Design Thinking
Design thinking process from the dschool of Hasso Plattner K-12.
Philosophy & Methodology
Design thinking's philosophy is a human-centered approach for understanding problems and creating innovative solutions.
Design thinking's methodology is a mindful process with a framework of modes varying from three to seven stages with underlying mindsets. Students cycle through the process which may be repeated for finding the best solution. The process shown on this page has five stages. Empathy involves understanding the needs of real people for whom you are designing. Empathy strategies are interviewing, observing and experiencing. Define stage involves time for unpacking and deep diving into the collected empathy data. Define patterns, behaviors and feelings to focus on a meaningful problem statement called the point of view. The POV frames the problem and guides your innovative solutions. Ideate is the action of brainstorming to generate and build on many ideas. The prototype visually exhibits the vision for the solution. The prototype can be a rough sketch, storyboard, 3D model,or a wall of post-it notes. The test involves receiving feedback for modifying the prototype for refining the solution to
make it better. Students understand how to embrace mistakes and learn from them.
Art Educator Role
Art educators will create a challenge with adapted modes appropriate for the age group of students.They will explain and guide the sequence of the modified design thinking process. How to create great challenges can be found in Resource section. Starting with the challenge topic with HMW, How might we... Listen to students for choosing a topic to challenge. Create a space that makes it fun for the students as they collaborate. Empower a student facilitator for enforcing brainstorming rules. Make sure you have post-it notes and materials for building prototypes. Constraints such as time and materials will initiate creativity. Intrinsic motivation will build creativity when awards and assessments are not attached to the challenge.