Create a Project Plan:

Once you have decided which challenge to work on, you can start to plan your design project.
Take some time to create a plan that best fits into your unique configuration. By creating
project plan you can see a clear timeline to guide your design challenge.

Steps Technology TEC-VARIETY

Do it in a day: The technology needed to Tone/Climate:

Doing a challenge in a day complete these tasks must By creating a calendar
often results in inspiring new allow for multiple users to participants are clear in the
ideas, but doesnt allow you view and or create and edit a direction and where they are
the benefit of trying the ideas single timetable. up to. This creates a climate of
out in order to learn more clarity and purpose.
about them. Google Calendar: share, add
other calendars to your own, Autonomy:
see and manage a calendar With clear path and dedicated
situated in a cloud for easy deadlines users have the
access. flexibility to work when they
Immerse over a week or are able to.
two: Kalendi: share, publish, and
A continuous period of time manage calendars online Relevance:
allows for a deeper The activities are directly
engagement with each Team up, team calendar: related to the achieving the
phase. Its an opportunity to multiple users can access goal.
experience the progression one calendar, updates are
between steps. accessible to the whole team Interactivity:
in real time. Users are able to
communicate with other users
via messaging software.
Design with depth over
time: Engagement:
Spread it out in small Participants are motivated
increments over months. through imposed goals set by
Meet regularly to build the team.
momentum, and provide
opportunities for individual
work and reflection on the
days in between.

Phase 1 Discovery
Discovery builds a solid foundation for your ideas. Creating meaningful solutions begins with a
deep understanding for their needs which opens up new opportunities, and inspires to create
new ideas.

Phase 1-1
Understand the Challenge

Steps Technology TEC-VARIETY

Review the Challenge: The technology necessary to Tone:

What are some things your complete these tasks Working as a together and
team identied about the requires multiple users ensuring every one is on the
current design challenge? access to various editable same page promotes a
Capture key thoughts, text documents. The ability to positive working environment
constraints, and barriers from upload, share completed
the discussion documents. Encouragement:
Feedback and responses are
Google Drive: Allows multiple immediate
Share What you Know:
users to download, upload a
What do you believe you
variety of files and allows Variety:
already know about this
users to share and edit .doc Users are involved in a
challenge? What would you
files. number of different activities
like to learn more about?
which requires them to utilize
Capture your assumptions,
Dropbox: Save, share and multiple technology and work
and your questions
access files from anywhere collaboratively and
and allows multiple users to independently
edit presentations with others
Build your Team: Who is on Interactivity:
your team? Who are core OneDrive: Allows for multiple Users are required to
members and who are users to work together, share communicate and work on a
extended members? files and photos and particular document with other.
Through your discussion, collaborate with Microsoft
what did you determine Office in real time. Yielding:
about the roles that people Create an overview of the
will play and the unique teams knowledge
goals that you each have?

Dene your Audience: Who

will you be designing for?
Consider the core audience
and extended audience.
Draw a visual reminder.
Refine your Plan: You The technology needed to
began with a plan for the complete these tasks must
project, connect with your allow for multiple users to
team around goals and view and or create and edit a
deadline to make sure single timetable. (see above)
everyone is aligned.

Phase 1-2
Prepare Research

Steps Technology TEC-VARIETY

Identify Sources of The technology needs users Curiosity:

Inspiration: Plan activities to to be able to collaborate and Users identify and share what
learn from multiple peoples add information to a particular they are curious about.
perspectives and explore document and keep track and
unfamiliar contexts. create a detailed plan and Relevance:
question guide. Users identifying who and
why they wish to interview at
Google Drive & OneDrive will some point in the future
Select Research
allow users access to creates a meaningful and
Participants:
collaborative files and the relevant context as they will
Who specically do you want
option to create checklists and be utilizing it in the future.
to talk to and learn from?
survey questionnaires using
Create detailed descriptions
Microsoft software. Yielding:
for at least 3 different users or
A list of questions is created
sources of inspiration. Be
For a more specified software and the targeted audience is
sure to cover a variety of
option you could utilize; identified.
gender, experience, ethnicity,
etc.
Anydo: keep your schedule on
track with to-do list,
Build a Question Guide: reminders, notes and the
What do you want to learn to ability to share lists with and
better understand the assign tasks to others.
challenge at hand? What are
you hoping to understand Trello: Use to set up anything
about peoples motivations from to do lists, tasks, notes
and frustrations? What do you and more. Users create "lists,"
want to learn about their which are dynamic containers
activities? that can be filled with "cards."
These can be anything from
Prepare For Fieldwork: tasks, notes, ideas, pictures
Assign responsibilities before and more, which you can then
going into the eld. Who is in drag and drop up and down
charge of conrming date, the line, or move to other lists.
time, and location of the
research activities? Who is
responsible for making sure
you have all the necessary
equipment? Who will take the
lead in interviewing? In
documenting?

Phase 13
Gather Inspiration

Steps Technology TEC-VARIETY

Immerse Yourself In The technology needs users Variety:

Context: With a curious to be able to record Users are able to record their
mindset, inspiration and new observations in both a visual observations in a variety
perspectives can be found in or written manner and have methods to create a novel
many places and without the ability to share the interaction with the content.
much preparation. observations with others.
Autonomy:
Iobserve: Records your Users have the ability to
observations, and instantly choose the method they wish
Seek Inspiration In adds criteria and notes to to use to record the different
Analogous Settings: time-stamped points in the observations.
Looking for inspiration in a recording and provides the
different context outside of the ability to review the recording. Interactivity:
education world opens the Users learn from experts and
mind and can help you find a Alternatively for free or cost other users.
fresh perspective. effective technology you
could utilize journal apps. Engagement:
The act of talking to an expert
Dayoneapp: this journaling or other user has the
Learn From Experts: app allows you to record life possibility to experience
Experts can provide in-depth as you live it. From once-in-a- affective engagement.
information about a topic and lifetime events to everyday
can be especially helpful moments, Tension
when you need to learn a Having to interview an expert
large amount of information in Penzu: a tool to record your may create a sense of tension
a short amount of time. daily emotions and activities with participants who dont
in a reflective journal and feel well prepared or dont
keep track of their milestones think they know enough about
the topic to ask expert
questions.

Learn From Users: There Yielding:

are many different ways to Participants create a visual
learn from users, including and descriptive overview of
individual interviews, learning their observations.
from people's self-
documentation, group
interviews, and learning from
peers observing peers

Phase 2 Interpretation

Interpretation transforms your stories into meaningful insights. Observations, field visits, or just
a simple conversation can be great inspirationbut finding meaning in that and turning it into
actionable opportunities for design is not an easy task. It involves storytelling, as well as sorting
and condensing thoughts until youve found a compelling point of view and clear direction for
ideation.

Phase 2-1
Tell Stories ther Inspiration

Steps Technology TEC-VARIETY

Capture Your Learnings: The technology needs to be Variety:
Immediately after able to let the users record The stormboard platform
interviewing, be sure to and share their learning. provides the user a variety of
capture your learnings. avenues to display their
Capture one observation, Stormboard is a platform that stories.
story highlight or quote per allows users utilize virtual
post-it note. Use the prompts post-it notes to post a variety Interactive:
to guide you of documents, capture and Activities regarding sharing of
respond to ideas, prioritise their stories can be user to
ideas. user or user to group based.

If it is decided that sharing the

Share Inspiring Stories: stories via verbal
Take turns sharing stories of communications;
the people you talked to or
the places you visited. While Skype: can be utilised to
listening to your team, connect individuals and groups
capture their stories and via video or audio calling.
observations on post-its,
using a separate post-it per Google hangouts a platform
thought. Capture the most that users can use to connect
interesting learnings here. with others via video calling,
instant messaging or calling.

Phase 2-2
Search for Meaning

Steps Technology TEC-VARIETY

Find Themes Look for The technology needs to be Autonomy:

themes, patterns and able to allow the users to find Students can upload and
connections across your wall patterns and connections express their opinion any time
of post-it notes. Cluster across a range of notes. they desire. They can take the
related post-its around There also needs to be an time to reflect on their findings
themes that you notice. Its avenue for them to share and before posting them for the
like moving your thoughts interact with their research group to see.
around and seeing new and opinions.
patterns as a result. Create Relevance:
headlines for each category Stormboard is an platform Activities are one step
that capture these themes that allows users utilize virtual towards the overall goal of the
and patterns. post-it notes to post a variety project.
Make Sense of Findings: of documents, capture and
Take a closer look at your respond to ideas, prioritise Yielding: The activities are
themes and nd overlaps, ideas. aimed at producing insight
patterns and tensions as they into the learning they have
relate to each other. Can you Google Drive: Allows multiple accomplished.
group several related themes users to download, upload a
in larger categories? variety of files and allows
users to share and edit files.

Dene Insights: Insights are

a concise expression of what
you have learned from your
research and inspiration.
They are the aha moments
and unexpected learnings.

Phase 2-3
Frame Opportunities

Steps Technology TEC-VARIETY

Create a Visual Reminder: The technology needs to be Encouragement: Users are

Frameworks, diagrams, and able to allow the users to able to share and leave
illustrations are great tools for create, share and comment feedback and comments
communicating insights or on a visual such as a regarding their visual
complex information. diagram, framework or reminders.
illustration.
Variety: Creating a visual
Sketchcloud: Allows you to reminder as either an
upload, alter, share and illustration or graphic is a new
comment on visual files. element to the design toolkit
and thus will have a novelty
Canva: Design using multiple value.
templates and predesigned
illustrations, canva also gives Autonomy: Learners can
the users to create a team complete their work at their
which allows up to 10 users own pace and upload and
share designs and folders respond when they have time.

Yielding: Users utilize the

Make Insights Actionable: The technology needs to be technology and ideas to create
Insights only become able to let the users record a visual element.
valuable when you can act on and share thoughts.
them as inspiring
opportunities. Turn them into Stormboard is a platform that
brainstorm questions, the allows users utilize virtual
springboard for your ideas. post-it notes to post a variety
of documents, capture and
respond to ideas, prioritise
ideas.

Phase 3 Ideation

Ideation means generating lots of ideas. Brainstorming encourages you to think expansively
and without constraints. Its often the wild ideas that spark visionary thoughts. With careful
preparation and a clear set of rules, a brainstorm session can yield hundreds of fresh ideas.

Phase 3-1
Generate Ideas

Steps Technology TEC-VARIETY

Prepare for Brainstorming: The technology needs to be Tone: The brainstorming

Brainstorming may often be able to let the users record session needs to be in a non-
thought of as wild and and share detailed plan of the judging environment where
unstructured, but it in fact is a objectives and intended users are free to express their
focused activity that involves outcomes. ideas.
a lot of discipline. Take the
time to set up appropriately in Google Drive: Allows multiple Encouragement: Throughout
order to get the most out of users to download, upload a each step there is plenty of
your session variety of files and allows opportunity to provide
users to share and edit files. feedback to other members

Curiosity: Brainstorming
Facilitate Brainstorming: The technology needs to be allows the participant to
Brainstorming is a great able to let the users actively pursue his or her
activity to generate fresh communicate with each other curiosity towards a particular
thoughts and new energy. in real-time via multiple forms avenue.
Create a safe and positive of communication.
atmosphere for your Novelty: There is a range of
brainstorm so the team can Convene: this conferencing different activities and
come up with all kinds of wild platform allows for multiple technologies utilized to create
ideas. users to access a virtual a fun and novel learning
meeting using multiple environment.
devises, share documents
and also has a whiteboard Autonomy: The technology
function that allows allows users to choose the
brainstorming and device and method most
discussions. accessible to complete the
required tasks.
Popplet is a mind mapping
tool that is perfect for visually Relevance: These activities
curating your ideas and directly impact the overall
brainstorms. You can visually objective.
record your ideas,
inspirations and thoughts, as Interactivity: A lot of the
well as upload text, videos, activities involve team
images and draw on your collaboration
canvas.
Engagement: The activities
Coggle is an online tool for engage participants through
creating and sharing creating a fun and enjoyable
mindmaps. experience

Select Promising Ideas: It is The technology needs to be

the passion and energy of a able to let the users see and
team that makes the vote on a particular idea they
development of an idea favour most
successful. To get a sense of
which brainstorming ideas Surveynuts: an easy-to-use
generate excitement, let questionnaire maker and
everyone on the team vote on survey builder. Users can
their favorites while they are also use this software to
still fresh in their minds. generate forms in order to
collect data or build
sophisticated quizzes.

LimeSurvey: is a too to
create online surveys.
Sketch to Think: Sketching The technology needs to be
even a simple representation able to let the users sketch or
of an idea makes you think upload and share sketches.
through a lot of details.
Brainstorm ways to bring your Stormboard is a platform that
concept to life early to figure allows users utilize virtual
out how you might take an post-it notes, these can be a
idea further. drawing, or file uploaded from
the users desktop.

Phase 3-2
Search for Meaning

Steps Technology TEC-VARIETY

Do a Reality Check What is The technology needs to be Autonomy: Users are able to
at the core of your idea: what able to allow the users to edit and share at their own
gets you excited about it? contribute and share their time using multiple devices.
What is the most important opinion in written form.
value for your audience? Interactivity: Participants
What is the real need that Google Drive: Allows multiple collaborate on one or more file
this is addressing? What are users to download, upload to create a collaborative
you missing? Who would and edit files. report.
oppose the idea? What will
be most difcult to
overcome?

Describe Your Idea: Create

a concept description for the
idea that you would like to
prototype and repeat for each
idea.

Phase 4 Experimentation
Experimentation brings your ideas to life. Building prototypes means making ideas tangible,
learning while building them and sharing them with other people. Even with early and rough
prototypes, you can receive a direct response and learn how to further improve and refine an
idea.

Phase 4-1
Make Prototypes

Steps Technology TEC-VARIETY

Create a Prototype The technology needs to be Relevance: This activity is

Prototypes enable you to able to allow the users to very relevant as it is the
share your idea with other contribute and share a variety outcome of many previous
people and discuss how to of different media and file activities.
further refine it. You can formats.
prototype just about Engagement: Students are
anything. Google Drive: Allows multiple encouraged through affective
Create a storyboard users to download, upload, engage as the prospect of
Create a diagram view and edit files. creating a mock-up of their
Create a story ideas is an enjoyable
Create an ad experience.
Create a mock-up
Create a model Interactivity: Participants
Create a role-play work on this project as a team.

Yielding: Create a tangible

representation of your ideas.

Phase 4-2
Get Feedback

Steps Technology TEC-VARIETY

Identify Sources for The technology needs to be Encouragement: Participants
Feedback Feedback is one of able to allow the users to will be subject to allot of
the most valuable tools in access and contribute to feedback throughout this
developing an idea. Sharing multiple text files. phase. Both from internal and
prototypes helps you see external sources.
what really matters to people Google Drive: Allows
and which aspects need multiple users to download, Relevance: Activities are very
improvement upload, view and edit files. relevant to the participants as
they directly reflect and affect
The technology needs to be the overall objective.
Select Feedback
able to allow the users to
Participants: Who do you
conduct and analyse video Interactive: Participants are
want to engage in the
interviews. involved in collaborative
feedback process? Who will
activities. collaborating with
you learn the most from?
Skype: can be utilised to other members of the team as
Include people you have met
connect individuals and well as with members of the
during your eld research as
groups via video or audio community.
well as new participants.
calling.
Yielding: Participants realise
Google hangouts a platform what they need to achieve
Build a Question Guide: It is that users can use to their overall objective.
likely that as you have made connect with others via video
your idea tangible, you have calling, instant messaging or
developed questions about calling.
how the prototype should
work, what people are
interested in, how to best
engage participation, etc. List
any questions that have been
bubbling up about your
concept.

Facilitate Feedback
Conversations: Capture
Prompts Use these prompts
to help people give you
constructive feedback, and to
help you consider what parts
of the experiment you should
keep or change.
Capture Feedback
Learnings: Feedback
conversations are rich in
information, and the subtle
impressions of a participants
reactions are often most
important to remember. Take
some time right after your
session to capture what you
have observed

Integrate Feedback:
Feedback is invaluable to
developing an idea, but can
also be quite confusing. It
may be contradictory, or may
not align with your goals. Sort
through the responses you
receive and decide on what to
integrate in your next
iteration.

Identify Whats Needed:

Most concepts cannot be fully
realized with just one
prototype. Continuous
iteration on your concept,
requires various resources
and capabilities, namely,
money, time and people.
Specify what exactly it will
take to make your idea come
to life

Phase 5 Evolution

Evolution is the development of your concept over time. It involves planning next steps,
communicating the idea to people who can help you realize it, and documenting the process.
Change often happens over time, and reminders of even subtle signs of progress are
important.

Phase 5-1
Track Learnings
Steps Technology TEC-VARIETY

Define Success As your The technology needs to be Environment: Being able to

concept evolves, you can able to allow the users to give feedback on the groups
begin to measure its impact. contribute and share a variety performance creates a sense
Define a set of criteria for of different media and file of belonging.
success to help guide and formats.
evaluate the development as Autonomy: The files are able
you scale and build on your Google Drive: Allows multiple to be accessed and edit from
idea. users to download, upload, a variety of platforms and at a
view and edit files. time convenient to the user.

Stormboard is a platform that Tension: Tension is created

Document Progress
allows users utilize virtual by providing an avenue for
Document progress of your
post-it notes to post a variety participants to provide
concept. What different
of documents, capture and feedback of their peers.
behaviors have you noticed
respond to ideas, prioritise
since implementing your
ideas.
concept? Have the
relationships between people
changed?

Phase 5-2
Move Forward

Steps Technology TEC-VARIETY

Plan Next Steps The The technology needs to be Encouragement: Positive
implementation of an idea able to allow the users to feedback from the community
requires a different approach share and manipulate a will provide encouragement
from its generation. When timeline.
your idea has evolved into a Variety: Launching a new
solid concept, its time to plan Google Calendar: share, add idea to the public will for most
the next steps. Create a other calendars to your own, people be a novel and fun
timeline for bringing the see and manage a calendar experience
concept to life. situated in a cloud for easy
access. Relevance: The activities in
this phase are very relevant to
Kalendi: share, publish, and the overall objective of the
manage calendars online project.

Team up, team calendar: Interactive: Participants are

multiple users can access collaborating with other team
one calendar, updates are members as well as people
accessible to the whole team from the real world.
in real time.
Tension: Tension created to
Engage Others In order to The technology needs to be ensure that the wider
reach the full potential of new able to allow the users to community approves of the
designs, the solutions must share, or pitch your concept or idea put forth.
be shared with audiences concept/idea. To share and
outside your core design market your ideas to a Yielding: A community is
team. Depending on the community and to promote created that shares and
outcomes that you hope to your idea. interacts with the idea or
achieve with your solutions, concept that has been
you may need to pitch your Ideascale: Users can post created.
concept, engage partners, or their ideas for product
share your story. improvements and
enhancements and then vote
on their favorite ones.

IdeaShare enables soliciting

and harvesting of ideas,
suggestions and feedback to
improve your products and
services. It represents a new
breed of applications that
harness the collective
opinions of the crowd

Nimble: Allows the user to

Build a Community A find people and groups with
design network can support similar interests. Manage
the deepening of your relationships and help with
practice as a designer. Build marketing and sales as well
a community where you can as being available on a
share experiences and get variety of devices.
advice on your own
challenges