ESI August participants embarked on OpenIDEO's college affordability design challenge through a 3-day design-a-thon with cross cultural teams. Below is a reflection on this unique and challenging experience by ESI August 2015 participant, Trisha Natanael from Indonesia and studying in Hong Kong.
As a trained engineering student, we are used to solving mysteries. The school that I am affiliated with, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, has ‘planted’ a DNA in us to be an effective and efficient problem solver. But, little did I know about how to solve and organise a problem properly. I am avid problem-solver, however, this design challenge was particularly an eye-opener for me. It taught me a very important lesson that problem solving is not only about prototyping--we also have to be patient.
The journey began with understanding our selves, what kind of perspective we bring into the conversation as well as the perspectives of our the other team members. As we came from different cultural backgrounds, I feel like this particular step was extremely important before we dove in into understanding the problem. By cracking several keywords, we determined what direction we should go. In addition to all the information on hand, we brainstormed and interviewed users to gain other perspectives. The journey ended after we finished connecting the dots and finally presented our insights to the OpenIDEO team in San Francisco.
The journey began with understanding our selves, what kind of perspective we bring into the conversation as well as the perspectives of our the other team members. As we came from different cultural backgrounds, I feel like this particular step was extremely important before we dove in into understanding the problem. By cracking several keywords, we determined what direction we should go. In addition to all the information on hand, we brainstormed and interviewed users to gain other perspectives. The journey ended after we finished connecting the dots and finally presented our insights to the OpenIDEO team in San Francisco.