they need at first is awareness that a particular issue exists and that they can be a part of the solution.
#3: Start with empathy toward a specific group.
This difference between this approach and the one previous is that it begins with empathy toward a specific group. It tends to work best when students identify with the group on a personal level. For example, rather than simply caring about poverty, students are able to empathize with the poor because they have either experienced for themselves (or personally know who someone has) what it feels like to go hungry or to not have a place to call home.
Personal experience connects them on a heart level to the issues that that those living in poverty face. Over time, their experiences and empathy enables them to develop solutions that can benefit the poor.
Some of the best social solutions begin with a deep, humble respect for what specific populations are experiencing. I noticed this when working for an urban, low-income school. My students knew about poverty because they had seen the way it impacted people they cared about. Though many of my students wouldn’t have called themselves poor (in their minds, poverty meant literal homelessness) they knew it. They felt it. They saw how economic needs impacted the community. So, when we created a service project, they were able to design a specific set of solutions that honored the dignity of those around them.
#4: Start with a specific problem that needs to be solved.
The previous two approaches allow students to address social needs. It this approach, the focus more product oriented. For example, when we do our Shark Tank-style projects, students begin with a specific consumer problem.
The guiding question is: “What is an annoying problem people face today?” Unlike the previous approach, we start with the problem rather than the group. Students aren’t conducting interviews with future consumers. They’re not trying to figure out who will use what they create. Instead, they look at the specific problem and make sure they have a clear picture of why it matters.
#5: Start with a product idea
Sometimes awareness begins with a product idea. You might set out a specific challenge for your class that they will write a novel, create a blog, or film a documentary. This is the idea behind the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Students have a clear picture of the finished product in mind, and then engage in research, work on the ideation, and build prototypes.
However, in this very first stage, they aren’t thinking about a problem, an audience, or a process. Instead, they are simply psyched out about making a product. A word of caution here: If you start out with a general product in mind, keep it general.
When students zero in on a specific idea without going through the research or ideation phases, they short-circuit the process and miss out on the chance to create something different. Starting off general can be difficult for students to figure out.
#6: Start with a geeky interest
Design doesn’t have to begin with a bold idea, empathy with an audience, or a clear understanding of a problem. It can simply start with a geeky interest. With initiatives like 20% Time and Genius Hour, students have the freedom to tap into their passions and interests and eventually apply their knowledge to a larger product.
The benefit of this approach is that it supports intrinsic motivation through student choice. Moreover, it allows students to feel understood and affirmed while they tap into their prior knowledge. So you have a student who is into crocheting or unicorns or ninjas? Let them begin with what they love. Creative projects are inherently challenging (especially in the research phase). However, when students can begin with their own geeky interests, they can persevere.
Launch Into Design Thinking
Want to get started with design thinking? Check out this page with free articles, videos, and resources. Also, check out the toolkit below.
Get the FREE Design Thinking Toolkit
Get this free toolkit along with members-only access to my latest blog posts and resource