Collaborative Innovation: A Design Thinking Case Study in Rapid Prototyping

UXPA Design Thinking Workshop

Role

Design Facilitator


Project Type

Design Thinking Workshop


Client

UXPA Boston + Northeastern University


Deliverables

Affinity Diagrams, Journey maps



Problems

  • Students in graphic design are scared because AI is rapidly changing the job market. They worry about having a harder time finding internships and jobs.

Objectives

  • Helping students navigate through the issues of finding internships, work and easing the fears about AI.

Goals

  • The idea was to take personal and general experiences and apply design thinking as a problem-solving tool.

“This workshop is for folks who are curious to learn about human-centered design and how it shapes future programming for the UX community in the Greater Boston Area.”
— Rich Le

Define

1

  • The goals were straightforward. For UXPA Boston, it was about making volunteering a year-round activity and building out what volunteers actually want to do.

2

  • For Husky Communicators, it was about giving their members a real opportunity to network with professionals and teaching them design thinking as a practical problem solving tool.

3

  • Establishing a networking opportunity for Husky members and the students to connect with professionals. What can UXPA Boston offer to students who are worried about AI ?

 
 

Research

4

  • We split into 5 groups with around 5-6 people each. I was leading one of the groups. We created affinity diagrams and journey maps.

5

  • The pain points surfaced very quickly. UX Need Talent. Lack of UX Awareness. UI ≠ UX. Every person's UX journey is different."

6

  • We looked at other group's journey maps to get a sense if there were common themes from their work.

 
 

Create

7

  • We plotted out experiences, needs, emotions, and pain points and sorted out everything into pros and cons. Each group built affinity diagrams and journey maps. We did a gallery viewing afterwards.

8

  • It didn’t matter that there were 5 different groups because every journey map ended up at the same topics; discovery, skills, networking, jobs, focus, challenges, etc.

9

  • After the gallery viewing, we had the students do another exercise. We had everyone take a sheet of paper and fold it into sixths. We had the students voting on the ones they liked.

 
 
 
 

Test

10

  • The goal of this workshop was never to walk out with a finished product. It was to walk out with real insights from real people and that's what happened.

11

  • The gallery walk validated that students across the room were feeling the same things. The biggest takeaway for me wasn't about the students; it was about facilitation.

12

  • I improvised and I think I did it well. I went in terrified and got through it by coming out of my shell and doing something out of my element.

Nikkia Prim