practicing
strategizing engaging sensemaking doing pitching
First edition published in 2012 by Freerange Press. Freerange Press is an online and print publisher based in Melbourne, Australia and Wellington, New Zealand. Freerange’s focus is on global issues of design, politics, art and life for an urbanized humanity. www.projectfreerange.com barnaby@projectfreerange.com ISBN: 978-0-9808689-2-0 Edited by: Joanne Jakovich Jochen Schweitzer Melissa Edwards Design: Joanne Jakovich Vida Asrina Contributions: Hasan Kamal Syed, Nathan Kirchner, Natalia Nikolova, Nathan Wiltshire, Danielle Logue, Sonja Caraian, Kayla Qi Wu, Sasha Abram, Trent Middleton, Studio 11. Photography: Zou Lei Printer: Peachy Print u.lab is an interdisciplinary design and innovation lab at the University of Technology, Sydney. http://ulab.org.au All articles and images are released under the Creative Commons Liscense Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivitives (CC BY-NC-ND) at the discretion of the authors. Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify owners of copyright. Errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent editions. Printed and bound in Australia. UTS CRICOS Provider code: 00099F
practicing strategizing
sensemaking
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Introduction A philosophy
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28
Ecosystem Infusion model Space
104
engaging 41
60
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Introduction Subculture ThinkTank 20hr warmup lab Catalysts program Encouraging startups 16 week entrepreneurship course International workshop Research collective
Introduction Contextualising Bridging interpretive communities Writing a brief Permutative sense-making Crowd-share research
doing 119
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Introduction Navigating the terrain Massive T-shaped cloud Focus on humans Forming entrepreneurial teams State-change
pitching 195
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Introduction Voice IT Two Cents Worth Think 360 shAPEs MemorTable
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144
152
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167
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Problem statement Personas Action statement Critical requirement viewpoint Extrovert x introvert Film / photo study Grounding hypothesis Ideating 297 5X5 Setting constraints Decision clouds Build to think Iterative prototyping Maximum awesome product Sensory awareness Failing with intent Push boundaries Pull boundaries Inspire vision Space for loosening and reconnecting internally Pitching Park bench pitching Improvisation Business model generation Sharing value Final pitch video LaunchPad
Catalysts
Acknowledgements
u.lab is a framework for innovation projects made by and for like minded people. It’s about ‘u’ and what you bring to the mix. The second edition of the u.lab book is the result of many stimulating conversations and collaborations with students and colleagues at the University of Technology, Sydney and with many friends, professionals and other helpers and supporters in Australia and internationally. Our sincere thanks to Ana Judge, Andrew Burges, Annalie Killian, Attila Brungs, Chris Bajada, Christine Burton, Chen Yan, Desley Luscombe, Ellen Yang, Fan Yue, Fiona Tschaut, Gauri Bhalla, Hael Kobayashi, John Haining, Kate McKenzie, Kees Dorst, Lawrence Wallen, Louise McWhinnie, Mal Booth, Michael Wallach, Roy Green, Satoru Yamashiro, Steve Pozel, Tim Aubrey, Zhang Yu, Zhou Bo and Zou Lei.
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Preface
Making innovation happen Around the world, competitive success is increasingly based on creative, collaborative and design-led approaches to innovation in products, services, strategies and business models. These approaches are being explored and developed by innovation labs, mostly sited in universities and deeply engaged with business and the wider community. We are very proud of our innovation lab at UTS, the u.lab, and its leading role in the application of integrative and design thinking, which is structured to complement rather than replace analytical approaches to innovation. Indeed, just as the management theorist Peter Drucker depicted the modern corporation of the 20th century as a strategic alignment of technology and markets, so the 21st century corporation will similarly have to combine design thinking with business analytics. organisations lack innovation capacity despite a growing policy emphasis on innovation by government, industry bodies and research and education institutions. A number of reports have shown that we need to strengthen collaborative and interdisciplinary networks, support research, develop workplace capabilities and cultures of innovation that create a business environment which ‘cultivates’ and strengthens innovation. At UTS we address this need in many ways, but one of our most exciting initiatives is the u.lab with its emerging portfolio of research and teaching programs, which are part of the university’s broader ‘creative innovation strategy’. In this context, u.lab follows the UTS model of practice-oriented learning and puts an emphasis on collaborative, interdisciplinary research, while engaging with external partners.
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u.lab aims to be: integrative in that it seeks to facilitate analytical and creative thinking and to bring both to bear in exploring problems and possible solutions collaborative in that it seeks to involve a diverse range of stakeholders from within and beyond the university, with an emphasis on student learning, and transformative in that it seeks to reframe problems, reinvent relationships among players and promote the prototyping of novel solutions. We are truly delighted to welcome this new book by the u.lab team which sets out a range of innovation practices, focusing on tools, methods and models, with examples from u.lab activities and programs, including the Entrepreneurship Lab, Groundbreaker, Creative Minds, BikeTank, and LaunchPad. The best way to think of it is as a recipe book for an innovation lab – describing what the u.lab does, why and how. We hope you enjoy the book, and feel motivated to join us in the kitchen!
Roy Green Dean, UTS Business School
& Desley Luscombe Dean, Faculty of Design, Architecture, Building
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Introduction
Imagine a group of musicians each with their own instrument, style, technique and preferences for tempo, tone, composition and mood. They converge in a studio and decide to conceptualise and perform an innovative musical experience for a demanding group of seasoned music lovers. No conductor, no score, no planning, no control of who is doing what … just Jazz. Would you listen? Many would say: only chaos can come out of this; it is against the principles of harmony and musical theory. Yet, we realise that theory no more leads to practice than practice leads to theory. The two are mutually implicated. Within these pages we want to capture that sound. To present the rehearsals and the process of coming together, before and after the sound. To show the virtue of improvisation, not just for the musicians but also for their students and the maestro who is willing to take a chance with this “harmony of dissonance.” The people at u.lab are like the group of musicians. There is an eclectic mix of thoughts, ideas, experiences and views demonstrating the power of diversity and that diversity can be harnessed to unleash creativity. It is about a chaotic, creative, self-managed, semi-structured, transdisciplinary and energising approach to problem solving, collaboration and creativity. This book is about the practices of setting up, running, and growing a design-led innovation lab; it is pitched as an evidence-based case book, in which we document action as it occurs. We don’t guarantee success, but we do guarantee that it will change the way you think about practicing innovation, change and collaboration. We structured the book around emerging practices (on the left hand pages) and small case study insets (on the right hand pages). The case examples are drawn
We hope to see this book exemplify an experimental sound studio. A book that anyone can pick up and use to engage with design-led innovation. In addition, as with good music, it should heighten your senses, stimulate experimentation and
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inspire you to see things in a new light. Music that moves people can change the world. Any song is changed with its performer. You know a good song when you hear it and you can’t wait to share it with your friends.
What happened since we wrote the 1st edition? The u.lab grew - more people are interested in what we do and many support our vision by generously offering their time to u.lab programs and opening their networks for us. A new generation stay connected and volunteer to coach and mentor new students in the lab. We are excited about these developments and the opportunities that might come from them. We invite you to join us in our future explorations.
Welcome to u.lab!
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chapter one
strategizing
Organisations only recently discovered ‘design’ as a concept to rethink how businesses innovate and craft strategies. The assumption is that companies can learn from creative design practices. We understand strategising as being not merely a set of practices, but rather see it as irredeemably social, organisational and collaborative. Strategy is a culturally embedded product that is found throughout society, not just in organisations, NGOs and government. One factor affecting embeddedness of strategising practices is the notion of design attitude,1 which is characterised by the search for alternatives. Yet, what most managers practice is a strategic decision attitude, which focuses on making the right choices. A decision attitude spends little time on imagining possible futures. A design attitude, however, does exactly that: it focuses on developing alternatives. The designer questions assumptions and established paradigms. These seemingly simple questions are, in reality, complex and deep – and design is a way to deal with these fundamental questions. In this chapter we start mapping out the practices that are strategic in that they provide direction and meaning to the programs and activities of innovation. We believe that innovation is in fact one of the most strategic of topics and design-led innovation is a new way of combining innovation practices with strategy. After all, the great potential of design for innovation and strategy is that design practitioners routinely develop new ideas. We suggest that applying a design mindset to strategic management yields a great potential for society and organisations. Such practice counteracts the innovator’s dilemma and promises the development of more effective strategies. For Tim Brown it is innovation that is
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‘powered by a thorough understanding, through direct observation, of what people want and need in their lives and what they like or dislike about the way particular products are made, packaged, marketed, sold, and supported’.2 By no means do we claim to have a complete list of strategic design practices—quite the opposite. But we have started developing models of how we envision our lab can accommodate the diverse needs of the people we want to collaborate with. We set
participate. We are interested in how the processes of collective creativity facilitate ‘connections’, or movement, in the system to bring about strategic change. We aim to look at the catalytic process of design and how it enables co-creation and participation, and how it is a way for envisioning, enacting and experiencing the future. With that in mind we strive to shape a culture of design, innovation and strategic change that is embedded in the mindset of individuals and clearly affects outcomes. For this to happen, we propose strategising practices that shape innovation philosophy, ethos, ecosystems, infusion and the role of the spatial environment.
1. Boland & Collopy, Managing as Designing. 2004 Stanford, California. 2. Brown, Design Thinking, Harvard Business Review. June 2008, page 86.
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A Philosophy u.lab Philosophy
26 28
Ecosystem u.lab Ecosystem
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Infusion model u.lab infusion model
34
Space u.lab space
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A philosophy
Innovation is at its core a social activity. Great innovations don’t get off the tool bench without visionary leadership and a substantive mission that appeals to others. Finding a way to see ideas realised can seem like an insurmountable peak unless the right culture and mindset is in place. Setting the opportunity for incubating and growing positive and forward mindsets takes careful thought and good design. Craft the structure and language of a culture through iterative and inclusive collaborations. A well-
decisions.
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The u.lab philosophy “There is a need to expand design perspectives through rich and relevant multi-disciplinary projects - This is the professional reality of today’s world.” ! a single discipline workforce, and that paper was the communication tool that claims, this is certainly not the professional reality of today’s world. Today, the most innovative work groups and leading design teams have evolved to These are also the values embodied in the u.lab, this is what we are bringing to the table. The ‘Key Three’ that enable the u.lab to incubate, nurture and develop these values in our community are Environment, Culture and Opportunity.
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1. Environment: A space that is free from preconceptions and baggage - a space that breeds innovation - a space that frees inhibition - a clean space.
it’s inspiring, motivating, and inherently rewarding. The u.lab was designed as such so as not to colour, taint, direct or shape the innovation within. It was designed as such so that ideas and creativity are clearly visible and resonant against its walls. It was designed as such so that there was no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’... whether it be in terms of ideas, approaches, disciplines or backgrounds... ideas are free to shine.
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2. Culture: A shift from ‘what do I need to know’ to ‘what is out there to know’. At u.lab we believe that knowledge feeds the world and ideas open doors, and when we take ownership, insights, opportunities and rewards will result. The key is culture; effecting the change from the oh-so-common ‘what do I need to know to get the job done’ convergent attitude to the ‘what is out there to know’ divergent attitude. When the culture moves to ‘what else?’ then opportunities arise,
3. Opportunity: An extension beyond the immediate - A connection to the real-world - a direction and pathway to follow. The third u.lab cannon is Opportunity; connecting our community, highlighting options, forging pathways. u.lab recognises that people invest most in what they truly believe in and so incubating Opportunity is a priority. When it’s clear that there are worthwhile outlets for one’s work, when it is clear immediate and the real-world, when it is clear that ‘this’ is really going somewhere, then inhibitions are dropped and motivation soars - at the u.lab we believe in not only opening the door, but revealing the world behind it. The u.lab is about you - the change you can affect, the contributions you can make, the growth you can enjoy and what you can be once the ‘walls’ have been replaced with the u.lab.
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and activity
Design-led innovation in itself is an iterative practice. Momentum is created by activity; environment is constructed by utilising it. You cannot invest energy into a designing a strategy without continuously prototyping to test it. Both the environment and the activities are equally important in developing new practices. The environment comprises all of our skills, the home you think in, and the culture you operate within. The activities are the system engine room, the projects you prototype that evolve you in the process. By balancing the investment into both the environment and the activities, you create a system that is greater than the sum of the parts. A strategic mode of operation where both activity production and environmental capability are in equal swing is desirable. Each one creates a platform for the other to gain increasing effect.
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Ecosystem
An ecosystem is the vibrant network of professionals who share a philosophy; it’s a collective of collaborators where participant’s Time, commitment, and the capacity to think, solve and do are invested. Experiential learning, deep insights and valuable relationships are the things gained. The ecosystem integrates feedback in a virtuous loop. Loops are fed with experiences, ideas, energy, capacity, opportunity, mentoring and expertise. Any single person in both give and take. Everyone puts something into the ecosystem, and receives more in multiple forms. Encouraging the growth of an ecosystem is enabled through the collective philosophy.
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u.lab Ecosystem
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[the world of complex problems and opportunities]
u.lab takes ideas and issues and breaks them down
leads to new business collaborations, new enterprises
radical ideas for
BIKETANK
+ its free + companies get capacity building + dynamic networks + new collaborations
supports and learns from
need finding to develop customMmade
ENTREPRENEURSHIP LAB ++ interdisciplinary projectMbased supports and learns from
+ industryMconnected
LAUNCH PAD
+ new enterprises + new models + investment
to talent CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP ++ access innovative problem solving + capacity building
is enhanced with
creates new knowledge
radical ideas for
LABS
+ custom innovation + new learning
lead to lead to grants, patents, innovations
RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS dynamic training of interns for
offer access to bright young graduates for
INTERNSHIPS, CATALYSTS PROGRAM
sends innovativeMthinking employees out to the world
OUTCOMES
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u.lab ecosystem
in] om [zo in the u.lab ecosystem, each individual
NG IVI E C RE builds
ING
GIV
in public forums e.g. BikeTank
At the u.lab we develop and foster an ecosystem through various programs and activities. Entrepreneurship Lab, a 16-week masters level subject for UTS students from all faculties to innovate and pitch creative enterprises. We mentor multidisciplinary student teams together with other entrepreneurs and guests from businesses. BikeTank, a public think tank for rapid generation of ideas. The BikeTank processes cover ideation, business modelling, prototyping and pitching. People who attend come from small-to-medium size creative and social innovation companies and innovation strategy units of large organisations from or construction industry companies. BikeTank happens 8-9am for ten Tuesdays twice a year. LaunchPad, an end of semester pitching day in which student projects arising from the Entrepreneurship Lab are presented to investor businesses, venture capitalists and government. LaunchPad happens twice a year. Creative Minds sessions are custom designed intensive learning
workshops. Topics include innovation, creative strategy, design thinking, change implementation and social innovation. The sessions can be half-day, full-day or longer. At u.lab we work with the university’s external engagement and executive development units to deliver a strategically embedded approach to developing innovation capacities. Sponsorship we offer organisations the opportunity to provide an innovation challenge for the Entrepreneurship Lab. Sponsoring organisations not only gain access to creative and innovative solutions to progress real issues, they also get to know a group of motivated future graduates with lots of ideas and potential, as well as an opportunity to increase their own innovation capabilities. Research Collaboration with industry and other research institutions we progress research into new-generation methods of innovation and new models of enterprise. Catalyst Program we encourage u.lab alumni to further develop their skills by getting involved with teaching, research and industry engagement.
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Infusion model
The infusion model describes how your innovation initiative engages different stakeholders. It is a model for facilitating the infusion of the culture, environment and opportunities of the program to the immediate and the wider community. The objective of the infusion model is to ensure that there is a way to experience the philosophy for each and every person who touches the initiative or who is touched by the initiative.
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u.lab infusion model
The u.lab infusion model encapsulates four key pathways of experiencing the lab: ‘walk-through’, ‘walk-in’, ‘teaching’ and ‘showcase’. The model exploits these four pathways in order to: Attract a diversity of students and appeal to and support a range of learning styles Enhance the learning experience and sense of community Encourage cross-year student collaboration and cross-faculty teaching Reinforce a practice-based approach to learning, Demonstrate that research is a viable career-pathway Integrate and infuse teaching, research and industry engagement (t.r.i.) 1. In a ‘walk-through’ people with an interest in teaching and learning, research or industry engagement (t.r.i.) are introduced to the u.lab proactively or through participation in current programs. People experience the labs’ culture, community, and methods, and leave u.lab holding such values, new knowledge and skills. In turn lab’s visibility and philosophy and so might attract further participation. 2. The ‘walk-in’ is a pathway for people to directly contribute to our programs
ETHOS
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+"CULTURE +"COMMUNITY +"TEACHING"APPROACHES +"MODEL"FOR"INFUSION
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+"TEACHING"FELLOWS +"ACADEMIC"STAFF +"VISION"OF"PATHWAY """FOR"UGs
4
through teaching, research or industry engagement (t.r.i.). Each contribution leverages u.lab philosophy and culture in and beyond the university. 3. By following a structured approach to the innovation process ‘teaching’ becomes an important part of the infusion model transferring skills on an individual level. We promote the inclusion of u.lab teaching resources, methods and materials in undergraduate and postgraduate courses and
degrees across our university and beyond. 4. Finally, the ‘showcase’ path depicts the demonstration of the value, effectiveness, reach and impact of our programs to the academic community. We ‘show, not tell’ to engage the academic community. The impact, importance, value-add and contribution of the u.lab is not limited to the immediate group. Rather, it infuses into the wider university.
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Space
melds ecosystem collaborators and by-standers in a shared experimentation. Spatial settings are a key stimulator of the personal experience that incubates collaborative creativity, innovation and community engagement. Most creative thinking and entrepreneurial research has overlooked wisdom focuses on the importance of enabling leadership traits, analysing market conditions or improving technical competencies for enabling successful innovation. However, seeing, touching and manipulating objects including furniture and materials is important for stimulating thought, is a growing understanding of the importance of space as a creativity enabler. The ‘making of space’ is the conscious effort to design a place that stimulates emergence of entrepreneurial and creative thought and action. page
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u.lab’s space
The u.lab space is a result of conscious space making, improvisation and practicality. The warehouse-like space is purposely designed to enable and encourage multiple modes of interaction and movement; it is devoid of the usual expectations of a classroom setting. Three deliberate areas indicate the modes of engagement; a presentation area with screen and lounges for formal pitches and discussions, a lounge area for sharing food and conversation and a workshop area for action, iteration and prototyping. The open space allows movement and interaction and signals the message of
‘no boundaries’. This allows students, participants and visitors to move around and interact spontaneously with each other. Set outside of the university and its dedicated faculty buildings, the u.lab space serves as a neutral ground and as a bridge to the communities surrounding UTS. The open doors attract passers-by and enable students to immediately test ideas with visitors. The u.lab space features a range of high- and lowtech supporting tools as well as the presence of expert facilitators. Such elements are necessary in an emergent environment so that learners
do not feel overwhelmed by the lack of structure. At u.lab people play with materials and equipment stimulating the ‘inner child’ to physically explore and express ideas. We see students, academics and professionals engaging in playful interactions. We designed a space that is inclusive, rather than exclusive. Our space is meant to invite outsiders to become insiders, i.e. to participate in the work happening, as well as to stimulate insiders, i.e. students, participants and staff , to seek interactions with outsiders. While we adopted some adaptive elements, but the overall process remains emergent.
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chapter two
engaging
identifying, building and enabling groups of stakeholders and inviting them to participate in programs and activities. Engagement programs and activities vary in their intensity and purpose. They are designed to shape, activate and connect people and ideas. Yet, they are mashed-up to stimulate the stakeholder’s own creative chaos. We engage at different levels and with various groups to develop, prototype and test our methods and tools and to build the ecosystem. Programs like the 20 hr WarmUp Labs - the Creative Minds and Creative Leadership Sessions - are designed around appreciating complexity rather than creative chaos. They introduce to the world of design-led innovation practices to those who may be encountering it for the the pendulum towards self-organising creative chaos. Either way, participation in programs and activities is geared towards engaging people to test and try new practices that shape ideas. Some practices focus on the mind. They are designed to gel individuals together through generating collaborative ideas. Such practices pull open boundaries and encourage socially inclusive actions where competitive individualism and personal gain above collective spirit are not accepted. Other practices activate and mobilise ideas. Ideas ignite, merge and transmorph - they inspire and improve the shared experience in the ecosystems. page
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If you have a good idea, share it. Build positive feedback loops and participate in game changing propositions. Engaging practices are designed to support the materialisation of ideas. Good ideas are natural attractors; they will stick. Engaging through programs and activities harmoniously facilitates the collection of the information, feedback, supporting resources, capabilities, energy and goodwill that feeds into in prototypes and ultimately results in innovation. How do we know these engaging practices achieve this? We don’t know yet - we are prototyping. With our research at the u.lab we are interested in building new ways and networks of open-source innovation in order to rapidly expand the topography of design thinking, strategic design and design-led innovation. Our wish for engaging practices is that through our programs and activities, new initiatives and other collectives of catalysts will emerge and shape more ecosystems to frame and re-frame our livelihoods. At last, good ideas devoid of ecosystems lie within all individuals. The individualistic culture of developed economies encourages protection of ideas. u.lab deliberately
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Subculture ThinkTank BikeTank
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20hr Warmup lab Creative Minds Creative Leadership
60
Catalysts program u.lab Catalysts Program
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Encouraging startups Khoombi Studio 11 South of the Border
68
16 week Entrepreneurship Course Entrepreneurship Lab
76
International Workshop Co-Opolis 2012 in Dalian
88
Research Collective Groundbreaker
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Subculture thinktank
intensive-user-group and builds an interactive series of design think events around them. The purpose is to deepen the dialogue and creativity made up of passionate, well-connected people chance, they jump at the opportunity to bring exposure and creativity to enable real change through their subculture. Through events, the subculture thinktank blends the edge between organisation and community, opening up a whole new realm of thought styles to your innovation challenge. Events are fast-paced, social, and playful. People come to network, be energised, and to celebrate their subculture, but at the same time you can draw on their skills and knowledge through interactive collaborative design activities. By tapping into networked subcultures you draw on a wealth of goodwill and enthusiasm, and develop nuanced points of view your ideas. It’s an ecosystem in action. page
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BikeTank is an experiment in collective creativity for cities and a new form of think tank that you cycle to. It is comprised of a multiplicity of members, all selfelected, who come from diverse pockets of the Sydney community. Together we are exploring how design can make cities more human. At BikeTank workshops we prototype modes and spaces of innovation, embracing multi-generational inspiration and sharing. Each week is an intensive exploration contributing to a bigger picture project.
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“BikeTank is a unique opportunity for Sydney residents, academics, students and government to imagine, crosspollinate and create ideas for a better city. A great success for participatory design, I enjoy the positive energy, enthusiasm and possibility offered by BikeTank.� Gareth Johnston
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BikeTank: a creative practice model for complex, networked urban problems
of the problems. Practitioners frequently recognise the complexity of the connected issues relating to a design brief, yet are unable expand or reframe the brief, often due to the commercial goals of the client and the limited perception of the problem. Design practice indicates that engaging the power of design across networks could help address more complex, networked problems.4 In this scenario how is the diversity does diversity affect collaborative design? When diversity increases, how does intensity
Global cities are facing opportunities as geopolitical and global economic ambiguity brings shifts in economic power and natural disasters are forcing a redistribution of resources. Increasingly, the that characterise this condition are incomplete, contradictory, and have changing requirements, require more complex conceptualisations and reframing, as well as require new ways of drawing on diverse knowledge. In addition to risk and uncertainty, these problems span the environment and humanity, and are open, dynamic and highly networked. Design in its conventional capacity for solving fuzzy, loosely in the face of these largescale and interconnected problems. Governments and corporations have few modes of access to a wider design power, and minimal capacity
tion of new strategies. Research has demonstrated the value of techniques embedded in design that encapsulate the way designers deal with the (collaborative) framing and positioning of problem situations to unlock innovative solutions.1 Advocates for a faster rate of change on environmental and social design issues argue that design can play a role not only in shaping physical environments and spaces, but deployed as a strategic tool to shape and implement bigger visions and actions.2 Traditional design practices of the urban domain—architecture, urban design and planning—have developed methods for drawing on a wider participation for stakeholders, using stakeholder design consultations and participatory workshops, known as co-design.3 Some limits of these processes are found in the disciplinary focus
what are the limits and potentials of each dimension—diversity and intensity—when combined? Research studies into design creativity of teams focus on small and consistent and as a result less is known this emerging domain such as improvisation, entrepreneurship and performance.5 The aim of the research is to explore the relationship between diversity and intensity in collaborative design in large teams, and to test its application for addressing complex large-scale, networked problems. In order to do this, we have developed a new mode of collaborative design practice that aims to understand the potentials of emerging creative skills pertinent to larger and less structured teams: improvisation, entrepreneurship and performance.
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Context Several conditions in the contemporary city and in our research to date offer a rich background to build this approach. At the forefront, social media proliferation has lead to a wider scope for action in the city, leading to a new kind of citizen science.6 In parallel to its impact on advanced individual consumerism, social media is growing individuals’ capacity for agency in the city where for -
architects can develop spaces that blur boundaries between art, architecture and cities10 and intangible states of interaction can literally supplement traditional built form in the city.11 This context provides a new gap in opportunity to capitalize on the willingness of people to collaborate, and brings us to ask how we can more creatively: Develop models of collaborative visioning of the future Instigate a sense of agency, not only in an individual, but in large groups of individuals who are not always professionally connected. Build real projects that teams of people can focus their creative and entrepreneurial energy towards.
lenges in its Sydney 2030 Strategy. Some of the complex issues being addressed in Sydney that were brought into the BikeTank program included: the reduction of the city’s energy consumption by almost three quarters, radical reduction of congestion in the suburban transport arteries, bringing new cultures of green living into a highly car-dependent city, and urban farming to sustain inner city populations.
series of large scale chal-
Concept The BikeTank is ‘a think tank that you cycle to’ (http://biketank.org). But unlike most think tanks, it is comprised of a multiplicity of members, all self-elected, who come from diverse pockets of the Sydney community. The conceptual intention of BikeTank is the merging of a cycling workshop cum café with a public design studio. The space hosts the weekly event, known as the BikeTank, focussing on design thinking for cities. BikeTank is free and takes place at 8am every Tuesday morning for 1.5 hours, with participants from the public arriving on their bikes, ready to think about urban issues. BikeTank is announced on the web page and by email to returning participants. The three basic precepts used to develop the BikeTank are: 1. The human element within design interactions is the fundamental design parameter that BikeTank facilitates. Both in partici-
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Designers’ roles are blurring and, increasingly, the impact of the new media is enabling a social and philanthropic purpose previously the interest of a specialist few. Design is also being called to engage in activism on all levels.7 Designers are developing new modes of interactions with clients through social events and participatory design events (http://pechakucha.org) that draw on the capacity for social media to attract and organize audiences. Practitioners form joint ventures with universities to develop seasonal businesses that approach large, complex design problems through collaborations between students, schools, international leading practitioners and government departments.8 Rather than responding to a brief, designers are engaged in proactive means of generating business through new forms of media such as blogging.9 Through highly accessible sensate media,
BikeTank: a new creative practice model In response to the needs networked problems for the city, the BikeTank was established.12 BikeTank is an exploratory model that brings together participants from the public for weekly intensive design events that enable the coordinating practitioners to rapidly divide and expand the scope of potential solutions of a complex problem. Context of Sydney This research is carried out in the city of Sydney, Australia, at a time when the inner city Council, the City
pant interactions and in the design tasks, strategies to embed empathy and human interaction underly all decisions. BikeTank develops new techniques for stimulating the socially responsive processes of design: prototyping, presentation, competition, and peer-review. 2. Intensity in collaborative design involves opening up the channels of communication and exchange so as to heighten the overlap of actions between players. BikeTank integrates a human approach to design with timeintensive programs of rapid design collaboration. Time, degree of challenge, and variety of activity contribute to raising the intensity of the sessions. 3. Diversity, not only interdisciplinarity, is an important ingredient to creative innovation. BikeTank breaks across disciplinary silos, and it also breaches the boundary between academia and the city, between learners and professionals, government and industry. Unexpected and unplanned interactions between diverse players are the crux of the creative practice. Structure The participant structure is a unique aspect of the BikeTank. Between 40 and 60 people attend BikeTank weekly who are a mix of students and professionals. The BikeTank is an advertised event, and participants from the general public opt-in to come on a week by week basis. Participants are not selected
interactions, we determined that participants come from the urban, academic, engineering, design, arts, social innovation, and service business sectors. BikeTank is also coordinated with the interdisciplinary graduate subject in Entrepreneurship at UTS, for approximately 20 students. While non-student participants at the BikeTank may change each week, continuity is provided by reviewing prise projects throughout the semester. BikeTank provides a mechanism to inspire and critique students’ thinking and help grow and shape ideas. Process The BikeTank framework repeated each week. This involves a gathering of participants into an informal acquaintance initiation, folby a visiting guest thinker, an intensive 25-minute pressure cooker design process (the 5X5), culminating in short public pitches of the outcomes. The 5X5 is the core design method that was BikeTank context and goals. See page 152 for the 5X5. Examples Since BikeTank events began in August 2011, we have tackled topics includsocial networking in urban environments, car sharing, integrating migrants into ex-
isting communities, sustainable food supply, alternative modes of transport, cycling networks, and citizen innovation. The outcomes are diverse and include proposals for a multi-use drive-thru bicycle wash, radical forms of urban space sharing, community technology gardens and a mobile community incubator. problem set by the City of Sydney related to the recent introduction of cycle paths into the City of Sydney, which brings a new level of complexity into the management of speeds and intersections of mobilty. The brief asked: How tively revealed so that bikes are in synergy with the city? When there is a complexity of factors in an intersection that outweighs the effectiveness of its performance as a whole, frustration can lead to individuals taking risk to cross boundaries before their due turn, or outside of their designated zone of movement. Four groups generated four different ideas for four zones: Aged Care Centre near cycle ways; Bus Stops near cycle ways; Child Care Centre entries near cycle ways; Private Driveways intersecting with cycle ways. One was the Tartan Roads Concept in which a signs hierarchies to the grid of the city, and brings simple interactive devices (bells, sensate paths, audio responsiveness) to the intersections so that movement becomes negotiated rather than top-down controlled. Another solution
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was the World Care Centre, a creative re-interpretation of the predominant care facility mindset, the ‘aged care centre’: Rather than securing they are opened to the outside community, through a universally designed park, where the public interact with them and care for their social wellbeing.
Elements of the New Practice Model The following elements are the initial observations from building the BikeTank practice model. Intrinsic Motivation BikeTank is a free event that allows the general public to experiment with their creative and communication skills in a challenging forum that is highly satisfying on this personal level. People learn new skills, race against the clock to present new ideas, build social capital, and have a dynamic venue and audience in which to express their creativity. BikeTank is for high impact-long lasting community owned social progression. The BikeTank campaign focuses on the motivating factors which, when tapped into effectively, can generate a self-sustaining awareness and consciousness by participation and proactive creativity. With participation in the creative process, the public adopts responsibility and ownership, and is motirealms and modes not usually accessible.
ing practitioner also plays the role of an improviser. Interaction with a novel system or program automatically employs the capacity to improvise. Real-time feedback also motivates improvisation. As in musical improvisation, this can be seen as a creative activity in which the relationship between one’s output and the opponent’s response spontaneously emerges through playful exploration. 15 If participants of the BikeTank hold a consistent goal towards some outcome, then improvisation plays a much larger role. Performative Expression The role of feedback to motivate and direct action is integral. Performance became more and more engaging as BikeTank matured. In situations where participants might have withdrawn participation, the degree of activation and focus increased. The forms of performance that stimulated interaction and creativity included: transformed role-plays, raps, hakas, and the prototyping of thinking caps, faceboards for storytelling, and two-headed monsters to display the constakeholders.
Collective Improvisation Collective improvisation is a valid and important element of design of complex urban issues.13 Improvisation is an essential part of existing in the everyday world and has the capacity to generate meaning.14 In the BikeTank the participant and the coordinat-
Creative altruism BikeTank blends the potentiality of design with the giving of time, expertise, energy, ideas and community, to activate an individual’s self-actualisation needs. We label this process ‘creative altruism.’ This builds on an
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intrinsic motivation to bring about collective innovation through sharing one’s creativity and energy in a way that is altruistic and aiming towards the greater good. By working to higher-level motivations of creative altruism, we have already observed that participants become highly engaged in the weekly programs of BikeTank. Collective creativity is a highly emotional undertaking. People come again and again and invest a lot of time and energy into the program. They experience feelings of inspiration, breakthrough, exhilaration, and euphoria, and experience the desire express one’s individuality, to give back to others through actualisation and sharing of one’s capabilities. Conclusion Complex, networked problems, such as those facing our cities, are not well served by the traditional practices of design in architecture, urban design, or planning, in which small teams of specialists work with limited access to stakeholders and community through conventional consultation workshops. Design as a problem solving mindset is into the networked power of the city, design must become an entrepreneurial undertaking practiced in conditions of and feedback. This paper has presented a new creative practice model demonstrated in the
BikeTank. Here, the challenge to dissect complex problems as a collective has instigated a broader public movement where design is the activation and communication medium between a growing audience of stakeholders. BikeTank builds a collective of people who loosely replicate an organisation with a mission, and who gather to incrementally solve design problems. In this model, the designing of cities becomes focussed on participation, not governance, and through the structure of design, the general public turn, government agencies or companies with an ambition to solve complex problems are driven to engage in better network based solution-making that achieve the double tion and actuation through participation. The traversal of our collective creative effort across these scales shapes a new form of practice that is participatory, events-generated, and builds a creative capital of an urban network. Through BikeTank we are exploring a paradigm shift towards a more participatory economy of meaning, not only generatand actuating solutions to problems that affect all.
1. Brown, T. (2009). Change by Design. New York: Harper Business. Cross, N. (1982). Designerly ways of knowing. Design Studies, 3(4): 221-227. Dorst, K. (2006). Understanding Design. Amsterdam: BIS Publishers. Lawson, B. R. (2006). How Designers MA: Architectural Press. 2. Brown, T., op. cit. Owen, C. (2007). Design Thinking: Notes on its nature and Use. Design Research Quarterly, 2(1), 16-27. 3. Jakovich, J. Beilharz, K. & Echanove, (2006). Symbiosis between Participation and System Design: from interactive art to urban development. CoDesign International Journal of CoCreation in Design and the Arts. Special Issue on Interactive Art, 249-257. London: Taylor & Francis. 4. Jakovich, J. (2003). Trading Places [Network]: Riding the Creative Power of Informal Networks. In Y. T. Liu (Ed.), Developing Digital Architecture, (pp. 203209). NY: Edizioni Birkhauser Publishers. Paulos, E., Honicky, R.J. and Hooker, B. (2008). Citizen Science: Enabling Participatory Urbanism. In Handbook of Research on Urban Informatics: The Practice and Promise of the Real-Time City. M. Foth (Ed.). Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference, IGI Global. Urhahn, G. (2011). The Spontaneous City. Amsterdam: BIS Publishers. Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. London: Temple Smith. Urhahn, G., op. cit. 6. Paulos, E., Honicky, R.J. and Hooker, B., op. cit. 7. Mau, B., & Leonard, J. (2004). Massive Change. London: Phaidon Press. See also: http://www.massivechange.com/ 8. Jakovich, J. (2006). Urban Islands vol 1: Cuttings. Sydney: Sydney University Press. 9. Trimble, M. 2007. SuperColossal. http://supercolossal.ch (Blog as business front and diversifying practice of an architect). 10. Jakovich, J. (2007). Adaptive Systems of Engagement: art, space and cities. In Proc. 2007 International Media Arts Festival. Taiwan: National Taiwan University of the Arts. 11. Jakovich, J. & Beilharz, K. (2007). Interaction as a Medium in Architectural Design. Leonardo Journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, 40(4), 368-369. Cambridge: MIT Press. 12. Brookes, W., et al. (2011). u.lab: A framework for interdisciplinary projects at UTS. Sydney: DAB Docs. 13. Jakovich, J. Beilharz, K. & Echanove, (2006). op. cit.. 14. Lewis, G. (2006). Improvisation. Keynote lecture, New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME), IRCAM, Paris. 15 Jakovich, J. Beilharz, K. & Echanove, (2006). op. cit.
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20hr warmup lab
The 20 hour warm-up lab is a kick starter for design-led innovation. It’s aim is to expose novice design thinkers to the basic practices, methods and tools of creative problem solving. The Warm-up Lab should be themed around an issue that is current, contentious and present in the participants’ lives, which accelerates deeper understanding of the issue and its intricacies. You can deliver a 20hr Warm-up Lab in four half day or two full day sessions. Ensure you leave enough time between sessions for empathy work, sense making and testing. In the end, participants will have lived through a design thinking experience that taught them the different approaches to divergent and convergent thinking, new ways of understanding user needs, re-framing problems, creating solutions, building prototypes and seeking user-feedback.
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Creative Minds The Creative Minds Sessions (CMS) are about passionate people taking on critical issues using creative thinking. CMS introduces and explores design thinking as an innovation method. Combining approaches found in design and ethnography with technology and business skills found in strategic and innovation management, Creative Minds offers a third way for problem solving and idea generation. We created the Creative Minds Sessions (CMS) pilot as a series of four half day workshops initially aimed at undergraduate students from all UTS faculties. Recent economic developments globally and in Australia have taught us that we need fresh ideas and perspectives, which can only be achieved by thinking in new, broad and integrative ways. Good ideas and new perspectives require a chemistry of their own. At the Creative Minds Sessions we create an environment that nudges and blurs the traditional boundaries of ’design teams’. We encourage participants to use entrepreneurship, interdisciplinary thinking and experimentation to solve the problems of the future. Participants use rapid pace ideation and prototyping to bring new ideas and thought styles into their innovation process.
“This process is more ‘arty farty’ but it has been good. I didn’t think I was as creative as I have been.” Participant
Because the pace is fast and the participants are novices the underlying process is structured into several phases inspired by Stanford University’s d.school approach. Our approach is characterised by three key features: (1) We contextualize the sessions within a contemporary and contentious issue: this immediately engages the sensibilities of the participants and helps them connect with the ecosystem. (2) Participant groups are purposely structured to maximise diversity: participants complete a pre survey prior to attendance that probes for their experiences in relation to
creative problem solving, industry experience and disciplinary background. Demographic factors are also surveyed. Small groups are created to maximise the internal group diversity. (3) We encourage divergence: to adjust students minds out of a potential ‘groupthink trap’ we purposively structure divergence into the process. This may be either through of consciousness if the minds gel prematurely or through structuring in a divergent problem statement exercise to encourage students to test two disparate ideas prior to
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“The process made me step out of my usual skin and think in a different manner.” ParticipaNT
The structured process of the CMS is: A) Rapid ideation taster: This is a condensed version of the entire design thinking process from ideation, empathy, testing, prototype and pitching. In CMS we start with a typical fast design thinking warm-up; the wallet exercise - a very quick engagement process to get participants to re-design a wallet. B) Contemporary contextualisation: A topical contemporary issue is introduced using audio-visual forms. This heightens the empathy work. Participants are allocated into their team. We cut deep into the collaborative thinking process by sending participants straight out onto the streets
after the contextualisation to interview passersby in the street. In our pilot CMS we challenged students to imagine a zero impact society. We framed the issue by showing a small segment of the 2010 documentary ‘no impact man’ , presented them with a pile of rubbish and asked them to think about possibilities for sustainable consumption. Having recently met participants minds spiralled in different directions, they left the warehouse space to gain user needs. Armed with a camera and notepad they observed and interviewed people on the street, in cafes, on campus and beyond. C) Brainstorming and Dethey gathered on the streets
and swimming with ideas, a rapid brainstorm session unfolds with participant teams are then synthesised. Groups must overcome their diverse views of the various users needs, synthesise the informa-
They then develop a persona that embodies the needs of the user group. We asked them to express the user need in one word. D) Deliberative divergence and incubating: Finally, groups begin to work towards a solution. To encourage divergence we asked students to choose two ideas for a solution, ‘one safe’ and ‘one risky’. Both ideas were used to prototype two solutions and test these by pitching each to other groups. Participants be-
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came sounding boards for one another’s ideas. Teams then selected the idea that seemed most feasible. E) Rapid testing and prototyping: Once an solution path had been selected, groups used multiple forms of materialisation and verbal representation to build their idea. They went back out to the streets with their prototype
with further quick iterations of testing and prototyping including more feedback their ideas to an industry panel.
facilitated activities. Between boundary pushing and boundary pulling. Rapid interactivity accelerates learning and facilitates fast iterations. Engagement with strangers and potential users inspires further ideation
iterations and structured,
bought groups together in a casual and familiar arrangeibility of the space engaged the students imagination.
groups and individuals to gather their insights in relation to the process and their collaborations to synthesise their thinking and doing. Facilitators introduced methods and tools as they observed the participants to best support divergent and convergent phases of the Immediately after the
between phases of high
approach and a heightened appreciation of the contemporary issue. We noted the sig-
to move the furniture, but then freely created their own space. At u.lab we develop the CMS further into a teaser - a tip your toe in design thinking exercise that primes participants to then engage in more complex problem solving. It can be used at all levels of learning and can engage participants within the innovation lab ecosystem.
impressed with what was achieved in short amount of time. They expressed an appreciation of the design-led
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Creative Leadership
The executive warm-up lab, Creative Leadership, is one variation that can be applied executives roles and responsibilities in champion and support innovation initiatives. processes that executives can use to build an innovation culture. The Creative Leadership sessions share the fundamental ideas and activities of the Creative Minds sessions in that they aim to introduce to the practices of creative innovation by experiencing them in the context of a real problem. However, the workshops pay extra attention to understanding the complex relationships between painful experience for organisations. Through understanding not only design processes and mindsets, but leadership roles and responsibilities, participants develop new and improved approaches to addressing the strategic challenges of their organisation or community. The Creative Leadership session is designed to take participants through a process of re-examining own experiences with initiating and leading strategic innovation and the issues faced by their organisations in implementing change. Creative leaders then explore how design can be used as a like in the context of innovation.
“It provides students, academics and organisations the space to imagine a different world, and the tools to achieve it. Whether starting a new venture, or engaging with the challenges faced by business and communities, or simply realising the potential of individuals working creatively in multidisciplinary teams, everyone gains from the power of design and integrative thinking.� Roy Green page
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Catalysts program
A catalyst program links passionate people to the lab who with their vision and energy help grow the ecosystem. Catalysts are alumni, associates and friends of the lab, who help themselves and others grow by channeling and amplifying the many virtuous feedback loops in and around the lab. Hence, catalysts are people who assist the smooth functioning of the ecosystem, they engage in teaching and research in order to learn, they inspire and coach others in order to create and be inspired themselves. A catalysts program creates opportunities in all corners of the innovation lab’s initiatives including teaching, development, engagement, research, administration, and operations. The program is a way for people to stay involved with the profession, build a fellowship.
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u.lab Catalysts Program A catalyst can join the u.lab ecosystem in any phase of their career or study. Catalyst positions for Nodes are advertised or negotiated based on proposals. Catalysts are registered as members in u.lab in three ways: 1. Trainee Catalysts These are fee-paying Catalysts who learn the skills, methods and ethos of design thinking and innovation in the u.lab model (taken through the u.lab Labs program and the u.lab Teaching program e.g. Entrepreneurship Lab). Once they have mastered a number of u.lab skills, they Nodes. 2. Node Catalysts responsibility in an area of the u.lab’s functioning ecosystem and aim to grow that Node. They are signed onto one of three UTS programs: - as a UTS Intern (unpaid) - as Research Assistants (where participating in research funded by Grants or Contract Research) - as Research Students (Masters or PhD) - Sessional staff teaching into the u.lab subjects or u.lab Labs Node Catalysts work in structured Nodes of specialisation [See below], and where applicable, on supervised research projects.
3. Staff Catalysts These are full-time academic staff including those beyond the Core Team who teach or co-teach into u.lab subjects, or participate in research projects (and support activities). Staff catalysts take part in supervising the Nodes. Value for Catalysts Trainee and Node Catalysts make up the majority of the internal u.lab Ecosystem, and as a result are the energisers of the u.lab culture. Three areas of growth and motivation for these Catalysts are: Personal Growth - Growing in emotional intelligence through personal mastery of your dynamic interest area in a collaborative context; - Building a projectbased outcome that has value and that you can claim achievement in the Ecosystem; - Growing in personal capacity for agency -- coming to realise how you can make change in the world through your skills and passion; - Growing in personal conviction in your career vocation and future plan for meaningful and satisfying career action. Social Growth - Taking part in building a social network of dynamic supportive peers who hold
ambitious values for their part in the world; - Having a sense of ‘home’ in this peer group; - Understanding through experience the value of mentoring and being mentored; - Growing in capacity for collaborative creativity that builds on design thinking to bring about innovation. Technical growth - Honing core skill and interest areas by undertaking a ‘real-life’ setting; - Working with node areas outside of core skill/interest area, in conjunction with experienced mentors to grow range of skills (the horizontal - Applying technical skills with client/employee orientated outcomes, combining all three points Mentoring All Catalysts have a minimum of three mentors, and in turn mentor at least one other person. One mentor always comes from within the Node. They support the Catalyst in their individual Project in relation to the Node specialisation. The second mentor/s comes from peers in the other Nodes or Clusters. Here Catalysts choose anyone they want to team up with to produce the Publication requirement of their Project.
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They peer-mentor each other to produce a high quality Publication that showcases the team’s individual outcomes. Thirdly, each Node Catalyst has a Mentor from a non-UTS member of the greater u.lab Ecosystem. This mentor gives them guidance in their project from an external perspective. Clusters + Nodes There are three Clusters of Nodes in themed areas: i.STORYTELLING u.lab Communications u.lab Web Media, including Social Media Documentation - Video Documentation - Photo Documentation Graphical, Diagrammatic, Conceptual ii. KNOWLEDGE-MAKING Teaching
Research Publishing Delivery of Labs iii. INTERFACING Event Management Space Design Partnering Business Development The Node Catalyst Model The Node Catalysts are the most active and important agents in the Catalysts Program. They are already trained, and are in the height of deepening and diversifying their skills through projectbased, applied activities in the Nodes. There are two major areas of activity that Node Catalysts take part in. in a Node through their own Node Project. This is a that a Catalyst signs onto for a period of time. The goal is to produce two outcomes:
A product or service to the u.lab. This is something the Catalyst works on independently, and can claim as their achievement during their engagement in the u.lab. (b) a Publication A joint or individual effort to collate the outcomes of the Project into a: - Book Chapter or Article for the u.lab yearly book - Academic Conference Paper or Poster - Video for the u.lab Web - or another medium of presentation for exhibiting the outcomes of the u.lab. The second major area of activity for a Node Catalyst is building u.lab culture. There are many activities that include teaching, facilitating, organising, and welcoming guests to the u.lab.
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Encouraging Startups
Startup companies rarely thrive in a vacuum; they are often seeded, launched and then grown in a well networked environment of enthusiastic supporters. One of the most rewarding practices is the encouragement of start-ups. While some may say that entrepreneurs are born, at the u.lab we believe that by creating a positive and forward culture, combined with a dynamic learning environment and access to mentors we can inspire graduates to give entrepreneurship a serious try. Encouraging Start-ups is the practice of providing opportunities and an environment where students can experiment with business models. Increasingly new venture are taking a shared value approach to enterprise, which at the u.lab is reinforced through the reciprocity of the ecosystem and complementary layers of support for the venture. New ways of accessing propel the social connectedness. New startups emerge on the scene with well established network and social capital in place. page
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Khoombi – the root of the word comes from Urdu,
Hasan Kamal Syed
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Studio 11 Design
Nasser Hussein, Daniel Kim, Alan Wang, Evan Nguyen.
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South of the Border
Nathan Wiltshire & Baptiste Bachellerie
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16 week entrepreneurship course
Entrepreneurship is sometimes viewed as an innate skill, not a learned one. Utilising designled innovation methods, students can experience a deep immersion into a challenging problem over a longer period of time. Skills such as pitching, prototyping, user-centred design and problem framing give a platform for anyone to become entrepreneurial in thinking. At the Masters level students already have a disciplinary specialisation or professional experience, enhancing the innovation opportunities. It’s good if the course possible. For example, an elective subject that any student from any discipline can participate in from across the university.
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APPLICATIONS OPEN: Entrepreneurship Lab 2012 Ever wanted to be an entrepreneur? Or maybe you already are? Do you want to better understand the creative processes that drive innovation? Take your ideas and turn them into prototypes? Work with people who think differently than you? Explore and enhance your own creativity? Change the world? The Entrepreneurship Lab is an interdisciplinary design thinking subject within which students leverage their own discipline knowledge to innovate new approaches for solving components of a big picture problem. Students work collaboratively in mixed teams to apply skills of Design Thinking and Creative Enterprise to develop solutions that catalyse social purpose into the real world of business. The subject establishes interdisciplinary entrepreneurial collaboration through participation between the faculties of DAB, Business, and FEIT and cooperation with local entrepreneurs and design thinkers, who form part of an embedded mentoring program set up to support the entrepreneurial proposals.
China collaboration in 2012: CO-OPOLIS The u.lab recognises that people invest most in what they truly believe in and so incubating opportunity is a priority. When it’s clear that there are worthwhile outlets for one’s work, when it is clear that there are real benefits, when it is clear that there is a connection between the immediate and the real-world, when it is clear that ‘this’ is really going somewhere, then inhibitions are dropped and motivation soars - at the u.lab we believe in not only opening the door, but revealing the world behind it. This semester’s Entrepreneurship Lab will collaborate with students in China, Dalian University of Technology. We will travel to Dalian for a collaborative workshop 23rd-27th April 2012.
Apply now We have limited spaces and maximum intensity, so students interesting in taking part need to send a compelling statement for selection as well as demonstrate enthusiasm for a bigger picture motivation (more info about u.lab below). - Required elements: - a 200 word personal Statement - a 10-bullet-point Manifesto (outlining your philosophy - of life, work, play or..?) - an Image that captures the essence of the above - and a list of your skills demonstrating your ‘T’-shape profile (broad skills + functional/disciplinary skill) – diagrams welcome.
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The Entrepreneurship Lab @ u.lab
The Entrepreneurship Lab is an interdisciplinary design thinking subject in the u.lab within which students leverage their own discipline knowledge to innovate new approaches for solving components of a big picture problem. Students work in mixed-discipline teams from the Business, Design, Architecture, Engineering and IT faculties to apply skills of Design Thinking and Creative Enterprise to develop solutions that catalyse social purpose into the real world of business. The goal is to develop full working prototypes for ventures that catalyse social purpose into the built realm. We work in cooperation with local entrepreneurs and design thinkers, who form part of an embedded mentoring program set up to support the entrepreneurial proposals.
Through these activities, entrepreneurship develops as a mode of mixed-discipline, mixed-generation and mixedculture interactions where
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physical full-scale prototyping and feedback, as does designing the solution. The Entrepreneurship Lab includes opportunities to learn new perspectives and ways of knowing; purposefully educating each other to collectively enable a systems perspective; learning through experience and failure; and learning how to negotiate meanings across perspectives and disciplines; and formulating or investigating problems through multiple lenses. A predominant feature that the u.lab experience aims to facilitate is nonjudgemental curiosity and a passion and appreciation for continual learning.
The learning objectives and assessment items for the course were designed to satisfy both participating faculties’ requirements. In essence, we designed a course that would enable students to: methodology to tackle ‘big picture’ problems that span the domains of technology, business and human factors; collaboration with students from other disciplines and mentors from both university and industry;
develop a point of view towards a chosen problem; prototypes, and demonstrate a bias towards action; processes and methodologies being used, and be able to identify learning needs and seek answers independently; and develop appropriate materials to pitch an idea to a potential investor.
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The nationalities represented in the Entrepreneurship Lab, Autumn 2012:
We feel that diversity, not only interdisciplinarity, is the key ingredient to creative innovation. Through diversity, and engendering processes for listening and empathising, we are generating a culture of generosity, so sharing over fear, which we think is the missing ingredient in a lot of innovation processes. The cultural embeddedness of the u.lab is an important element. Collaboration and engagement encompass social learning and our focus on ‘complex’ and ‘local’ problems extends to both social and global elements.
“Not only the professional background helped us out nationalities and cultural knowledge made us work faster when explaining a new idea or criticizing others ideas in terms of viability. We will always have assumptions that we build from our subjectiveness that can be easily supported or discarded when changing the context.” Cristian Ruiz Ramos
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“I love how the focus of the projects goes beyond the basic way of thinking. problems we handle with through the discovery of universal phenomenons. and original solutions that are far from
“People from different disciplines coming to the same class really broke my previous experience with design workshops.”
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“I love that it’s cross disciplinary,
and thought provoking ideas in the subject. Also how fun it is; also the integration of individuals to become a group.”
interactive, lots of discussion, seems to address more and is more relevant to modern business models than any other subjects i have done. Especially the social business models and the modern enterprise startup environment. The wide range of experiences - it’s a lot of fun. The best subject I have done as part of the eMBA. Really enjoying it.”
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International workshop
Collaborating with a team from a foreign university is a great way to build momentum and diversify your innovation approaches. A great deal can be achieved through intensive challenge. Diversity has been demonstrated as a key innovation driver, so choose diverse collaborators. Diversity expands the chance of discovering radically new solutions through different cultural points of view. Participants’ necessity to communicate using different media, and the fun in building a solution through hands-on prototyping. When contrasting people converge, everyone learns skills and applies attitudes - especially open-mindedness and empathy - that could not be understood through a mono-cultured program. Working across demographic divides allows people to develop communication and compassion.
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CO-OPOLIS 2012 Workshop in Dalian The Entrepreneurship Lab collaborated with students in China, Dalian University of Technology (DUT) for CO-OPOLIS 2012. We traveled to Dalian for a collaborative workshop 23rd-27th April 2012, and hosted DUT in Sydney 11-18th June 2012. CO-OPOLIS 2012 asked teams to design vision for a massive granite mine pit that scars the suburban area of Dalian city. In 5 days they visited the site, interviewed the stakeholders, and developed future plans for the site that included business, environment and shared value aspects.
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“Such a big, absolutely different experience. Totally. The food. The communication with the guys. I think this is the best project I’ve done in my life, and I’ve done plenty of them. Great, great, project.”
“Their talent is just mind-blowing. Gifted. In the middle of a meeting, this girl was drawing something, I could have paid for that. Wow.”
Eldridge Segura
Cristian Ruiz Ramos
“Chinese students are absolutely amazing. I’m depressed about having to work on non-crosscultural teams, not in a different country, with such talented people. They are amazing people as well and its been the best experience.” Anna Moran
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Research Collective
Research collectives are generative ecosystems where like-minded thinkers gather together in an environment dedicated to exploration and debate. The best way to instigate a collective is via conversations fuelled by events. Well framed critical questions and a moderation framework are minimum requirements to establish a credible platform. Opportunities for both social and scholarly intrigue bring people into the mix. The opportunities extend beyond the immediate debate. They spiral out into new collaborative ventures where knowledge institutions and industry are symbiotically connected nodes within the innovation ecosystem. A research collective can generate the experiences that shape a new generation of researchers and thought leaders.
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GROUNDBREAKER GROUNDBREAKER A COLLECTIVE OF DESIGN/DRIVEN INNOVATION // JUNE 27 / AUGUST 17 2012 // OBJECT GALLERY, SURRY HILLS
You are invited to GROUNDBREAKER. GROUNDBREAKER is a collective of design thinkers, innovation champions, creative boffins, openCsourcers, systems magicians, and curiosityCbuffs who are partaking in a series of interactions to explore and build new tools for collaborative innovation. Good ideas have a chemistry of their own. Some percolate and bubble up via the accidental interactions of unsuspecting visionaries. Others are forged in the intensive pressure cooker of processCformulated labs. Innovation is taking a turn towards the collective.
GROUNDBREAKER is coCcreating a series of handsCon workshops, debates and digital discussions taking place June 27 to August 17 in the Object Gallery. New tools of crowdCsourcing and openCsourcing will be enacted in the physical realm of design workC shopping in order to build the infectious energy and methods required to break into new ground in collective innovation. The GROUNDBREAKER hypothesis is that CrowdCShare Innovation Methods are the means by which problems of the future will be solved. Together we can explore and test this.
SAVE YOUR CREATIVE BRAINS AND COLLABORATIVE SPIRITS FOR GROUNDBREAKER, 27 JUNE - 17 AUGUST 2012, OBJECT GALLERY, SURRY HILLS. Register your interest: curious@groundbreaker.org.au
http://groundbreaker.org.au
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GROUNDBREAKER GROUNDBREAKER The last few years have seen resurgence in interest in design as a driver of innovation and competitive advantage. This has been visible in the popular as well as scholarly management press, with Business Week and Fast Company praising the value of design with cover page articles with headlines claiming ‘The Power of Design’. Meanwhile, scholars have investigated the link between design investments and busiD ness performance. A number of recent studies have indicated that designDdriven companies are more innovative than othD ers.1
NEW GROUND IN DESIGN,DRIVEN INNOVATION JUNE 27 , AUGUST 17 2012 / OBJECT GALLERY
a wide range of management challenges. The term “design thinking” has become a buzzword, aiming to capture designers’ creativityD driven approach to innovation that can be applied to anything from physical products and intangible services, to formulatD ing and solving complex social problems.3 This concept highD lights a particular mindDset, or “design attitude,”4 that always takes the user experience, or a humanDcentred perspective, as point of departure. The design process is experiD mental and emergent, alternatD ing between divergence and convergence, problem definition and solution,5 and characterised by considerable imagination and intuition as designers explore possible future solutions. Moreover, design is increasingly a multidisciplinary and crossD functional activity, as designers need to integrate many different “types of knowledge”6 when approaching problems with a high degree of uncertainty and complexity. The ability to visualise ideas and complex information and situations is therefore central to the design process. Designers often use sketches and proD totypes that, characterised by their temporary and incomplete nature, become “epistemic objects” that are essential to the process of knowledge developD ment and innovation.7 This increased attention to design and design practice reflects developments in manD agement, and the wider social sciences, with greater attention being directed to the socioD
1. Centre for Design Innovation 2007, Centre for De6 sign Innovation, ITSBIC, Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ballinode, Co. Sligo, ISBN 97860694887060664. European Commission 2009. 2. Karjalainen, T.6M. (2004). Semantic transformation in design : communicating strategic brand identity through product design references, Helsinki : Univer6 sity of Art and Design in Helsinki. Schmitt, B. and A. Simonson (1997). Marketing aes6 thetics: the strategic management of brands, identity, and image, Free Press. 3. Brown, T. (2008). “Design thinking.” Harvard Busi6 ness Review 86(6): 84692. Martin, R. L. (2009). The design of business: why design thinking is the next competitive advantage, Harvard Business School Press. 4. Boland, R. and F. Collopy (2004). Managing as designing, Stanford Business Books. 5. Corinne Kruger, Nigel Cross, Solution driven versus problem driven design: strategies and outcomes, Design Studies, Volume 27, Issue 5, September 2006, Pages 5276548. 6. Verganti, R. (2003), Design as brokering of lan6 guages: Innovation strategies in Italian firms. Design Management Journal (Former Series), 14: 34–42. 7. Ewenstein, B. and Whyte, J. (2009) Knowledge Practices in Design: The Role of Visual Representa6 tions as ‘Epistemic Objects’. Organization Studies, 30 (1): 7630.
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Several studies have found that consumers increasD ingly make choices on the basis of the aesthetic and symbolic value of products and services2: the “look and feel” of people, places and things demonstrate that the aesthetic and symbolic dimensions are becomD ing increasingly relevant in many industries. Along with this dramatic growth in interest in design, the past 10 – 15 years has seen a shift in the view of designD ers and their contribution to management. Whereas design used to be seen as mere “stylD ing” of products, added in the last phase of the New Product Development process, now deD sign is increasingly understood as a strategic activity that can bring a different perspective to
cultural aspects of innovation, as well as to creative practices that are better able to handle increasing levels of complexity and global competition. Moreover, recent global economic as much as socioD economic pressures highlight the increasing importance of innovation and creativity for Australia, and the increasing need for approaches that comD plement research and developD ment (R&D) based scientific and technological innovation. Reflecting this, GROUNDD BREAKER aims to highlight the importance of design creativity in innovation, address the need to disseminate best practices, stimulate debate in the developD ment of new tools and methods.
The complex world of challenges: Defining the parameters of our problems and approaches
Two months of intensive design thinking workshops to collectively innovate new methods
Outcomes:
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NEW GROUND IN DESIGN,DRIVEN INNOVATION JUNE 27 , AUGUST 17 2012 / OBJECT GALLERY
TwoDstep CrowdDShare Innovation Workshop: Take widely sourced public ideation into a dedicated context.
STEP 1 ‘GROUND’: PUBLIC THINK ping into a wider Catalysts network.
STEP 2 ‘BREAK’: PRIVATE THINK 6 novation workshop(s) for your team. analysis into custom design thinking and innovation program to build on the findings from Step 1.
6
your innovation scenario in the public arena 6 good ideas are faster discovered collectively. page
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Partnering Each workshop diad comprises a 36way partnership aiming to break new ground in the Case Partner’s innovation scenario.
Case Partner
Design Partner
Research Partner
Each partner brings respective expertise and case experience and all benefit from an exciting way to do new research.
Collective Outcome: Leverage the findings from the ten partnership clusters working on ten different domain problems with ten new methods.
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chapter three
sensemaking
action within the environment of an innovation lab. They are the practices through which people give meaning to experience. Such practices are neither subjective nor objective but should be inter-subjectively understood. While this process has been studied in many disciplines we apply the term following Weick’s interpretation,1 that is, in the organisational context. Practices that stimulate and enable sensemaking guide the process of developing deep insights into factors that underlie and sustain how individuals, groups or whole organisations address an uncertain or ambiguous future. They are designed as collaborative processes of creating shared awareness and understanding out of different individuals’ perspectives and varied interests. Their purpose is to direct cognitive activity of framing experienced situations as meaningful. Sensemaking is the lens through which to make sense of how social actors learn and are transformed by their acts. In this chapter we present a number of practices that we use to frame the sensemaking experience.
1. Weick, K.E. 1995, Sensemaking in Organizations, Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage.
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Contextualising Wicked Problems
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Bridging interpretive communities Harnessing power of diversity & ambiguity
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Writing a brief ThinkToy brief
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Permutative sense-making Collective collectivity (Dalian) Sasha Abram blog Anthony Doig blog
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Crowd-share research Groundbreaker crowd-share interface
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Contextualising
Feedback loops that enable innovation to emerge within an ecosystem are not context devoid. Establishing context is crucial for building momentum in the innovation lab. Perceiving the problem context through the wickedness lens implies a pluralistic framing. Solutions will only be partial and are generated iteratively as they are tested within the context of the problem. Complex contemporary issues facilitate the various applications of the prototypes within the lab and within their ecosystem. Traditional lines between research and practice themselves become iterative as knowledge is generated in-between lab and system. Results are applied during the traditional testing phases enabling rapid experimentation. Research and development are symbiotically enacted.
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Wicked problems, business strategy and crowds: is design thinking an answer? Danielle Logue
The term ‘wicked problems’ comes up a lot these days – in climate change conferences, in Australian Public Policy initiatives, in Harvard Business Review, and even by the Australian Tax Commissioner1. UC Berkley scholars, Rittel and Webber, coined the term in their (1973) publication, when they when they were reacting to urban planning challenges, a frustrating process that at the time was attempting social problems. At the time wicked problems were described as “a class of social system problems, which are ill-formulated, where the information is confusing, where there are many clients and decision makers with
whole system are thoroughly confusing.”2 There has been a spike in the usage of the term that can be traced to the period post 9-11, a time which shattered the illusion of the security of linear, rational approaches to planning and problem solving. Policy makers and businesses are struggling with wicked the problem is a never-
ending task, the amount of information you could gather is endless, and the usual planning techniques are not generating fresh ideas. This is why design thinking is gaining traction – its human-centered, integrative, optimistic and collaborative methods are one creative response to wicked problems. Wicked problems involve many stakeholders (consider the policy issue of ‘brain drain’) and so require input from many perspectives. Design thinking can help here – in providing a process that isn’t about solving problems, but spending time in the wicked territory, empathising, generating alternative approaches and ideas, and using the wisdom of crowds. The idea of using the wisdom of crowds is being embraced in many quarters, by different organisations for different purposes, for example, the
such as Threadless, Local Motors and Kiva. Crowd sourcing – for ideas, funding, designs and solutions is an alternative tool in nontraditional problem solving processes. Just look at the recent changes in US legislation that enables SMEs
to raise funds using crowd sourcing. Working in wicked territory also presents several issues for management education: the need to instill integrative thinking (this may be through experiencing design thinking processes), to build empathy in developing a humancentred approach to problem solving (by spending time with end-users, engaging in ethnographic methods), and to develop skills in boundary spanning (being able to communicate, respect and understand different worlds or business units). Even McKinsey, Dell and National Australia Bank are wanting to reinvent management for the 21st century. It is this skill set that is crucial when operating in wicked territory, in building innovation capability, and more broadly updating our managerial approach to value creation and the perceived tradeoff between economic
1 http://m.smh.com.au/business/youcan-run-but-fewer-places-to-hide-tax20120104-1pl62.html 2 W. Churchman (1967) Guest Editorial: Wicked Problems. Management Science Vol. 14(4):141-142.
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Bridging interpretive communities
An innovation lab is the bridge that connects different camps of interpretive communities (IC), which are made up of individuals with different backgrounds, experiences, knowledge domains, beliefs and values. Any organisation consist of many overlapping ICs and in order to harness the diverse perspectives of their internal and external stakeholders, and to access the creative potential of this diversity, organisations need bridges between them. U.lab is such a bridge: with its unique space, methodology, tools, practices and team, it stimulates interaction between members of different ICs and unleashes the creative power of diversity.
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Harnessing the power of diversity and ambiguity Natalia Nikolova
That organizations cannot be viewed as uniform and stable cultures or entities but knowledge is distributed between different individuals and no single mind owns the totality of relevant knowledge.1 who all, in varying ways and to varying extents, interpret what they observe and take decisions according to their interpretation,”2 we argue that individuals with shared interpretive strategies and shared discourses—i.e., who employ a common frame of reference for interpreting their social settings—build an interpretive community(IC).3 4
The selection of environmental elements to be analyzed is likely to be affected by the shared schemes of an IC, and different interpretive schemes can lead to dramatically different analysis of the same event or topic. Therefore, one can argue persuasively that the norms and rules associated with the interpretation of any topic of a topic is not constrained by the topic itself, nor does it originate from a general true way of looking at this topic; rather, it proceeds from a collective decision as to how to interpret the topic, a decision that will be in force only as long as the interpretive community continues to abide by it.”5 Accordingly, ICs differ in their knowledge base not only at a certain point of time but permanently, as they often interpret the same events in a different way. This implies that individuals from different ICs may have problems in understanding one another fully: “if knowledge leaks in the direction of shared [meaning], it sticks where [meaning] is not shared.”6 Clegg et al. speak about problems in understanding each other’s “language,” much of which “might be perceived as pure noise,”7 a situation that appears also when solution. Consequently, when different ICs are involved in a joint work they are more often characterized by distinct perspectives than by mutual understanding: “each community maintains its own voice while listening to the voice of the Other, and [] communication is both negotiated order and disorder.”8 page
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Because the background knowledge of members of different ICs differs, the theories, hypothesis and data, as well as the methods, designs and plans compatible 9 As a result, members of different ICs not only view, diagnose and analyze problem situations differently, but also approach problems differently, apply different theories and methods and ultimately, suggest different problem solutions. Arguments that persuade their own IC convincingly may have little or no weight in other ICs. Carroll’s empirical 10 Carroll shows that design engineers concentrate on anticipating problems and use primarily
that are more abstract, longer term and primarily numerical rather than visual. Operators and craftspeople, in contrast, develop a variety of local adaptations in order to enact their assignments. They are mostly concerned with the concrete equipment; their world is manual and tactile. Finally, management consultants concentrate on “the verbal world of ideas, written publications and persuasive conversations”. Carroll concludes that these distinctive “logics” are a main reason distinctive logics are the reason why members of different ICs disagree on how to evaluate the potential of different solution paths. While they all are guided by the same aim, i.e. the creation of functional solutions, members of different ICs might have different agendas, as well as beliefs regarding the value of different problem solutions. For this reason, problem-solving requires not only the sharing of interpretations regarding the problem at hand but also an agreement between the involved individuals regarding their values and beliefs, as well as regarding evaluation methods and practices. Therefore, it can be concluded that teams and organizations will not work effectively until they “recognize and confront the implications” of the existence of different ICs.11 One consequence of the distributed cognition in organizations is that the main goal of managers becomes the coordination of the divergent interpretations among employees.12 included within the organizational hierarchy, which will dominate, which need to be alternated, and which will remain part of a larger network but ultimately remain connections between ICs in order to create a stable combination of interpretations communication and coordination costs between members of different ICs.13 The costs, further solidifying the number of and way of interaction between ICs. Thus, organizations make very real trade-offs that solidify certain communities and relationships between communities but also isolate them from other interpretive frameworks, some of which might be theoretically and practically valuable. The
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However, solidifying and uniting views and interpretations has the counter effect of diminishing creativity and creative problem solving. The result is organizations that operate to decrease and isolate dissent and creativity to make these manageable. Creativity is allowed only in certain departments, such as R&D units, or during managed creativity sessions, such as brainstorming workshops. Apart from that, interactions between members of different ICs are regulated by rules and procedures that put clear boundaries around the nature of these interactions. Interpretive diversity and cognitive ambiguity and chaos are seen as the “enemies” of good management and avoided at all cost. In our view, such organizational practices are problematic because, a) they make develop shared ‘language’ and views, which would allow for an effective knowledge creative problem solving. Moreover, the message associated with such practices is that creativity is to be seen as an isolated activity that needs permission to happen and needs to be properly managed as to not disturb the ‘normal’ organizational activities. In contrast, we suggest that the differences between ICs can be successfully harnessed by allowing members from various ICs to work together on a regular basis and without having a predetermined agenda. We argue that there is value in diversity, ambiguity and chaos. This is what u.lab is about: creating a space and a context in which people from different ICs interact and problem solve to harness the power of their differences. We create a context in which cognitive chaos and ambiguity are used productively. U.lab builds bridges between ICs.
1. Boland and Tenkasi (1995). Perspective making and perspective taking in communities of knowing. Organization Science 6 (4): 350–372. 2. Loasby (1983: 357). Knowledge, learning and enterprise. In J. Wiseman (ed.), Beyond Positive Economics? London: Macmillan, pp. 104–121. 3. Fish (1980). Is there a Text in this Class? The Authority of Interpretive Communities. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 4. Boland and Tenkasi (1995: 352). 5. Fish (1980: 15). 6. Brown and Duguid (2001: 207). Knowledge and organization: A social-practice
perspective. Organization Science 12 (2): 198–213. 7. Clegg, S., Kornberger, M. and Rhodes, C. (2004: 38) Noise, parasites and translation: Theory and practice in management consulting. Management Learning 35(1): 31-44. 8. Gherardi and Nicolini (2002: 421). Learning in a constellation of interconnected practices: Canon or dissonance? Journal of Management Studies 39 (4): 419–436. 9. Bunge (1985). Treatise on Basic Philosophy Vol. 7. Epistemology & Methodology III: Philosophy of Science and Technology. Dordrecht: D. Reidel Publishing.
10. Carroll (1998). Organizational learning activities in high-hazard industries: The logics underlying self-analysis. Journal of Management Studies 35 (6): 699–717. 11. Schein (1996: 18). Three cultures of management: The key to organizational learning. Sloan Management Review 38(1): 9–20. 12. Boland, R., Tenkasi, R. and Te’eni, D. (1994) Designing information technology to support distributed cognition. Organization Science 5(3): 456-475. do? Coordination, identity, and learning. Organization Science 7(5): 502-518.
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Writing a brief
The role of the brief is to set the project challenge in a way that motivates team members and generates innovative thinking. A good brief is not too long, but gives a clear outline of a address it. Avoid broad and all-encompassing topics that take a lot of effort to grapple, such as ‘the cost of living’. Rather, treat these as the terrain within which you offer a more targeted challenge. Consider the impact of the topic on the participants’ knowledge; so-called wicked problems can be well adopted by all thinkers but need to be grounded in examples that might not be permeable by teams weighted by a particular discipline. Keep the program open and offer only one or two major constraints; for example, in the outcomes or the context for application. In a university teaching context, use the assessment items to frame the requirements of the scope. page
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THINKTOY
Rapid&urban&and&social&transformation&continues&to&be&the&dominant&paradigm&of&the&current&generation.&In& at&the&edge&of&an&old&way&of&thinking&that&is&not&serving&to&take&them&into&the&future.&Cities&are&exploding,&new& digital&economies&are&blooming&and&the&types&of&social&interactions&possible&around&the&world&are&closing&the& communication&gap&and&opening&enormous&potential&for&new&forms&of&enterprise.&We&can&no&longer&rely&on& existing&disciplines&of&group&organization&and&group&thinking&to&bring&about&ideas&that&are&suitable&for&this&rapid& of&group&thinking.& The&THINKTOY&project&explores&new&dimensions&of&creative&thinking&that&can&be&augmented&by&carefully& designed&objects,&gadgets,&games,&methods,&toolkits,&softwares,&spaces,&furnitures,&prosthetics,&mindsets,& systems&or&services.&A&Thinktoy&could&be&something&that&facilitates&the&shift&of&a&team’s&cognitive&state&and& stimulates&creative&thinking&in&order&to&solve&complex&problems,&envision&the&change&for&the&future,&and/or& develop&proposals&for&how&to&implement&this.&It&could&be&a&game.&Or&a&mindset.&Or&a&way&to&generate&ideas.&&
Phase-2:-Major-Project-
Phase-1:-Proposal Teams&are&to&develop&a&proposal&for&an&entrepreneurial&solution& for&a&Thinktoy.
Thinktoy.
Submission-Items:
Submission-Items:
& Assessment-Criteria:
Assessment-Criteria: &
Thinktoy&brief. and&understanding&and&application&of&relevant&management& concepts. solution&and&business&model. &
entrepreneurial&solution. solution&and&business&model.
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Permutative sense-making
Permutative Sense Making involves breaking a problem down into its component parts so that numerous people can write about them via an online system. It’s most effective if undertaken right in the heat of a project; for example, as a daily blogging exercise where the members of a on the project as it evolves. To build a matrix, a problem is deconstructed into its Themes and Factors. Themes are areas of interest; Factors are elements that change incrementally and affect the themes in various ways. These are developed into a matrix where each individual’s contribution over a given period, e.g. 5 days, is one strand of all of the permutations of the blend. Creativity and diversity are fostered through the diverse angles that are enabled by each differentiated approach to the overarching question.
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Collective Creativity (Dalian): Exploring the intensive, divergent and state-changing factors of innovation in teams
We constructed a themed matrix* to collectively explore 60 permutations of the concept of ‘collective creativity.’ The purpose is to create a large and contiguous description of our experiences in Dalian in relation to our theoretical and practical learnings in the u.lab. Collective creativity describes a creative format where methods of collaboration, socialisation, crowd-sourcing and shared experience are the key drivers of the innovation process.
FACTORS: Diversity, and State-change. Each day, participants’ blog posts refered directly to one of the 60 cells in the Matrix which address these three Factors. INTENSITY [A] When we work in teams towards a creative goal, the chemistry, behaviours and atmosphere of the team often shape the outcomes. Factors such as speed of collaboration, increased working time together, language barriers, and brevity of the time for working on a challenge, can heighten the intensity of collaboration, the quality of ideas and how those ideas are represented. Likewise, when we work in intensive collaborative scenarios, communication takes on a whole new character. The compactness continuity of face-to-face interactions can also enhance communication and idea generation.
DIVERSITY [B] Teams are made up of individuals but work together as a collective. Factors such as life background, disciplinary skills, natural talents, culture, gender, language, age and ethnicity all contribute to the diversity of a team. Members in a team bring a diverse language of representation to any collaboration. Formal training, disciplinary thinking styles, and cultural paradigms can shape how ideas are conceived and represented. The way we come up with ideas also can be a product of our cultural background or formal disciplinary training. Many studies show that diversity
STATEDCHANGE [C] Moving between mental states can shape how we see the world. Likewise, changing location, culture and collaborators can shift our state of creative productivity. When we move from play to thinking, from inside to outside, from language to image, from Sydney to Dalian, from West to East, we can generate new perspectives on a problem. When we create ideas, we are in a particular mental state. As a result, the ideas are often framed by the lens of that state. If we move between states, we can expand the range and depth of ideas generated. Sometimes, the best ideas come when we are in a removed state, “in the shower” or “taking a walk with the dog.”
and originality of ideas. How do factors such as linguistic, ethnic, professional, or cultural diversity quality of ideas in your team?
THEMES: response to a question that is situated in one of the Theme streams. These themes represent four of the major areas of inquiry into collective creativity. TEAMWORK [W] is the cooperation of diverse individuals towards a common it is cooperation that is complementary. Good teamwork is distributed intelligence at its best. COMMUNICATION [X] between design collaborators occurs in many ways – spoken, gestures, drawing, multimedia, model-making, role-playing, writing, and so on. Communication between participants allows for ideas to be shared and to grow. In the context of this blog, communication means person-to-person communication.
The REPRESENTATION [Y] of ideas is an important tool for shifting between abstract concepts and concrete realities. Representation can take many forms – diagrammatic, visual, written, photographic, collage, montage, drawing, acting, and so on. In the context of this blog, representation means the depiction or description of abstract ideas so as to tion of them to others.
IDEATION [Z] is the forming of emergent ideas and the creation of new ideas. In collaborative design, ideation is an open process involving the generation of many solutions for a challenge, or some part of a challenge. Ideation can happen in numerous forms – through conversation (“throwing ideas around”), through brainstorming, through diagramming, or through structured exercises such as random association. In the context of this blog, ideation means any processes of idea-forming, idea-generation and idea-selection. * matrix overleaf
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COLLECTIVE COLLECTIVE CREATIVITY CREATIVITY MATRIX of the 60 permutations formed[DALIAN]: by iterating[DALIAN]: between combinations of Factors (A, B, C), Themes (W, X, Y, Z) and Design Processes (Days 165). These are the the basis for detailed questions that participants respond to daily in their blog post. An exploration An exploration into the intensive, into intensive, divergent divergent and stateLchanging and stateLchanging factors offactors innovation of innovation in teamsin This enables focussed reflection to be accumulated in 60 varied topics. Collectively they form a body of experience.
te
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Z Z IDEATION IDEATION
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eams
2 Empathy/Asking
3 Ideating/Designing
4 Prototyping/Testing
5 Presenting
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Sasha Abram - Permutative sensemaking blog
Day 1: Teamwork, Intensity and a Quarry “On the bald street breaks the blank day” Alfred Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam A.H.H
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Day 2: Communication, State-change and the Comfort of the Mall “Someone she loved once passes by – too late to feign indifference to that casual nod. ‘How nice’ et cetera. ‘Time holds great surprises.’ From his neat head unquestionably rises a small balloon… ‘but for the grace of God…’” , Gwen Harwood
doom.
bus ride.
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Day 3: Ideation, Diversity and Coffee Beans “The classroom glowed like a sweet shop. Sugar Paper. Coloured shapes.” , Carol Ann Duffy
stretch for some of us
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Day 4: Representation, Intensity and the Running Man “The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep.� Robert Frost
,
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Day 5: Teamwork, Intensity and a Microphone
mirrored corridors
toe to toe.
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A brief time as the Rat King Anthony Doig
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Crowd-share research
Research is inductive and deductive; we collect and extract meaning from experience, and construct and test models and hypotheses of reality. Crowd-share research achieves these activities collectively through an online crowd source method. It is most successfully established alongside a physical event series that engages people face-to-face as the forum for accumulating the outcomes of the discussion, rather than as an isolated tool for online members who don’t regularly meet. The participants are diverse people in voluntary, self-selected roles. The accumulated digitally and connections are found through algorithms as well as manually using high level tags called ‘concepts’. Visualisation of these connections forms an ongoing process of
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Groundbreaker crowd-share research interface
The Groundbreaker web site is an active space of crowd-share research. It is a place where people who participate in the Groundbreaker workshops post: Literature reviews Reference articles Documentation of the workshops Observations Models Diagrams Concepts Comments Groundbreaker is a research collective of workshops that use design processes to address complex problems and kickstart innovation (see p.87). In our research we are building new networks of public and open-sourced innovation in order to rapidly expand the topography of design thinking. We propose that crowd-share innovation methods, or tools of collaborative design thinking that push the boundaries of the collective, are the means by which problems of the future will be solved. Structure 1. Probes - these are the 10 areas of investigation that are happening in the 10 workshops. The Probe is a direct extraction of the Case or challenge, presented in a simple way as a probing
POSTS , co,created meaning (Context, Literature Review, Documentation, Observation, Model, Concept, Comment, Tweet) CONCEPTS , ideas that abstract co,created meaning into high,level rules. LINK TO CONCEPT LINK BETWEEN CONCEPTS , forming hierarchy and order within the cloud of new knowledge.
question. e.g. What is indigenous design thinking? Does creativity have the right to stop? Is humanity safer without innovation? 2. Concepts - the facilitators and moderators of Groundbreaker can identify connectivity or impact in the collection of ideas developed and tag these as ‘Concepts’. Instead of Tags, we link and order the posts by Concepts. A concept is a short piece of thinking that proposes a lens or
explanation from which to see the world. A concept could (which is generally agreed upon in the context of the coordinating researchers), a speculation/provocation (at a more abstract level than the Probes), an insightful question, or a thesis. In the context of the web, Concepts are used to give hierarchy and order to the developed knowledge. They are summarised in short sentences used for tagging instead of keywords.
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chapter four
doing
Practices of ‘doing’ guide you at different stages in the non-linear design process and culture. They portray some of the fundamental values and beliefs that are embodied in design-led innovation processes. The practices in this chapter include suggestions regarding favourable team characteristics, the use of physical space, and the role of other factors like time, materials, and techniques for visualisation and documentation. They relate to individual or group behaviours that have been shown to enrich creative problem solving or outline interventions and activities that teams can use to support the solution process. The practices support divergent thinking to create design options, and convergent and move forward on the issues at hand. should not be treated as sequential steps. The path to a solution is often complex and may include a number of iterations through all or some of the practices. Keep ‘doing’ practices in the back of your mind while you imagine the collaborative process. The practices will provoke new perspectives and shift thinking in unexpected directions. They will help to create the right context by making productive use of physical environments, time, language, people’s mood and their energy levels. Use the these practices to set the scene for creative collaboration; to create a culture geared towards action when it is time to push ideas forward. ‘Doing’ practices also deliver a set of key skills that are immediately transferable to the team itself along with a participatory nature to encourage collaboration amongst stakeholders. page
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Navigating the terrain u.lab mapping
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Massive T-Shaped cloud Day 1 in the Entrepreneurship Lab
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Focus on humans It’s about ‘u’
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Forming entrepreneurial teams Imposed vs. self selected teams
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State-change Dalian & Sydney blogs
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Empathy Interviews 136
Problem statement shAPEs example
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Personas Tips for creating Personas
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Action statement Action library
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Critical requirement viewpoint
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Extrovert x introvert
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Film / Photo Study
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Grounding the hypothesis Food and Resturant as Cultural Image
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Space for loosening and reconnecting Cultivating scenarios
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Ideating Frequency, Flexibility, Originality, Depth
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Pitching e.lab pitching
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5X5 Examples
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Park bench pitching Park bench pitch structure
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Setting constraints Assigning a user-group and object
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Improvisation Improvisation and organisation
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Decision clouds Creating decision clouds
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Business model generation QuickFox business model canvas
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Build to Think Weeks 1-3 in the E.Lab
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Sharing value Value system diagrams Dalian
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Iterative Prototyping Think360 group testing
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Final pitch video BikeTank testamonials
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Maximum awesome product
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LaunchPad Testimonials 2011
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Sensory Awareness
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Failing with intent Positive failure vs. negative failure
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Push boundaries
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Pull boundaries
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Inspire vision Some tools for collaborative inspiration
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Navigating the terrain
Design-led-innovation is a iterative and fuzzy process that is not easily described by prescribed steps, but is better explored through immersive and responsive direction setting. Who knows where your pathway through to a solution will lead you? Yet, it’s a good practice to always know where you are. Just like a bushwalker make sure you map out your whereabouts in the project. Navigating the terrain takes various scales and forms of diagrams to put down the phases of working or thinking into an ongoing map. Draw on existing maps of processes, such as those prescribed for design and innovation, but don’t hang onto them too closely. Arm yourself with the tools in this book and implement them at appropriate times to keep the momentum moving. Good navigation is dynamic; it maintains while circumventing obstacles and eliminating unnecessary information as you clarify your
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u.lab mapping
active mixing cross programing
a th des a ig to t wil n s th l tra e gr te fu ow g tu o y re rg a
typology building intervention
in
space intervention
nic
al ly
2050
2011
physical space mixed used interactive
MARK YOUR PATH Document your process by taking notes and photographs. Going back to early thoughts and ideas is helpful when you
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Massive T-shaped cloud
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts! A T-shaped Cloud is a massive collage representing T-shaped clouds to get an understanding and appreciation of the diverse backgrounds everyone and knowledge in two characteristic ways: The vertical stroke of the “T” is the depth of skill that allows a person to contribute deep disciplinary expertise to the creative process. The horizontal stroke of the “T” is the broader passions and disposition for collaboration across disciplines. It is composed of two things. First, empathy, which is important because it allows people to imagine the problem from another perspective. Second, it’s openness. People tend to get very enthusiastic about other people’s disciplines, to the point that they may actually start to practice them. The T-shaped cloud then shows the depth and breadth of experience and ability to collaborate in the room, it’s purpose is to offer all collaborators a way to perceive the diversity of their skills beyond
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Day 1 in the Entrepreneurship Lab
In the u.lab we create T-shaped clouds on a large project. People mingle around the room interviewing each other. They write down the other person’s deep, disciplinary skills on a post-it and put these on the trunk of the T, and the broad, wider skills and passions on the branches of the T. The cloud emerges as a map of resources should any of the participants need to draw on them over the course of the project. The T-shape is a great way to match up the non-overt assets potential
teammates hold. Over the course of the project people develop an awareness of each others’ capabilities, they start learning from each other and eventually improve their ability to integrate opposites, to manage contradictions. T-shaped people are entrepreneurial yet disciplined, processoriented yet sensitive to people and know how to endure tensions evolving from combining opposite point of views. T-shaped people have both depth and breadth in their skills.
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Focus on humans
A human-centered approach is at the heart of good design. The pressing issue of our times are Big organizations and governments with access to vast resources and funding have been charged resolving complexity, good solutions are scarce. Focusing on humans and their immanent needs allows you to scale up an initially small and focused solution to one that addresses a bigger picture broad problem in the longer-term. By narrowing down to a human-centred perspective you will allow for problems to be tackled in small digestible chunks. The key to this approach is ensuring that solution ideation addresses the smaller scale while linking back to the larger be nimble, furiously user-centric, immediately relevant and instantly adaptable, it provides a step towards an ultimately larger goal. page
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It’s about ‘u’
Innovation labs around the world have made their mark, mostly based on the disciplinary background that they emerged from. This base might be engineering, IT, product design, science, social science, or humanities. At u.lab we are building ethos as we speak. While our bases are in design, architecture, business, engineering and IT, we make ‘u’ , i.e ‘you’ the center of our approach. We focus on humans when conceiving solutions in our programs, but particularly we focus on humans when engaging individuals in the lab. We strive to unlock the individual innovation potential of the people who work with us based on their core skills and their ability to speak and understand the joint language of design-led innovation. In that sense, design thinking and doing is the vehicle, the glue and the thin red line, that brings everything together and makes it stick.
“I think the great thing about u.lab is really the whole human element of learning. Normally I go to class, I have a group of mates we work and then leave. I think its the human element here at u.lab...amongst us - the colleagues, amongst us - the people who come in for BikeTank, and our lecturers. Its good. Its really real. It wasn’t easy, the course really pushed us. I think all in all it was a really great experience.” Emil del Rosario
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Forming entrepreneurial teams
HUG THE TEAM: Diverse teams are the key to a balanced solution. When they clash it’s meant to be. Embrace it.
It is common to assume that entrepreneurs are sole geniuses, but the reality is that entrepreneurship is a team sport. Today marketplaces, technologies, society, the environment, the increasing global and connected nature of business all indicate that the reality of starting a business goes well beyond the realm of the individual. Hence, the ability of forming successful entrepreneurial teams is a valuable skill. A group of likeminded and agreeable people will make a good start, but it is just the start. We suggest to go for diversity in skill, background and knowledge amongst team members. Diversity can be sought in terms of cultural, gender and educational background. What’s important is that members of entrepreneurial teams go through formation stages together in order to bond and develop a shared value system. page
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Imposed vs. self selected teams We often have mixed feelings about being asked to work in teams, especially when the composition of the team is completely out of our hands. Which is better choosing one’s own team or being allocated into one? Can choosing the people better simply to choose our attitude? In the professional world, we don’t usually start out being to select the people we work with; often that happens when we are further into our career. We have to learn to work with people in all scenarios and develop strategies to get the most out of any situation, and to - in its constructive and destructive forms. In the Entrepreneurship Lab we are experimenting with compositions of teams. We don’t form teams until we have tested working with everyone else in the group We try to form teams with diversity in gender, culture, disciplinary skills and personality. Even so, some teams attract like-minded individuals. This semester we self-elected teams as an open collaborative process and gave them a couple of weeks to settle down before retrospect, forming our own teams means we take more responsibility for making them work.
“Within teamwork ideas arise sometimes from reinterpretations and miscommunications of ideas that are translated by others into something else. However, these miscommunications can only become translations in face to face interactivity. As in email or other forms of written media the morphing of ideas is less likely from one person to another person on the receiving end of the idea is inevitably bound to miss other clues that are given by hands, tone of voice of the person narrating. As we all speak the same language , however with different experiences which shape us and how we relate the world.” Pamela Maldonado “Our diversities came out through the ideation process. Our culture, our personal background, our formal disciplinary training, are all elements that played a key role in the way in which we came up with ideas. What was obvious to me, wasn’t to them and vice versa. This allowed us to open our minds and observe the situation from different perspectives. When this happened a deeper and greater understanding of the issue developed and all the different ideas we generated were able to feed into one another and resulted in a great initial concept.”
Giulia Urlando
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State-change
State-change is the transition of mental states that happens through a change of environment or activity. State-changes are important throughout all phases of a project, however, particularly important in the transition from since there is a tendency to have many ideas
states shapes how we see the world. Likewise, changing location, culture and collaborators shifts our state of creative productivity. When we change state from ‘playing’ to ‘thinking’, from ‘inside’ to ‘outside’, from ‘language’ to ‘image’, from ‘Sydney’ to ‘Dalian’, we generate new perspectives of the problem we are dealing with. By changing back and forth between states, we expand our range and depth of idea generation.
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I will depend on you and me for the rest of my life
Linette Salbashian
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ENCOURAGE ACTION When in doubt do something. Inspire people toward doing and making rather than thinking and meeting.
“Looking from the weird angle
Past projects
Put ourselves in the place
Drawing/Colours
Cristian Ruiz Ramos
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PLAY AND REVITALISE Energizers help teams loosen up and become mentally and physically active. Use them when a group’s energy is low, to launch a meeting, after lunch or before a brainstorm.
Dalian Day 3 - Out comes the sun “Moving between mental states can shape how we see the world. Likewise, changing location, culture and collaborators can shift our state of being.”
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Completion of a human-centred approach to innovation and entrepreneurship depends on your ability to let a deep understanding of user needs guide you every step of the way. The key task is to uncover the true motivation that underlies a user’s behaviour, identify needs and discover unmet needs. For this to happen you will collect a lot of relevant data, unearth the gems of information, dust off overlooked opportunities and disentangle complex causal relationships. Observing and Interviewing users are important ways of gathering such information.
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Empathy interviews
MEET THE KING When researching a problem aim for the best informants
Spending time with users is valuable - so make the most of it! When talking to people long term habits and deeply embedded behaviours, you can learn mountains from talking to them and asking the right questions. Sometimes these are spontaneous, enjoyable and accidental conversations, and sometimes interviews require preparation. Especially after prototyping and testing solutions, when following up with users, it is important to plan your interviews. You may not get to every question you prepare, but you should come in with a plan for engagement. A staged process of empathy must be combined with processes of synthesising and refocus. This requires taking the results from each stage, laying them bare for all to see, decipher themes and trends, deconstruct to uncover insights, refocus your direction and start on developing the line of enquiry for the next stage. The core of iterative investigative
discovery. It goes a little something like this: 1. Personal empathy Understand your own passions, interests, skills, desires (tinformal/social interaction with team 2. Environment empathy Identify an environment observe (assume a beginner’s mindset - what, how, why), research review (develop upto-date overview of environment)
LISTEN FOR MEANING Connect with the meaning of what others are transmitting. Make an effort to really hear what they mean, defer your judgement.
requirement’ 3. Group empathy Focus group of users or stakeholders in your chosen environment. 4. User empathy Individual questioning working towards a persona of the typical user, a point of view statement. Review, retrace and reveal insights. The importance of multi-staged empathy work, especially when getting down to the tough task of uncovering the true insight.
ASK WISELY AND LISTEN THOROUGHLY You can learn a lot from talkexperiences and thoroughly embedded behaviours.
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Problem statement
The problem statement directs your ideation effort and encapsulates your vision for the reframes the challenge into an actionable statement that will help you generate better and more focused solutions. The often surprising simplicity and embedded deep insights of a problem statement guide the team’s thinking processes and ensure that the solution is understandable.
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sh[APE]s example
You’re in the process of building the greatest and latest business enterprise. You’ve got a team ready, you’re committed to delivering something fantastic. But, there are some issues. Things are still fuzzy and the solution seems to be at the cusp of your consciousness. How do you get people hooked to your idea? Entering into the world of rose-colored glasses and understanding their views of life. The problem statement is a key tool in bringing together and framing your problem while setting the direction for the solution and getting people on board. One of the key points that a good problem statement helps prevent is building a generic, solution - it helps you focus and narrow the problem for a certain set of users and their The problem statement emerges from your diligent empathy work, which involved delving deep into the themes and topics of the problem space. Interviewing, observing and analysing what the user does and how he/she interacts and behaves lead to insights. Those insights are the things you sight, but at second sight you
and surprising. Those insights may point towards an aspect that has not yet been addressed and, hence, might indicate a direction for solving the problem. Once you have an initial understanding of who the user is, what the problem might be, and what the unexpected insight is, you’re statement. An ideal problem statement hits the right spots on the following equation: insight) = problem statement.
as a desire to change the personal lifestyle due to
workplace this was perceived as a wish to break free from
group felt stuck in their routine working a 9 to 5 job with a hectic schedule, unable to snap from their work style. Often they were suffering from a poor work-life balance resulting in undue stress and a mental block regarding life and work objectives. The surprising insight emerged from observation of parkour practitioners, who perceive physical urban space differently to other people. Parkour is a physical discipline and non-competitive sport
movement around obstacles. Transferring principles and observations from parkour into the problem phere the
was designed counterintuitive to employees working productively.
The resulting problem statement was: ‘Can we provide a means of breaking the functional people’s lives by embracing parkour principles?’
FEEL THE PROBLEM Try to experience the problem yourself where possible. Walk in the user’s shoes for a mile at least.
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Personas
user group. A persona is used to represent
archetype. Even though teams sometimes get hung up on not so important characteristics of particular users, creating a persona helps to draw out the relevant overarching characteristics of the user group for whom you are designing a solution. The accumulation of little details points towards a much more sophisticated and the basis for addressing a deeper lying need. A persona will help you isolate the key issues and interests of a human related problem space.
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Tips for developing a Persona
Typically a persona includes characteristics, trends, and other patterns user group over the course of the empathy work. Such commonalities and/or complementary observations could include demographic information, strange proclivities and habits, or sources of motivation, to name only a few. Putting yourself into the situation of a persona aims to let you experience how life is like need exists to imagine the issues, problems, challenges, emotional thoughts and other related factors so that it is easy to identify with the users need. This can be likened to adopting a second skin and seeing the world through somebody else’s eyes or method acting where the actor assumes the identity of the role they want to play. After several dimensions of commonality have features of the user; if there are any dimensions of complementarity (those which may not be shared by all users, but are interesting to the team and not necessarily mutually exclusive), the team should add these as well. A quick example of these commonalities could range from issues that
affect the core problem or other factors that change how perceptions regarding the core issue change. For example, a potential end-user might be a local resident of a Sydney suburb who faces increased isolation from their family. Other factors might include the long commutes between work and home, an increasing imbalance between work and home,
MAKE NO ASSUMPTIONS Don’t judge, question everything, and look for clues and patterns to better understand why things are the way they are.
lack of communal spaces for interaction, the inability to schedule activities in a timely manner, etc - all these could potentially be core problems but on its own, relationship with the other problems. As part of building a persona, they should be listed and consider their impact, but only a few can be potentially solved when addressing the core issue. Lastly, give your character a name, and make sure every member of the team buys into the identity and corresponding characteristics that the team has created. As simple and straightforward as it sounds, the name is quite an important factor when building a persona, it’s demographics, etc but much more easier when there’s a name.
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Action statements
Action statements are questions that open a problem context for brainstorming. Spending time ensuring the phrasing of your question is crucial. It must invoke action, inquiry and personal commitment to improvement of the open the problem to exploration and possibility, whereas ‘what’ questions encourage us to merely describe what is.
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Action library
Typical action statements might startlike this, ‘Why should we...’, ‘How could we...’ or ‘How might we...’ The second part of the question should focus on improving something. This will vary greatly depending on the problem you have you are solving the problem for. The aim of this part to keep the boundaries closed enough to make it actionable without being too narrow. For example if trying to address sustainable
consumption your question/s might be: ‘How could we design a portable water solution?’ Action statements should use words like ‘could’, ‘would’ or ‘should’ to open the question to many possibilities. Finally, make the question personal. Add yourselves in the statement. For example, the Library at UTS developed an action statement that moved its perspective beyond the immediate library: “How might we use technologies to connect users around the world?”
Studio 11
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Critical requirement viewpoint
The Critical Requirement is another Viewpoint This viewpoint is built from asking a series of typically simple to answer questions: What’s the this? If we can only do just one aspect of a idea, which do we chose? What’s the bare minimum idea/solution that will serve the need? The CRV is often most engaging and useful after the idea/solution has taken some shape. Taking the CRV at this point often provides insight into solution aspects.
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Extrovert x introvert
Design-led innovation is accelerated through the meeting of diverse minds in collaborative workshops - the extrovert mode. But for a project to get deep enough to begin to implement the ideas, individuals need to be able to retreat back to their core discipline - the introvert mode. are not often remembered in the democratic, share-all approach to teamwork in design. Teams can get stuck by this over-invested mode of collectively making every step and need to factor in a time period to allow idea to percolate in the disciplinary frameset.
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Film / Photo Study
When you want to understand people’s lives, and Film/Photo Study is a great way to start. It allows you to see a user experience through their eyes and will help you understand environments that may be out of your usual context. Provide users with a camera and don’t forget to ask permission to use the images. Frame their task depending on your empathy objective, e.g. “What does a day in your life look like? Please take a photo of everything that is important to you” or “ Please document your work day. Take photos of who you meet and where you go”. Afterwards, have what they captured. Return to a good empathetic interviewing technique to understand the deeper meaning of the visuals and experience they present. This practice is also called ‘cultural probes’.
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About a third of the way into your project it’s a good idea to create an
can have more emotional impacting than a verbal or printed presentation.
video. This communicates your understanding the topic area or ‘environment’ of the project through a concise and evocative video. When it is time to interview more stakeholders, a video
video can help communicate the motivation of your project, even if the problem statement isn’t worked out. Use storyboarding to interviewing processes into
a narrative of motivation. Why are you dealing with this challenge? Use sketchlike stop animation grabs for ideas that are still emerging, and take note of the tone or mood of the music you choose to overlay. Keep the message simple, but don’t ask viewers to go away without being provoked about your topic.
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Research to ground the hypothesis
While intuition drives many of our decisions in a design-led innovation process, engaging in research gives you an opportunity to step out of analytical mode. This offers you a way to reframe your perspective on the problem and to ground your hypothesis. At its core, research allows you to build familiarity, knowledge, and a deeper and broader understanding of the problem context. From this informed position you can design an experimental testing process with rigorous research methods. Solid research design helps you to examine your assumptions, test your project hypothesis and evaluate your prototypes systematically. Most importantly you’ll gain an in-depth understanding into a particular dimension of human experience while expanding your creative problem solving and communication skills.
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Food and Restaurant as Cultural Image: Using the ethnic cuisine context as a channel for intercultural communication in Australia Kayla Qi Qu
Introduction Australian society is culturally heterogeneous with a large immigrant population and a diversity of cultures. of immigrants from different cultures, multiculturalism was suggested by the mainstream media as an opportunity for boosting the international competitiveness of economics. About two-thirds of Australians regard immigration as having UK survey commissioned by the BBC.1 However, multiculturalism is often regarded as a problem; according to “Living Diversity: Australia’s Multicultural Future”, in Australia, one out of ten people have negative views about immigration, multiculturalism and cultural diversity.2 Some of these cultural barriers includes language, lifestyles, religion, sense of value, family values, sense of belonging, sense of identity and also education orientation among different groups of immigrants which are key reasons cited by those interviewed. One effect of multiculturalism in Australia is the unique and diverse food cultures within the community. Cultural exposure impacted by different sources of “image formation agents” including direct experience such as travel; and indirect contact, for example word of mouth, social media, movies, television,
articles, advertisement, etc. Food and restaurants are possibly the agents of multicultural resources after public media. They represent partial images of different cultures and are capable of providing local residents with direct and detailed cultural contact. On the other hand, the cultural images they represent can be outdated, stereotypical, and inaccurate.3 There are many restaurants meeting various demands and the following discussion is focused on ethnic-themed restaurants which compared to fast food, take-away and catering businesses provide greater chances of cultural communication and enhanced customer experience. Expats in the Restaurant Industry In the paper “Living Diversity: Australia’s Multicultural Future”, research about the most important social issues was conducted with different sample groups: Filipino, Greek, Lebanese, Somali and Vietnamese. The outcome shows that ‘immigration’ was one of the most important issues mentioned in the national sample. All groups mentioned the importance of intercultural awareness to a 4
Workplaces in Australia have high degrees of intercultural diversity with research that shows 56% of citizens have contact with people from different backgrounds
at work. English-speaking migrants have less intercultural contact (64%) compared to migrants groups (68%)5 whilst various degrees of intercultural interaction in working environments in ethnic restaurants was shown to be much lower than average. By exploring ethnic restaurants, it is obvious that workers in ethnic restaurants are mainly from the same cultural background, particularly in nonnative English speaking cultures. For immigrants who go through dramatic cultural and spatial transitions, to survive in a new concept of society, they often bring existing skills to adapt to local demands impacted by language and communication barriers. Working in restaurants is one path of addressing these issues. Food As A Universal Language – Cross Cultural Borders In most multicultural communities, cultural differences exist causing friction in unexpected ways. The differences can be and non-verbal behaviours. For instance, Westerners prefer to use eye contact and relaxed body language to indicate interest and friendliness. Misinterpretation of these behaviours can be interpreted as coldness and unfriendliness. In contrast to most Asian cultures, relaxed body contact happens between close relationships such as couples and close family members and in some instances affectionate body contact can be seen as offensive. Common topics in cultural differences are music, dance, and food; concerning non-verbal communication, which can break down cultural barriers. People appreciate good quality food sometimes without the cultural context concerning the dishes. The discussion in this paper focuses on how food is not an energy resource of complexity of wide cultural arrangements. Additionally, it is necessary for human socialisation. Research demonstrates that 72%
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of the Australians responded that they enjoy eating food from other countries.6 While within the concept of food as a universal language, the barriers amongst different food cultures clearly exist. of physical health, aesthetics, tastes, ingredients, and social prestige are often attached with cultural connotations. Caglar offered some insights into the relationship between consumption patterns and identity construction in multicultural societies. In his consumer studies Caglar argues that examining personobject relations could help avoid in isolation.7 To achieve the sense mainstream society, the ability to contribute to dimensions of economic, social, cultural and political activities in society are essential. The accessibility to the broader local community and society of individuals is also important for migrants. The following case studies detail how ethnic food can create a consensus for expat migrants and local citizens to overcome cultural barriers. Case Study – Culture Kitchen
Amongst all the diverse programs across the world that provide environments that gather people from different cultural backgrounds to cook together, share understandings and appreciate cultures; their target user groups are mainly people who are interested in cooking and willing to share their knowledge and experience, as well as learn In this case study, the Culture Kitchen organisation founded by Abby Sturges and Jennifer Lopez based in San Francisco started with simple idea of spreading culture and to elevate the skill of home cooking. Their inspiration for founding the program was
the experience of trips to Kenya and Myanmar working with rural farmers. During their trips, they found that after being welcomed into farmer’s homes and eating the food with local families, they crossed the language barrier and built relationships. The difference between Culture Kitchen and similar programs is that they develop products for sale in addition to the teaching aspect of the classes. Their online store has a cooking box kit with ingredients in the exact quantities and family recipes from Culture Kitchen along with cooking videos. The cooking kit comes with the pack of recipes for 1 to 12 months, offering customers to experience one type of cuisine deeply over time. With the home cooking class, people who participate are encouraged to communicate in a relaxed environment. Achieving improved intercultural communicative competence through a mutual construction of sharing experience and skills. With location limitations, the activity can provide cultural communication within a set time periods and groups. In the paper of “The Communication Apprehension Perspective”, McCroskey represented the theory of similarity as a factor that positively impacted communication.8 With online products, currently covering North America, they are offering a wider range of intercultural communication through new experiences with food and cooking. Case Study – Dining Experience The second case study analyses the discovery of how dining experience can create greater communication channels. The program called “Eat With Me” based in Melbourne; throws dining events all over the world providing a social network for people to create food events and share within their networks. Social networks enable the joint and simultaneous creation of content and collaboration
project by many end-users. It has been widely used by various businesses and communities. It is the main source of information for rapidly increasing Internet user groups.9 In this case, the activities created by the “Eat With Me” members includes restaurant dining, bread making courses, picnics, cooking workshops and music brunches on online social networks. The central element of “Eat With Me” is to have communication between strangers based on common interests and activities. They provide a platform for people to connect and encourage contact in real life under comfortable situations and in an earlier research article, “The Communication Apprehension Perspective”, the author McCroskey states a person-group situation as – “a relatively enduring orientation toward communication with a given person or group of people”, originally from McCroskey’s research in1970.10 When does cross-cultural communication occur?
There have been several studies conducted on intercultural communication and analysing different factors such as respectfulness, understanding, empathy, and intercultural experiences. Multiple instances communication damage healthy and positive communication in cultural practices. Lauren Mackenzie and Megan Wallace provide a strong rationale of the importance of respectfulness as a key element in positive communication. Respectfulness between individuals as well as the respectfulness and appreciation to a different culture.11 One of the earliest intercultural communication competence frameworks conducted by Ruben in 1979 represented behavioural dimensions of cross-cultural
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competence as: display of respect, interaction posture, orientation to knowledge, empathy, taskrelated roles, relational roles, individualistic roles, interaction management, and tolerance for ambiguity.12 Another factor that brings cultural harmony together is
background.
other people’s feelings, situations, thoughts, and attitudes. In the article, “Toward an inter-subjective rhetoric of empathy in intercultural communication”, empathy is claimed as being indispensable and challenging for effective intercultural communication.13
The most direct cultural experience and communication is in the original cultural society and contact with people who live in that cultural environment. Through experiencing cultural identity in various practices such as religious observations, rites of passage, language, leisure activities, art, music, food, emphasizes cultural differences. Ethnic restaurants provide built environments to simulate the cultural atmosphere for the
Environment Environment can play an important role in communication. The following paragraphs study the elements that affect the degree of people’s emotion and communication in the environment in general – namely, social physical environment.
Physical environment, or built environment can affect human activities in a variety contexts such as space, structure, light, colour, and over-stimulation. In the restaurant industry, physical environment creates an image and In the journal of Foodservice Business Research, the author pointed out a few consumption characteristics showing the physical environment customers’ affective responses and the amount of time and money spent in the facility. Factors that contribute to the consumption are facility aesthetics, layout, ambience, table settings and social factors displaying data analysis representing how each factor contributes to customer emotions. From the table, it is clear that aesthetics plays an important role followed by “ambience” affecting the non-visual intangible
cultural representation and communication, an ethnic-themed restaurant case study details the impact of these factors.
hand information” without travelling overseas. The elements for creating this environment include visual and non-visual components as discussed in the previous section. Conclusion This paper describes the facts of multiculturalism in Australia including the potential and problems caused by cultural differences. Expats working in the Australian restaurant industry were chosen as an example group of migrants from diverse cultural background documenting the problems that they face in the workplace and some of the dynamic issues were the relationships among social identity, multicultural food, restaurants, and immigrants. Food and restaurant cultures are important cultural representations and create the identity for diverse cultures. Multicultural food is a medium for Australians to access cultures. There are opportunities to break down the cultural barriers with developing greater
cultural experience within the restaurant industry. An ethnicthemed restaurant in this case is the proper subject to study and implement the improvements for an enhanced experience. Researches about factors that affect customer decisions are conducted to support the later suggestions about innovative ethnic-themed restaurant development. There is a huge potential in that innovative ethnic restaurants can perform as a positive cultural image. Through greater understanding and enhanced cultural experience we can connect various migrant groups and local society which in turn minimises the social problems related to culture and maximises the huge potential of a multicultural Australia.
1. Ang, I, Brand, JE, Noble, G & Wilding, D 2002, Living Diversity: Australia’s Multicultural Future, Humanities & Social Sciences papers, Bond University, ePublications@bond. 2. Ibid. 3. Wood, NT & Munoz, CL 2006, ‘No Rules, Just Right’ or is it? The Role of Themed Restaurants as Cultural Ambassadors, Tourism and Hospitality Research, pp. 242-255, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia. 4. Ang., Brand., Noble & Wilding, 2002. op. cit. 5. Ibid. 6. Ibid. 7. Caglar, Ayse, 1997. ‘Hyphenated Identities and the Limits of “Culture”, in T. Modood and P.Werbner, eds.’ The politics of Multiculturalism in the New Europe. London and New York: Zed Books. pp. 169-185. 8. McCroskey, J. C. (1984). The communication apprehension perspective. In J. A. Daly, & J. C. McCroskey (Eds.), Avoiding communication: Shyness, reticence, and communication, (pp. 13-38). Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE Publications. 9. Elsevie, 2010. 10. McCroskey, 1970. op. cit. 11. Mackenzie, L & Wallace, M 2011, ‘The cant Dimension of Cross-Cultural Communication Competence’, Cross-Cultural Communication, vol.7, no.3, pp.10-18. 12. Ibid. 13. Peiling, 2011.
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Ideating
Ideating is idea generation - it is the process of exploring and a range of solution spaces. You ideate in order to move from framing and reframing problems into exploring solutions for the user group that you are designing for. The goal is to come up with a large quantity of ideas and vast diversity among these. There are no limits to what you can imagine as a possible solution.
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Frequency, Flexibility, Originality, Depth
state the obvious, the usual and the most likely solutions. Teams often slow down once these obvious ideas are stated. But, ideating should be a process of “going wide” and “crazy”. Push the team to come up with more than 70 different ideas. Don’t judge while you are ideating - leave judgement for later. A really ‘wild’ idea might spark a thought that can lead to the perfect solution. Go beyond the obvious to uncover unexpected areas of exploration, to create volume and variety in your innovation options. It is important to be cognisant of when you and your team are generating ideas and when you are evaluating ideas. Avoid evaluation during an ideation session. Use a facilitator to help with ideation processes - it usually increases the likelihood of coming up with the right number and quality of potential solutions. There are numerous ways to ideate to get both broad and deep leads towards solutions. The following three can be used consecutively to draw out as varied ideas as possible in a group ideation.
Frequency: - how much you can get out as fast as possible. Its about volume. Flexibility: - how diverse the ideas can get. Think in extremes. Push boundaries. Re-interpret words. Originality: - how new the ideas can be. Think ‘what if?’ Depth: - think slowly and more carefully of the meaning and consequence of the concepts you are ideating around. Think in terms of impact on humanity, history, environment, society, science, knowledge, and so on. Try to re-frame the assumptions you have by asking ‘what-if’?
GO TO THE FUTURE AND BACK Boldly envision a solution and track back step-bystep what needs to happen to enable it. Think to the future.
“Ideation is something that is totally affected by diversity. If in a group everybody has the same point of view there will be no discussion and no sharing of values from different profession. Different points of view, even if driven by mere practical purpose, brings a good complexity and interesting values to the concept that was from a mono-disciplinary group.” Marco Setti
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5X5
The 5X5 is a rapid paced innovation exercise consisting of 5 steps of 5 minutes each. At least four teams of about ten people race against the clock to develop ideas on a particular topic. The aim is to engage with participants in an inclusive, non-threatening and exciting way that allows maximum ideation in a very short time frame. The 5X5 encourages outside-the-box and responsive thinking in teams, plus rapid prototyping to tackle complex design challenges.
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Examples of the 5X5
A lot of people ask how to design a 5X5. Each 5X5 is can be articulated to address types of steps in a 5X5 include: Empathy, where people explore their own and others’ feelings and experiences; Storming, where teams explore a range of implications or possibilities of separate components of the problem; Stoking, where participants break out of locked modes of thinking through switching modalities, e.g. moving into making rather than writing; Ideation, where teams quickly generate new design ideas that emerge from unexpected observations and conclusions; Prototyping, where people engage in physical modelmaking or role-playing as ways to articulate their ideas; Pitching and Performance, where teams publicly present their ideas for peer-review. We have included four different 5X5s in the following pages that demonstrate these steps applied.
DOWNLOAD WILD THOUGHTS RAPIDLY Brainstorming is a great way to come up with a lot of ideas that you would not be able to generate on your own.
USE TIME WISELY Sometimes it is important to let go of time restrictions and allow the team to deep dive into understanding a particular issue or resolving necessary to quickly leap forward and take only a few minutes to generate some immediate outcomes.
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BikeTank #3
At BikeTank #3 we welcomed South Australian Goverment Architect Ben Hewett to share his inspirational stories of the Integrated Design Commission and the new 5000plus city redesign. The 5X5 was designed to give feedback to Entrepreneurship Lab students who had developed prototypes from BikeTank #2 outcomes. In the 3rd step, we broke into a rapid making storm and built “thinking caps� out of recycled materials. Using the freedom of the thinking caps to augment our mind, we then returned back to our tables and developed brands and strategies for the products that we reviewed.
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BikeTank #5
At BikeTank #5 we asked participants to develop an urban event that utilised a shared interest ‘vehicle’, such as the bicycle in BikeTank, to stimulate the participation and launch of the event. We then gave participants blank canvases and they developed ‘faceboards’ to both paint and role-play the scenario proposed in their event.
The “Green Canvas Festival” (below) aimed to encourage more people to experience art in more diverse ways and locations, while promoting outdoor leisure in proposed that the paintings from the galleries be hung in the Park and that plants replicating the park be brought into the galleries for a special festival period.
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5X5 in Dalian, Day 2 1. Ideate Think of as many super high-tech innovations you have heard of recently that blow your mind. Think in any discipline. They don’t have to be about cities, architecture, or planning. Write down as many as possible. Think Bio-tech, Media, Art, Robotics, Computing, Sensing, Smart Houses, Smart Cars, Social Media, etc. 2. Empathise Use the Chart given. List as many types of i) Stakeholders and their ii) Emotions and Needs about your Site for the 5 scales: friends);
3. Ideate Think of as many wacky/crazy ideas for cities that you have heard of. Think globally. Think about the future. Think technology. Think wide. List as many as you can. 4. Programmatic diagram Create a diagram of the programmatic strategy for the site (program = functions). #2 to address some or all of the Stakeholders from #3. than too simple. of relationships between users and functions, not related to the site locations).
this Diagram to your meeting today. 5. Make a sketch model quick conceptual model of your Program and Stakeholders on the Site. Label the functions with Post-its/Stickers. You will take this model to your meetings today.
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5X5 in Dalian, Day 3 1. Brainstorm brands Go for volume‌ brainstorm as many brands as you can! 2. Needs & Value Attach needs (that they satisfy) & value (that it portrays). Think about what brands are/what they mean. 3. Stereotype of key audience - persona Draw a visual representation of the user of your product or service. Include:
4. Manifesto - Develop a shared values manifesto for your business - Each team member write on a piece of paper one/two words on what core value is most important keep it secret. - Then each other team member can add one extra word to make a sentence (be honest & creative!) - Repeat until all members have a turn at starting a value statement with their key words - Each person reveal their word(s), writing on large paper 5. Role play Develop a physical manifestation of brand in the form of a TV ad with a jingle/catchphrase/tagline. - 30 seconds - Remember brand should portray needs satisfying, your values, and be aimed at your target market.
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Setting constraints
Problems get complex, it’s as simple as that. Trying to solve every component of a problem can be an impossible task. To prevent negative feedback within teams due to feelings of helplessness and confusion, setting constraints is vital. It provides a set of feasible guidelines that encourage ideation around core problem factors. Setting constraints provides an important sense of direction. Where the topic area is hypothetical or speculative in nature it helps teams focus on problems such as world hunger, poverty or racism are understandably complex problems; simplicity lies in solving more nuanced, human-centered design problems that may have a large but unforeseen impact these far reaching problems.
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Assigning a user-group and object
When the Entrepreneurship Lab teams were beginning to identify broad themes they were interested in, a wave of side issues related to the themes began to inundate
that often comes with large complicated and messy problems. To prevent the teams from being distracted and overswept in the range of possibilities, we began setting constraints to help the teams identify a core issue from the forest of problems. The Frequency, and Flexibility tools to ideate user-group selection. The Depth process focused on a timed constraint and asked teams to identify one user group and provide in-depth insights into that user group. Frequency
simply asks to see how many shows up once teams begin to brainstorm. Lastly, the Diversity process asks for teams to identify as diverse a set of user groups possible. The core elements of these processes is to ensure a strict time limit (5 minutes or less) and encourage individuals to only say what they write and provide no judgement on what is being presented. The limited interaction provides a common ground of patterns to emerge while encouraging individuality at the same time. After pushing the teams through the process, 10 user groups were generated and randomly assigned. This prevented teams from running to favorites and challenged them to adopt the identities and issues faced
by the user groups they were assigned. The second series of constraints assigned a physical object that each group should focus on as their ThinkToy. Again, a fast round of ideation resulted in a variety of objects for each of the teams. One was was assigned a table as their physical constraint specifying a solution either based on a physical table or a symbolic representation of how a table was related to the theme; another was assigned a wall, while another a cardboard box, etc. The objects were directly linked to the themes that the teams were focusing on and teams were given direction and able to concretely imagine solutions to their problem statement on a personal scale. page
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Decision clouds
of addressing complex problems. As your project progresses, a decision cloud can be used to bring encourages intuitive movement and placement of information. Decision clouds can be used to map out the argument, the research, the topic and approach to problem problem in a visual manner. They are a physical touchpoint to rearrange, add, delete or modify information in a meaningful way. at the hidden issues and allows the mind to sink junctions to provide solution openings. The simple act of moving a decision cloud between other clouds frees a creative process for mapping out complex issues.
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Creating decision clouds
Decision clouds provide an important visualisation of the state of the game and provide an ideal way of assessing the level on which the argument for solving the problem lies rather than burying it in layers of complexity. Within teams, a number of opinions and ideas often bubble up and the documentation of these thought processes needs to be captured and collated. When collecting data for a decision cloud, surround yourself with tangible and visual pieces of information like notes, photos, maps, samples or early prototypes to inform and inspire the design team. Cover your wall space with post-its outlining interesting
users you met and relevant products and situations to remind yourself of what you discovered. Group these pieces of information into themes, phases or any kind of structure that transpires. Explore those structures and their patterns, and discuss the relationships, similarities and differences between the groupings of products, objects, or users that you
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Build to think
Build to Think is all about transferring ideas from your head to the physical world. The physical form can be a wall of post-it notes, a role-playing activity, a space, an object, a storyboard, and many more. For entrepreneurs, a key component of generating innovative solutions is asking questions, whether it be to uncover deeper insights or test design elements. Start building. Even if you aren’t sure what you’re doing, the act of picking up some materials (paper, tape, and found objects are a good way to start!) will be enough to get you going. Don’t spend too long on getting too attached to it. Build with the user in mind. What do you hope to test with the user? A prototype should answer a particular question when tested. It’s good to fail quickly and cheaply since building rough and rapid prototypes allows you to investigate a lot of possibilities. Building many prototypes help to break down a large problem down into smaller, testable chunks. Build to think and learn. page
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Rough prototypes of ThinkToys Weeks 1 to 3 in the Entrepreneurship Lab
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Iterative prototyping
Prototyping to design is the iterative generation of low-resolution artefacts that probe different aspects of your solution. The fundamental way of how you can test your prototypes is by letting users experience them and react to them. In creating prototypes you have the opportunity to examine your solution decisions as well as your perception of the users and their needs. Prototypes, the physical incarnations of questions, are an expressive, iterative way of communicating by connecting people with the physical. By giving people something to interact with, whether it is an object they can hold, walk through, jump over, lay on, or explore, prototypes can elicit valuable feedback. When you build prototypes you eliminate ambiguity and reduce disagreement because the conversation with users and within the team will provide clarity about aspects of your solution. Building prototypes is not just a way to of your innovation process. page
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ITERATE BY TESTING WITH USERS Testing allows you to better understand and improve your prototypes by placing them in the context of the user.
Think360 testing their ThinkToy prototype with users.
PROTOTYPING WITH ARDUINO With a bit of creativity, mechatronics can improve the effectiveness of prototypes, helping to communicate ideas and adding value (and impressiveness!). Arduino boards are an inexpensive, accessible way to incorporate mechatronics into prototypes, and are especially designed for use in multidisciplinary projects. With a few other simple components (such as motors, LEDs, switches and of the system and desired functionality, as well as some help programming from Arduino’s extensive online tutorials, it’s easy to get parts moving, sense the environment, put on a light show and more to increase prototypes’ impact.
shAPEs team begin building their fullscale ThinkToy prototypes out of foam. page
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Maximum awesome product
The world is changing at a rapid pace, technology pockets in less than 10 years time. The Max Awesome Product (MAP) is where all the ‘maybe one day’, ‘that is not possible’, ‘but how can that be done’ types of concerns are set aside and where we devise the best product without reality holding us back. The MAP is about diverging the solution space, opening options, challenging preconceptions and rigid beliefs. There’s no point being interested in the Minimum Viable Product, which is what many teams will aim for. A good idea is still a good idea even if the technology is a venture to support it. A great idea will inspire the creation of the technology needed to realise it. Aim for the most Maximum Awesome Product possible.
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Sensory awareness
Listening. Feeling. Smelling. Training sensory awareness is another disciplinary practice of the creative being. With vision overriding much of the spectrum of experience other forms of experiencing pleasure, ideas, the world are subsumed. Individually, sensory awareness can be focused upon through subtle observation. In the collective, patterns of audio, spatial, social or other stimuli at a large scale can train a collective sensory awareness. James Turrell’s constructed light installations bring a new heightened awareness to sensory perception: “he wants you to see what variety of fantastic phenomena can be observed, with the promise that you will never look around you in the same way again.”1 Finding ways to awaken your own sensory systems can be diverse and playful; it can widen the conceptualisation you bring to experiences and offer a more human-centred approach to design. 1. ‘Kijkduin’ by James Turrell, Stroom, 1996.
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Failing with intent
It can be very powerful to fail with intent. More than just testing ideas, failure can be used as a catalyst or a provocation. A spectacular failure can reveal more about client needs or public opinion than a conforming scheme. A lot of what we call failure is really just poor management and planning. In the right environment failure is a positive, experimental, and revealing part of the design process. Learn from failure, and learn fast. Allow your team to fail and stumble multiple times, and accept it as part of the journey that you can learn from.
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Positive Failure vs. Negative Failure - the example of architecture Trent Middleton
Architecture is a humanist pursuit: the creation of buildings and places that make life better for people and make the world a better place. This desire for positive change creates an intensely personal connection between the designer and a project, but it is this mixture of thought and action, design and construction, that makes ego from the object. Our philosophy, our feelings, our life is our work, and it is this belief that means a failure in a project is a failure in ourselves. This leads to a fearful working environment progress. It is important to learn that failure can be positive as well as negative. This is not a matter of optimism or pessimism, but a realistic way of framing and addressing issues and outcomes. Negative failure has a negative outcome, is objective, can be recognised, controlled and avoided by following a robust design process or method. There is no excuse for failing to understand external pressures on a project, such as the client and the context. By following a rigorous and inquiry these issues are easily uncovered. Failure to understand internal pressures
as this involves recognising and acknowledging personal strengths and weaknesses. Seeking out training, developing a support network, and working with appropriate consultants will strengthen your contribution rather than diminish it. Most disastrous is a failure to communicate and consult. Design is the collaboration of a team and it is critical that all parties understand and appreciate the same ideas, processes, and goals. Communication must also extend beyond the design team to include the client, the end user, and the public. It is also important to recognise the difference between failure and retreat. When progress is slow it may be better to review and revise the design strategy rather than rely on brute force. If you are working in a collaborative, open environment then no outcome is predetermined. Positive failure has a positive outcome, is subjective, intuitive, and relies on recognising mistakes and accidents and learning from things going unexpectedly. There is no ‘wrong answer’ to a design problem, so developing useful and effective criteria to judge the success or failure of a design is an
important initial task. The criteria could be quantitative such as conformance with a code or standard, they could be qualitative such as a precedent or aspiration, or they could be a combination of the two as many project briefs are. For positive failure to be effective it is necessary to have a supportive, open, and safe working environment: A culture of failure. With our work and our ego intertwined we need to know that it is safe to analyse our failures, and that it is important to communicate our failures to others. Positive failure can be contrived through developing a design process that provides the opportunity to make mistakes early and often. This does not mean drawing every permutation, but experimentation can be used to break open design problems in order to learn about them, to analyse failures and reveal alternate strategies. In architecture, built form so it is crucial that the design process involves experimentation in three dimensions. Prototyping with virtual or physical models reveals complexities not apparent in thoughts or drawings, and provide another forum for unexpected outcomes.
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Push boundaries
If you feel your team too quickly gelled into a solution or an agreed problem statement and persona, you might need to think about pushing yourselves out of this groupthink situation. Create divergent views to help expand your thinking. Try to imagine what a character with an opposite persona might say about your ideas. Welcome someone into your group who you know does not share your ideas and invite them to challenge your ideas. Return to the empathize step and push yourselves out of your comfort zones.
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Pull boundaries
If everyone is on a different page and the team longer generate ideas or crystallise a problem statement try deliberately inserting a boundary boundaries may include setting a time limit, limiting budget, only focusing on extreme users, limiting your ideas in light of local regulations or local cultures. Once you start to move through the stalemate you can lift the boundary again.
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Inspire vision
When inspiration kicks in, the weight preventing you from moving ahead is lifted. When fostering inspiration you provide your team with a direction and a beacon light to move towards. Once you distil the deeper meaning out of your project you can inspire the team and gear its activities and motivation for participation towards that vision. Inspiration can come from something concrete on something intangible that connects effort to paths and chances are that individuals contribute more and sometimes even accept greater risk. While the vision guides you to a desired place it also inspires you to keep moving - it makes you want to go there.
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Some tools for collaborative inspiration If a collaboration goes well, it induces inspiration. The connection between inspiration and collaboration is strong. We often experience inspiration during collaboration when the feeling of a path being opened to a new and/or desired territory is a result of two or more person’s skill sets complementing the other’s. Below is a way of describing methods for generating and maintaining inspiration on a project or in a team as a way to uphold momentum: Keeping people invested - They need to see some personal return, even just feeling good is a start. - Action keeps people invested; don’t just talk, get people doing it. Delegate and share both work and rewards - People want to be a part of success - Keep clarifying and reiterating the shared motivation - Give evidence of why the vision is important: statistics, reports. Bring in fresh voices and views that inspire Allow people the chance to grow; nurture growth as a primal motivator. Construct systems of responsibility - Allow people to give in order to receive in return. Openly discuss values - Openly advertise best values, e.g. those that hit the heart Use images and video to emotionally connect Keep it human - Use personal testimonials to connect - Use storytelling to connect Self-interest is an effective strategy - People are inspired by opportunity. - A chance to lift the mutual level of welfare - ‘A rising tide lifts all boats.’ Community inspires people to connect, bringing them back - Create community animation and social cohesion through informal gatherings around food or making. Appeal to altruism, the personal sense for giving.
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Space for loosening and reconnecting internally
Just like any growth experience, a good collaborative experience requires the collaborators to be receptive to being changed in some way by the knowledge, habits and opinions of others in the group. Co-creators need to be able to make room for the connections within each individual’s current paradigm to be loosened, jiggled about, and reconnected. These can be moments of realisation or of true learning, when our belief structure is deepened and expanded to take on a more complex understanding of the world.
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Cultivating scenarios
How do we cultivate scenarios that help the team open up to new reconnections, that brings out untapped potential? What loosens the team up on all of these dimensions? Here are some suggestions: Cultivate a trusting environment where people feel safe to fail, Learning to hold onto the tension between belief and questioning, Let people experience reframing or re-connection of a kind, even if its only a small step, Develop connection inducing exercises or steps, e.g. the ‘a-ha’ moment constructed, Develop a framework for characterising paradigms so that the whole spectrum can be respected, Instigate interdisciplinary interactions that stimulate the reconnections via seeing through another’s eyes, Build a forum for the re-connnecting to be discussed and for tensions to be dissolved.
Graduates of the 2011 Entrepreneurship Lab release tension in a ‘pinkyswinging’ custom. The 16 weeks had been intense and after a roundcircle, open conversation about the highs and lows of the experience, the spontaneously occured.
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Pitching
Pitching is a day-to-day occurrence for most where we need to generate another’s interest in what we are doing. Pitching is a core skill for an entrepreneur, it’s bigger than being about ‘selling’ something. Pitching is the practice of attracting ‘buy-in’ through communicating the need/insight you’ve uncovered and its solutionspace to an audience in a persuasive and alluring manner.
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Weekly pitching practice in the Entrepreneurship Lab course
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Park bench pitching
Park Bench Pitching (PBP) is selling your idea to anyone, any time using a top down approach structure of logical argument. This method frames your idea around a single key point. The real beauty of park bench pitching is the regardless of trying to attract investors, recruit employees, develop new customers or sell your new career to your grandmother. At the heart of PBP is to focus the message “what question does this audience want answered?�. Be it in dollars, security or something else entirely.
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Park bench pitch structure
The Park Bench Pitching logical rule limiting structure has evolved from concepts like Barbara Minto’s Pyramid Principle, that considers a logical progression of a convincing argument some from: 1. Situation: a statement that no one can dispute i.e.Tourism in Sydney is centred around well known mass tourism sites like the Opera House and Harbour Bridge 2. Complication: this is the so what?! Why should anyone care about your question - i.e. tourists seek local cultural experiences 3. Question: what is fundamental to your audience? - i.e. how might we provide awesome authentic cultural experiences to tourists in Sydney? 4. Answer: your solution/ area of investigation or hypothesis - i.e. walking tours by a local guide that visit local community groups
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Improvisation
Improvisation is making and doing in the moment and often in response to a stimulus. That stimulus can be within the immediate environment or stem from an emotional state. Improvisation can result in the creation of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or new ways of understanding, perceiving and interpreting the world. A prerequisite to improvisation is mastery. Improvisation occurs most effectively when you have a thorough intuitive understanding and advanced technical skills and concerns within the improvised domain. Allowing improvisation to be part of your innovation repertoire will take you to new places.
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Improvisation and organisation
LOOK FOR WORK-AROUNDS Professionals and master users they often improvise and create work-arounds to suit their needs. When studying workarounds you can gain valuable insights and inspiration from
Professor Stewart Clegg gave a lecture on improvisation & organisation to the Entrepreneurship Lab class based on his research with Miguel Pina E. Cunha, Pedro Neves and Arménio Rego1. The typology helps understand and stimulate improvisation in the context of organisational innovation. Each type is supported and instigated differently, has learning opportunities and detriments. 1. Miguel Pina E. Cunha, Pedro Neves, Stewart Clegg Arménio Rego (2012) Improvisation Sequences, working paper
“Improvisation needs to be considered as a multi-shaped, polymorphic process, manifest in four types of action repertoires: ad hoc, covert, provocative and designed. Ad hoc improvisations are unprepared, adlib responses to unplanned events, they happen through the intentional and cultivated practice of bricolage.Covert Improvisations are “undercoverd”, hidden from the formal structure, they occur inside communities of practitioners and outside the reach of organizational controls. Provocative improvisations stimulate to produce divergent thinking or acting and happen through the purposeful creation of deviation from established processes. Finally, designed improvisations happen minimal structures that are supported by simple rules and the heuristics they favor.” page
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Business model generation
Business Model Generation1 is a very useful method that uses the Business Model Canvas to conceive of and visualize the various iterations of an emerging business plan. What many words often struggle to explain, a business model canvas expresses on just one page. The development of key functional and strategic propositions and the relationship amongst them emerge when discussing value proposition, customers segments, distribution channels, relationship characteristics, revenue streams, resources, key activities, important partnerships and cost structures. Business planning along those dimensions will ensure you cover your bases. The business model canvas provides a common vocabulary that will help you to generate and communicate your proposition in a way that every investor or stakeholder understands. 1. see http://businessmodelgeneration.com and the associated book by A. Osterwalder and Y. Pigneur, published by Wiley 2010 for details.
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Quick Fox business model canvas
Key&Activities Organisations&e.g.&universities&&&large&businesses Local&Councils State&Government Hub&Operators
Gvernment&advocacy
To&create&a&rideshare&community&that&is& convenient&and&transparent integrated&environment
Customer&Relationships customer&relationships Customer&loyalty&program&
Cost&Structure low&marginal&cost&of& additional&customers
Key&Resources Strategy&&&leadership
Web&development&&&design Customer&relationship&management/ development Hub&structures Outsource&technology,&hub&construction&
Revenue&Streams Consumer&membership&fees &&expiry Sale&of&carbon&offsets/
Customer&Segments Singular&car&commuters Cost&savings,&convenience,& Internet,&mobile&apps&direct&to& consumers
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Sharing value
Value creation traditionally focuses on optimising processes, products and services to cater for very
growth and value is increasingly seen in economic models that empathise the sharing of value. The concept of shared value focuses on strengthening the connections between societal and economic progress1. The opportunities for sharing value can productivity, and local cluster development. Business models that follow this paradigm may transform capitalism as we know it and unleash a business and society.
1. See ‘How to reinvent capitalism—and unleash a wave of innovation and growth’ by Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer, Harvard Business Review, February 2011
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Value systems diagrams - Dalian Shared value creation implies mapping the wider stakeholder relationships and the social environment that is affected by an organisation’s products and services. This may include staff, policy makers, users, customers and many more. The task then is to identify positive exchange scenarios amongst those players a larger scale. A value system diagram emerges at the meta level, and can then be further developed to the strategic business model level for that organisation. Mapping out the value system is a great way to address the roles of stakeholders who have no direct commercial relationship to the business, yet could play a role in creating shared value opportunities.
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Final pitch video
Video is one of the best ways to get people involved in something personal and important. The purpose of a conceptual video is to convey some of the key aspects of your pitch in a simple yet effective and meaningful way. The video will do a number of things for your proposal: a visual documentation of the concept or topic that your team addresses; tell a human story to showcase empathy; provide the motivation for people to stand up and take action; advertise your solution, and tally the process of working towards a succinct, juicy sound bite that is enough to generate a buzz amongst people. A good video is user-friendly, a short and pithy talking point rather than a lengthy ordeal. There is a balance of providing enough material to keep viewers engaged and interested while providing evidence of a solid deliverable solution.
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Testimonials from BikeTank
HIGHLIGHT WITH TESTIMONIALS Integrate the voice of someone who has tried your prototype. Real opinions count more than polished marketing.
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LaunchPad
LaunchPad is the event for teams to present their business proposals in a public to a panel of entrepreneurs, business experts and investors. It’s an event for matching ideas with opportunity. Rather than creating a boardroom atmosphere, LaunchPad seeks to be open, conversational and dynamic. Keeping pitches short ensures that potential collaborators come back asking for more information, which enhances the nexus of collaboration. The informal nature of the physical environment supports that participants are relaxed and comfortable with sharing. The layout of the space should encourage participation by everybody involved. A well designed LaunchPad blends aspects of entertainment with speculative conversation in a vibrant ecosystem of likeminded people. Teams use video, models, and demonstrations to shape the experience of the audience.
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launch pad THURSDAY 14TH JUNE AT LAUNCH PAD WE MATCH IDEAS WITH OPPORTUNITY.
12PM 1PM
FIVE NEW ENTERPRISES DEVELOPED IN THE U.LAB INCUBATOR WILL BE REVEALED TO THE PUBLIC IN AN INTENSIVE OPEN PITCHING EVENT.
1.50PM 2.10PM 2.40PM 3PM
WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US!
4PM
LUNCH [RSVP PLEASE] THREE 10LMINUTE PITCHES GUEST INDUSTRY PARTNER RESPONSES TWO 10LMINUTE PITCHES GUEST INDUSTRY PARTNER RESPONSES OPEN DISCUSSION + DRINKS U.LAB BOOK LAUNCH PARTY
RSVP: RSVP@ULAB.ORG.AU LOCATION: U.LAB, EAST END OF ULTIMO PEDESTRIAN NETWORK, ULTIMO [ http://tiny.cc/ulab ]
CREATE EXPERIENCES NOT LECTURES Present your ideas with impact and in a meaningful way. Show how it works and communicate your solution by crafting experiences, using visuals, and telling stories.
Experiential pitches in the Entrepreneurship Lab
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Feedback at the end of Entrepreneurship Lab 2011
Nine graduates of the inaugural Entrepreneurship Lab in 2011 have since become practicing entrepreneurs. Nine of them are running three startups together (see pages 65-67 of this book). Over the next four pages you can see what they had to say on their last day of semester at the windup of LaunchPad.
“The thing that I learned from this subject and I’d like to share is that you completely get a different perspective - for seeing in the same thing from different perspectives. You get to break down your basic one way of thinking and you get to know about the other side of thinking.”
“Working with different faculties has helped me. So I don’t know how I’m going to go back to the old way we used to do things.”
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“Having an original idea is really hard. having an original idea that’s good is really rare. so everyone in this circle should be really proud of the fact that we’ve come up with a number of original good ideas and they’ve ended up distilling into four good projects. its a really rare thing. and I’ve never had an opportunity to do it in an educational environment and certainly not in a university environment. There’s a real uniqueness to this. it should be cherished because you don’t get the opportunity very often in a working life to actually come up with something that didn’t exist before.”
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“I think if you’re smart you can make money from u.lab, with u.lab. I’ve already started getting offers.”
“Pretty much one word for me, its been emotionally draining, and tiring… oh that’s three words. (Laughter). Look, these guys know! So, out of this--in all honesty--its probably the friendships. I normally wouldn’t hang out with architecture people--you guys are really fun--so, yeah i think its more about the relationships I’ve picked up here, people I know, people I can get along with, just new things.”
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“I think its a great opportunity for us to produce something that could potentially be incubated into something real. It’s totally different to any class I’ve done and this is my last masters semester. So its kind of exciting to see where this is going. The other thing is, its good to realise what your strengths are in group work and learn what you can contribute to the team.”
“For me the most important thing is that I feel as though I’ve met some really really great people and I know that might sound a bit soppy, but, for me doing an MBA, the key thing was meeting my kind of people, and I think in this class, in this space, I think deep down we are all very similar thinkers, we want to do something with our lives, we want to go somewhere, we’re innovative, and I think that for me is the number one thing.”
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pitching
We practice pitching. Pitching is when you present your idea, when you expose it, when you sell it and when you make it public. Pitching isn’t easy. It takes a while to get good and it takes continual effort. While pitching is mostly associated with presenting in front of an audience we consider many other forms of presenting ideas as pitching too. Much has been written on the topic, yet people with ideas, including many entrepreneurs, get it wrong. The purpose of a pitch - be it personal, visual, or in writing - is to sell the idea, not to educate. While pitching is not the only practice certainly matters to have the opportunity to get ‘on stage’ and present it. Entrepreneurship Lab. We use the LaunchPad event to which we invite entrepreneurs, industry experts, educators, public and corporate innovators, and investors in order to match the participants’ ideas with opportunities. Each pitch includes the presentation, a physical model or prototype, a research booklet and business model. The latter two can be found on the following pages. Kudos to everyone who gets on stage to share their dreams. The next question then is: Is this idea the next best investment?
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Andrew Ashton Pamela Maldonado Cristian Ruiz Ramos Linette Salbashian Job Wallis Aimee Yan Qing Zheng
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Many people on the brink of homelessness are unable to generate opportunities and end up relying on charities, forcing them into a cycle of learned helplessness.
How might we provide the potentially homeless with the tools that are required to create opportunities for themselves through non-charitable means? page
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The ability to connect is something that we take for granted and for people who are on the brink of homelessness, being unable to connect and strengthen networks is a major problem. To talk to family, and often unachievable. Everywhere they turn they food vans, in shelters and the way people look at them, which pushes them into a cycle of learned helplessness that is very hard to break.
‘Voice It’ is a service that opens the possibilities of communication to strengthen the networks of the potentially homeless by enabling them to obtain a working mobile phone and credit through a nonmonetary exchange. This is not a hand out, but a trade of goods for street smart knowledge and services that is self organised and policed which gives the potentially homeless the ability to communicate and create opportunities for themselves.
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Research In 2010, 1.1 million Australian adults had experienced homelessness at some time in the previous 10 years. Attempts to address homelessness have been based on the satisfaction of basic needs for survival, nevertheless the homeless are not a homogeneous population (McChesney, 1990) To provide solutions that are good enough for the majority necessary to understand their needs individually. Empowering the homeless is an almost impossible task, it would be necessary to provide homeless individuals with services that are targeted to and Schimiege, 1996). Focusing all the efforts in solving the problems that homeless have to face to meet their primary needs can be a mistake because it limits the capacity of the homeless to achieve independently. A movement called 4.15 has been bringing quality food for the homeless for the last year at Martin Place in Sydney CBD. This is a self running organization that has risen as a mechanism of survival for the homeless in the city. The 4.15 movement is basically an anonymous initiative that collects food from food courts around the CBD after lunch time and gives that food to the homeless for free.
The movement has been working clandestinely because of high demands from local health authorities for this sort of activity. Other attempts that have involved interaction or empathy work have shown different results. In fact a “single positive experience with the homeless can result in substantial changes in how these individuals are viewed as homeless� (Hocking and Lawrence, 2000) Empowering homeless people is not just a matter of institutions and organizations trying/solving necessities for the homeless. What needs to be done better is strengthening the dynamics within the homeless community, taking into account that homeless are a completely heterogeneous group. Individuals and current networks of homeless common elements that form sub-groups with particular characteristics. Traditional approaches to homelessness are not working because they do not perceive the homeless as individuals with particular characteristics, but as a homogenous group. That stigmatizes all the efforts not only for the people homeless but for all the people around.
References: 1.Rachel and her children: Homeless families in America New York: Fawcett Columbine. McChesney, K. Y. (1990) 2.From marginalized to mainstream: The HEART Project empowers the homeless. Goetz, Kathryn W; Schmiege, Cynthia J. Family Relations 45. 4 (Oct 1996) 3.Changing Attitudes toward the Homeless: The Effects of Prosocial Communication with the Homeless. John E. Hocking1; 3 and Samuel G. Lawrence2. (2000)
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Getting out of our comfort zone allowed us to think differently
Structured brainstorming & mind mapping allowed us to think outside the box and ideate creatively
THE Process. IN order to develop this concept into a workable solution to our problem a number of design thinking and traditional research methods were used. Interviewing allowed our group to connect with user groups on an even playing field
Empathy was a large part of getting in touch with our user as it gave us a deeper understanding of what the underlying problems were
Empathy mapping allowed us to feel what our user’s feel, hear, see, say as well as their pains and gains
When road blocks were reached, an environment change generated new ways of thinking proposal
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Our journey through mind-mapping and ideation
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empathy mapping Think & Feel
Hear
See Say & Do
Pain
Gain
Think & Feel Forced Un-planned lifes Judgement Pain Limited social networks Un-planned lifes Judgement
So & Do Taking responsability for self Self organise Face your fears
Gain Opportunity & motivation Power balance Appreciation & value
Hear What you say does not matter Uncertainties Demoralizing
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major stages of interviews asking questions that can tell us how they see the world to engage them into society. This included interviews to our friends, the public, organizations that deal with the homeless, and the homeless themselves. We found that identity breaks barriers, and they can be a functioning part of society once they were empowered. 2. Systems: their effect -like social welfare organizations or perception of public on homelessness. The purpose of this was to see what is working and what is lacking in the current system, and where there is opportunity for improvement. Interviews were conducted to social workers, social welfare organizations, and the homeless. We found that even though organizations have produced positive results in basic needs, there is a dependency on them. Moreover, there is a resistance from the homeless to charities due to a feeling of powerlessness and control. 3. Testing: the purpose of this was to test ways the homeless can depend on themselves by self governance and opportunities for empowerment. We found that there was a need for stronger networks and communication to achieve that. We interviewed young people on the brink of homelessness, phone companies and donors of spare phones and credit.
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Ideation During the development of the project we faced many challenges that made us work together and create as many possible solutions as we could. To define our first topic (waste), our user group (young people on the verge of homelessness), and our points of view about these elements, we needed to see everything from several perspectives getting the most accurate focus for each stage. The ideation process had various levels of brainstorming; we generated hundreds of ideas in each stage, using post it notes, butter paper, coloured pencils, whiteboards, various softwares, etc. Thus we funnelled our ideas and got a clear point of view to start working on. The empathy work. the academic research complemented all the ideation processes to finally create our final concept. Voice it, a social enterprise that aims strengthening communication between young people on the verge of homelessness in order to open possibilities for self empowerment.!
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how we arrived at our solution
Our process started with the choice of waste as a subject that we were all interested in. Next we were given the user group of ‘socially awkward people’which we translated into people at risk of homelessness. We prototyped various solutions to deal with issues such as a lack of identity and invisbility to society. We spent some time doing things that homeless people do on Martin Place and later that evening met the remnant members of the Occupy movement. This led us to the realisation that self empowerment was really what we wanted to work towards. We worked towards creating a system whereby our user group do not have to utilise charities but could create their own systems
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VOICE IT
“ voice - IT”
OPEN POSSIBILITIES OF COMMUNICATION
2.commu
1. communication WASTED SEE IMPACT/ FEEDBACK KNOWLEDGE/ THEIR STORIES & PHOTOS
MOTIVES FOR ENGAGING
SPARE PHONE SPARE CREDIT SPARE
IMPROVED SERVICES
DATA ACCESS (FUTURE)
+ DONOR MIKE
extracted info (reports + website) from photos, stories to improve services
-"Most people buy mobile phones every 2 years. More than 52 percent keep their old mobiles phones, resulting in over 16 million mobiles being stashed aways in cupboards and drawers at home and at work". MUSTER.COM SPARE PHONES TO SITES “UNHEARD” PREPAID CREDIT + TWITTER TO HOMELESS IN NY
healthcare facilitities
shelters
government
community
education facilities
employment facilities
4.Communication circle
PHONE DRO OFF-SITES DROP-OFF ACCESS WEBSITES (FUTURE)
SWAP- PLANETA PHONE TRACKIN INTERACTIVE S (EASIA)S
3.Commun
HOMELESS JOEY STRENGTHENED RELATIONSHIPS
HOMELESS MONTI
HOMELESS TREVOR SELF ORGANISING ` -MLC FOOD COLLECTION -SELLING COINS -EVENTS -SELF-POLICING
STRONGLY CONNECTED NILLY
-FINDS OTHER HOMELESS IN NEED -FINDS SPARE PHONE/CREDIT/DATA -PHOTOS/STORIES CONNECTED
RECEIEVED INITIAL CREDIT AND HELP, BUT NEEDS TO SUSTAIN IT HERSELF.
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CONNECTED TO FAMILY, FRIENDS, OTHER HOMELESS, SHELTERS, FACILITIES, JOBS, FOOD, CITY
AFRICAN MOBIL
open possibilities of communication to strengthen NETWORKS networks
F COMMUNICATION TO STRENGTHEN
nfo bsite) tories rvices
employment facilities
2.communication POINT
SHARED INTEGRADED VALUE FROM CSR
MOTIVES FOR ENGAGING
VOICE IT
PHONE DROP OFF-SITES DROP-OFF ACCESS WEBSITES (FUTURE)
TELSTRA CREDIT DONATIONS
CALL/TEXT/ONLINE CHECKBOX voice it TO ALLOW TRANSFER OF SPARE CREDIT FROM DONOR TO HOMELESS
EXISTING PHONE PROVIDERS EX VIRGIN, TELSTRA
bi monthly reports in database
SWAP- PLANETARK PHONE TRACKING- GOOGLE OUTREACH MAP INTERACTIVE SCREEN (EASIA)S
3.Communication LINE voicing of PHOTOS/
COMMENTS/ STORIES OF THEIR VIEW + KNOWLEDGE ON LIFE on streets GIVEN BACK TO PUBLIC
SPARE PHONE SPARE CREDIT SPARE
DATA ACCESS (FUTURE)
rubbish bin info
safety /crime areas
traffic info
waste resourcefullness
left overfood info
trolleys info
phone surcover- vival age tips areas
LY ED
NNECTED TO LY, FRIENDS, ER HOMELESS, SHELTERS, LITIES, JOBS, OOD, CITY
GROWING NETWORK OF USERS (HOMELESS)
REWARDED CREdiT stronger network,
ENTHUSIASTIC
AFRICAN MOBILE BANKING-M-PESA + GREMEAR
YOUNG
BRINK OF HOMELESSNESS
LACKS STONG COMMUNICATION
MOTIVES FOR ENGAGING
NEEDED FOR THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF STREETS
CHARITY RESISTANCE
HOMELESS NILLY
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Hey John how are you?
Voive it! You might be interested in becoming involved. It allows you to get a phone with credit so you can create opportunities for yourself
Well I'm an advocate of Voice It so all you have to do is give me your story and I can get you started.
I’m good just need to go to the airport to get a reference for a job.. So I better get going.
That sounds good, what is it?
Cool, I will get working on it, as I would like to contact my family again soon.
Wait John, why dont you just call them about the reference? Here use my phone
Well all you have to do is provide them with something that you are interested in... Say a story, a picture, a poem... and you can get a phone with credit.
Good idea. They also use the info we give them to improve services, create better networks for us and try to break the cycle of homelessness for young people.
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How did you get a phone with credit?
That sound good, how can I get involved?
I’m In!
user / personas Donor Mike -Gen Y (Connected) who regularly updates personal mobile phones every 1-2 years. Mike is compassionate about community and actively recycles where ever he can. Such as going to the extent of separating his coffee cup into 2 so he can dispose the paper and plastic separately at recycling bins. He is on a prepaid phone plan and as each month rolls over, he has unused credit because he isn’t a big talker.
Nilly - Nilly is young, enthusiastic, engaged with strong verbal communication skills but has limited support network aside from friends. She is resistant to the efforts of charity due to her streak of rebellion. that broader society does not share this. On most at someone’s place. But on some unlucky nights, she sleeps in exposed spaces. She shares and associates with many of her friends within the Occupy movement minded people who are engaged with societal issues that she deals with on a daily basis.
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The Voice It System 1. When someone has a spare mobile phone lying around at home they can donate it to Voice It. 2. At the end of each month anyone who has unused credit on their pre-paid phone can donate the unused credit to Voice It via text, call, internet or have it direct debited from their phone. 3. In order for a homeless person to get a phone they have to submit a narrative that depicts what is important to them. It can be a story of their life, some helpful hints on crime, unsafe areas, cheap safety, and ways to create less waste, resourceful uses of waste or short cuts through the city. When they provide this information they will be provided with a working, recycled mobile and a small amount of credit in return.
4. To get credit they continue this story but elaborate on it, i.e why they are on the streets, how they ended up there, ways to improve current services for homeless, issues with shelters, ways to improve employment services for homeless, what they feel they could give to society, problem area’s in the city, how charities could be improved, what’s working/not working in the current system, what gets wasted in the system, corruption in the system etc. 5. Once the homeless person becomes engaged with Voice It, they can then become an advocate and start distributing phones to other homeless people. 6. The information gained from members will is then provided to Voice It. The information that is useful to the community, like people stories, tips on safety/crime, dangerous areas, things that can be made bout of waste etc. will be posted on the website for the donors and the community.
7. All the information will be documented and stored in a database. Voice It, with the help of the homeless, will then put together a bi-monthly report that contains useful information for government, health care facilities, shelters, hospitals, education and employment facilities who will pay a subscription fee for this report/ information on a bi monthly basis. The report will be writtenand the database will be updated by the members of the Voice It program, with the help of Voice It volunteers to begin with, but in time it will be up to the Voice It members. The report and database will eventually be self managed by the homeless and some member will become part time employees of Voice It.
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Benefits
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Prototype DEVELOPMENT The Fraternizer is an interactive device that demonstrates how people can increase their own capabilities when working together with others towards a common goal. The fraternizer consists of a set of various speakers, each one a different shape, with input and output cables that generates independently the sound is just a noise, but when connected the speakers will harmonize, and the more speakers that connect to the system the more harmonic the melody becomes. The Fraternizer shows how when independent evolves and new meaning takes place. It can work on many different levels: For our potentially homeless it demonstrates how working together by using networks and communication to engage with others can make things better and increase their opportunities. The donors could engage with it to show them how their donations of phones and credit can create stronger networks in society. For the telephone companies the message is about the power of communication and connections and how the networks can be seen and heard as harmonic elements that generate positive
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Sasha Abram Anthony Doig Giulia Urlando
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Introduction: Parameters “Anthropologists and socioeconomists have spent decades examining the principle of people responding to a positive action with another positive action, referred to as “direct reciprocity”... The well-known phrase “You can scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours” might sound cynical; another, “Do unto others as they do unto you,” sounds more idealistic – but both capture the belief that humans have an innate propensity to reciprocate.” What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption.
The Value of Time: How we value our time is how we value ourselves. We believe time can be perceived as measure of age, as a commodity to be bought, shared and spent and most importantly as a vehicle to express our core beliefs.
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Stakeholders: Charities and Generation-Y “People are inclined to expend their energy if it is clear that it is going toward a purpose they believe in and that no one profits from the value of their generosity.” World of Giving.
Key Terms:
Charity:
collection, and some form of distribution. (World of Giving)
Donation: Something given in support of a cause that one feels is
worthy to help an organisation’s efforts, if not also intended to be passed intact to a recipient. (World of Giving)
Generation Y: Gen Y members, also known as Millenials, were born between the late 1970’s and late 1990’s, often referred to as the “eighties babies” generation. For our purposes this means young, middle-class Australian adults.
Giving: The act of voluntarily transferring something from one entity to
another on the basis of a perceived or articulated need or want. (World of Giving)
Recipient:
assistance or gifts, or a secondary collection and distribution agency that will then
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Images: Craig Damrauer - morenewmath.com
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Non-profits on gen-y: “Very effective at communication, rallying peoples attention, short attention span, communicate using new media”
“short periods of high
intensity involvement”
“Gen Y are way more travelled. Way more exposed to global village – technology travel, awareness”
“young people can emit a lot of heat light, albeit for short periods of time”
and a lot of
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gen-y on Non-profits: “Cost isn’t really an issue -
I could afford to
contribute more than I currently do but finding the right cause is more important to me.” “I don’t donate because of money poor”
“wish i could have done more...”
trust/time and
“Sometimes I questions how my money is being spent” “not anything structured at the moment... I give money to homeless people from time to time”
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Point of View Generation Y feels a deep need to contribute and give back but is skeptical when it comes to donating money. Charitable organisations have an exponential need for contribution (financial, voluntary, advocacy), but cannot effectively connect with this younger generation. There is a chasm of disconnection between the two.
Problem Statement How might we use Gen Y’s social interconnections, positive energy, good intentions and desire to have fun, to connect them with charities, to open up a concrete and successful channel of communication and donations.
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Further Discoveries: Research We believe, that through informed and innovative design methods, we can bridge the gap between and construct a new way of shepherding and delivering their channels of communication, to enable this path to reciprocity. Our empathy research demonstrated that there is a tangible disconnect between and we believe that through an innovative, interactive design solution, we can use the elements of surprise and fun to engage young people on an emotional level and
in doing so, inspire their allegiance to action for social good. Generation Y is diverse, tech savvy, independent, ambitious and most importantly understands and has life experience in, the global marketplace. (Princeton One) Acknowledging that companies share the gloabl to realigning the credibility of Enabling its voice and its call to action. As author and Brinckerhoff phrases it, by “becoming market oriented while remaining mission based”.(Mission Based Marketing)
The commercial sector is becoming a forum for expressing social principles, with 86% of global consumers believing that businesses need to prioritise their interests equally. “We are entering a period of social change as Americans are recalibrating their sense of what it means to be a citizen, not just through voting or volunteering but also through commerce.”(Time Magazine) Now, it is time for us to ask: How can we as designers utilise our expertise to contribute to the collective social good and foster a new world order? How can we encourage a new culture of giving; back to ourselves, our peers and our planet?
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Further Discoveries: Research
How can design shape behaviours for preferable outcomes? Tradition economics is built on the assumption that often behave irrationally. Behavioural Economics recognises this and combines knowledge from economics and psychology to study the way people make decisions in real life. decision-making processes comes to a point of view that designers also have a certain degree of resposibility to understand and deliberately design with those principles in mind.�(irrationaldesigners. blogspot.com.au)
How can branding create new opportunities in the non-profit sector? Using the principles of Brand I.D.E.A: Integrity, Review), encourage not just the expansion and public sphere, but also an opportunity to improve the effectiveness of their entire organisation.
The inherent value in uniting an organisation internally, is sure to affect its success and output externally. “Creating a lasting emotional overlap between what is good and true about your offering and the aspirations your audience holds dear is the almost-magic formula behind great brands.� (www. ammunitiongroup.com)
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The China Coin While visiting a Buddhist temple in Shanghai, we participated in a local ritual; throwing coins into the temple shrine assuming it would bring good luck. We were so caught up in the fun of it, that we didn’t even notice that we were actually making a donation to the temple.
We felt that this was a valuable insight into how we could reinterpret charitable giving. The enjoyment that we received from trying to throw those coins into the shrine, was only reinforced by the later realisation that we were also donatimg money to a worthy cause. It was an interesting way of creating a shift in focus from
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Ideation Process
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aims to...
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Pitch
We are a social enterprise that is developing an interactive platform that aims at leveraging the desire of young Australian men to have fun, compete against each other and socialise in order to connect them with charities and use personal wagers as a means of donation. We’ve developed various channels both on and offline and initial testing shows that this has the potential to become a huge hit.
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The Jelly Bean Game Two competitors use chopsticks to move jelly beans from their bowl to their opponants bowl in a set time limit (1 minute). The winner, has the most beans transferred during that time and then gets to nominate which �charity� those beans get donated to. The loser donates the beans.
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Summary Two cents worth aims to leverage the differential between peoples’ opinions to incentivise donations for charity. be it mates at a pub or a group forum, two cents worth offers an opportunity to monetise these debates and provides a social, interactive, fun way to donate to charity. We feel that by using a web-based platform and integrated design priciples, that we can create a new social network for people that want to give back and a new modern model of giving.
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Daniel Egan-Wyer Manuela Yun Hye Kim Anna Moran Anoop Sam Mohan
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Unengaged students
academic pressure
lacking core skills
interactive games
Pre-university learning programs do not engage school leavers and many entering university lack core thinking and teamwork skills putting them at a disadvantage that can take years to overcome.
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What is the issue?
Pre-university learning programs do not appeal to the majority of school leavers. Students have just finished intense examinations after years of built up family and school pressure on their academic results. As such, students do not have an incentive to sit in a classroom and engage with a teacher dictating more theoretical knowledge to them. however, many students lack multidimensional, critical and lateral thinking skills, and positive teamwork experience and ability. Upon beginning university they are instantly at a disadvantage, as many academic assignments require these skills to succeed. Students tend to develop these skills gradually, by which time student motivation has diminished and academic marks have been lost.
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our Product Think360 is a games workshop of unique interactive games and toys that allow students to develop their multidimensional, critical and lateral thinking skills and build positive teamwork experience and ability. Through Think360 students are able to enter university with an advantage; they already possess multidimensional, critical and lateral thinking skills and positive teamwork experience and ability. They can address tasks from many divergent angles, can critically evaluate problems and have developed teamwork abilities that will be valuable throughout their university studies and their future careers. students’ abilities is continued throughout their studies via invitational networking and social events, as well as smaller more intense refresher workshops.
our Process Extensive primary empathy research, secondary academic research as well as more general research has taken place. Ideation and open discussion within the team and project is addressing has evolved and through new information, links and gaps we have uncovered new insights in our problem area. This evolution has led us to our current problem statement and our distinctive Think360 product. Prototyping and testing has helped to shape the product to its current stage of development and will be continued.
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students not optimally & efficiently learning in university due to lack of multidimensional, critical & lateral thinking skills & teamwork experience & ability upon entering university
dependent on your socio-economic circumstances & geographic placement
gap between empathy & action–people see problems/inequalities in the world, but do nothing problems/issues in university-age education in teaching methods & curriculum
SKILLS
MULTIDIMENSIONAL critical lateral
education UNI-TEACHING METHODS
problems/issues in university-age education as a cause of the gap between empathy & action
TIME
PROJECT EVOLUTION
GAP
ROLE PROBLEMS UNI
SCHOOL AGE EDUCATION METHODS
role of institutions such as school age education & government in the gap between empathy & action
problems/issues in school-age education in teaching methods & curriculum as a cause of the gap between empathy & action
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RESEARCH journey
We ploughed our way through journal article after journal article, books, conference papers, research reports, online videos and more -
this is what we heard
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Tagxedo.com
- and this is our research in a snow ball.
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Inspiring Projects National Inventors Hall of Fame School, USA Award-winning school with project-based learning for 5th graders integrating curriculum & utilising creative problem-solving methods, within one year of opening became one of top three in area despite being non-selective & 42% of students living in poverty.
Walton Payton College Prep School – USA Award-winning school with global emphasis including compulsory four year foreign language and culture program, seamless integration of technology across curriculum, including videoconferencing with experts across world on curriculum topics & videoconferencing with sister schools across world.
Auburn Early Education Center – USA Award-winning kindergarten with student-led project-based learning with teacher as facilitator guiding students to resources & integrating curriculum, seamless integration of technology with technology coach for students, students become problem-solvers, independent lifelong learners & excited to learn.
u.lab & Entrepreneurship Lab – Australia UTS based studio u.lab expanding design thinking into interdisciplinary collaboration between entrepreneurial activity, corporate R&D & academic thought leadership, including inter-faculty subject Entrepreneurship Lab where students apply these principles to develop solutions for real world problems.
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Brain Training – Global Brain Training series of games to play on Nintendo DS, created by neuroscientist Dr Kawashima, aimed at adults especially older generations, designed to stimulate brain, challenge memory, math and perception skills.
Harvard Simulation: ‘Leadership and Team: Everest V2’ – Global ‘Harvard’ branded online teamwork game, aimed at university courses and corporate training, universities/businesses as purchasers, designed to improve leadership and teamwork skills.
Assorted toys, games, activities & riddles – Global ‘real’ products, designed to increase different types of skills such as lateral thinking, strategy, problem solving, teamwork etc depending on the product/ platform while players have fun.
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empathy Stage 1 onli nli line -3 6 in-person & online secon econ condary surveys with secondary chool student students school students, teachl ers, parents & general public - focus group with user group of (Y11) secondary school students
Stage 2 -86 in-person & online surveys with millennials (born 1990 or after), of those surveyed most current tertiary education students -focus group with user group of first year university students
Overall -132 su surveys in-person & online, of these over 75% millennials (born 1990 or millenn after) & most current afte sec secondary or tertiary education students -2 focus groups of user groups at both secondary school (Y11s) and university (first year)
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what do they feel? More work experience More creative/arts subjects Want passionate teachers Want practical work/skills Really want future success
what do they see? Rows of seats Textbooks Reading Long summer break Beaches Parties Clubs/Pubs Festivals
seeing
hearing
saying
feeling
thinking
what do they say? More work experience More creative/arts subjects Want passionate teachers Want practical hands-on work/skills Really want future success
what do they think? More work experience More creative/arts subjects Want passionate teachers Want practical work/skills Really want future success
What do they hear? Lectures Pressure – Parents/Teachers/Uni Professors/Peers Go to Uni -> Get Good Job -> Make Money
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Who?
Likes:
o Male 18 years old
o Being with friends
Dislikes:
o Being told what to do o Memorisation/revision
intensive/pressure from parents o Just been to Schoolies on Gold Coast with mates o Received results & accepted into university
o Parties
o Sitting in class
o Going out
o Being spoonfed
o Music
o Doing one task at a time
o FREEDOM
“i am tom!�
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PROTOTYPES
Our Think360 thinktoy prototypes comprises three games in a workshop.
Screen Game Utilises specially developed red and blue helmets and digital presentation in a unique purposefully developed game. By ‘colour blinding’ 2 of the 3 participants, participants learn the importance of how thinking across multiple dimensions and thinking laterally can enable greater
Ball Game Utilises specially developed black helmet in unique purposefully developed game. critically analyse the instructions given and critically question the facilitator in order to complete the game with ease.
3 Houses Game
multidimensional and lateral thinking and successfully work as a team in order to complete the task. Finally the team must critically question the facilitator in order to discover that the task is impossible.
USER Testing
Our initial tests of the prototypes have been successful and provided important feedback for further iteration. There were a limited number of participants in the prototypes, as such substantial iteration and testing will be continued.
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Screen Game
stages of elaboration of the Increase number of stimuli in digital presentation.
Result:
noticeably increase, indicating successful development of creativity and thus multidimensional and lateral thinking. did not noticeably increase. between participants wearing helmets and participant without a helmet. Possibilities for Future Iterations:
Ball Game Result: that there was an easier way to solve the problem, successfully developed critical thinking through analysis of the instruction and questioning of the facilitator. too well known or too easy, participants to solve.
more unusual visual stimuli (more unusual words in presentation, or numbers,
helmet could not catch the ball.
the task without any critical thinking.
3 Houses Game Result: successfully work as a team. utilised multidimensional and lateral thinking. critically analysed instructions and critically questioned facilitator. feedback that it would have been easier with a whiteboard as they weren’t used to moving around to think.
Possibilities for Future Iterations:
the 5 minutes.
known and more moderately
Possibilities for Future Iterations:
Create stimulus at different ball to catch, to ensure the participants do not complete
Use a whiteboard and pens Use a whiteboard and pens as well as physical model.
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Workshop Result:
as well as indicating that they had been challenged in their thinking as their “heads hurt� tired, the environment felt sedate and less creative and fun than desired
Possibilities for Future Iterations
More participants in the space, whether or not directly taking part in games all the
increase.
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business canvas
Technology Companies - Electronic Components Manufacturer - Software Developers Universities, both as - Sales Channel + - R&D Partner
R&D Specialised Production Workshop Facilitation
Physical: Manufacturing Facility R&D Facility Intellectual: Proprietary Knowledge & Patents Human: Scientists Engineers Workshop Facilitators
Fixed cost plus variable cost dependent upon economies of scale Major Costs: - R&D - Manufacturing - IP
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Think360 enables mind to explore p in multiple dimen & rapidly ideate c solutions
s the problems nsions creative
Mutually Beneficial Long-Term Relationship Customer - End-User Feedback & Data - Periodic Upgrades based on R&D
Pre-University School Leavers Universities - Existing University Students Companies - Creative Teams
To B2B Customers: - Personal Selling - Own Website To End-User: - Universities - Companies - Own Website - Online & Physical Electronics Retailers
One-Off Payment or Subscription Model Fees for Periodic Upgrades & Additional Features
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Michi Chan Marco Setti Krisdewanto Suryopamungkas Rachel Haoxiang Sun Ahmad Aloqbi
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corporate workers are stuck in their routine and don’t recognise Functional Fixedness
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How can we break functional Fixedness in the workspace? proposal
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It has become a trend that younger generations, when thinking about their future, dream jobs, and anticipated careers, they nominate any career that is considered cool, or involves a certain level of freedom. It’s not that they’re not willing to commit, because they are, it’s just that they don’t think boring to be stuck with for the rest of their lives. Not long after, they realize that the world is actually run by corporate, and that all the opportunities lie in this enterprise world. Then their new dream becomes working for one of these multi-national companies, and wanting to be amongst the best to become the best. They bury their old dream and proceed with their jobs. What we are trying to do at “shAPEs”, is to combine the successes of corporate, who are also trying to create an enjoyable work environment for themselves, with the innate desires of people, who would still want to feel free, and escape the daily routine. The outcome is an idea of a working space that allows cubicle employees to get out of their rat race routines, and
enjoy a better quality of life by getting a fresh perspective at work, where they spend so much of their waking hours. Our solution is not aimed at increasing productivity, nor is it aimed at minimising costs. It, however, focuses on increasing the levels of zest and ‘play’ that employees experience in their workplace – inspired by Parkour. Parkour or l’art du déplacement (the art of movement) is the physical discipline of training to overcome any
Inspired by Parkour, “shAPEs” simply provides spaces that enables reinterpreting obstacles, and viewing opportunities hidden behind
and simply looks at things differently, thereby creating different interactions and experiences. Not only does this open the doors wide for fresh new ideas, but also unleashes new mental resources to achieve even more creative thinking, ultimately quality of life in the work environment. Our product is a unique space within the workplace, which can be used by any employee, be it for a few minutes, or extended hours, a space to escape to when stuck in a dead end, or when in need for a challenge that provides inspiration when needing a different state of mind.
obstacle within one’s path by adapting one’s movements to the environment. It breaks conventional thinking
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Romeo 23 years old In a relationship Wants kids Team administrator
Habits Walks to train station every day Works 10 hours a day computer Eats lunch at desk 2-3 times a week
Frustrations Hates Mondays Feels stuck in a routine, especially at work Still hasn’t got his pilot license Being healthy and active is inconvenient Life quality is ‘on hold’ while at work
Ideals Wants to be more healthy and active Wants to be able to conveniently ‘reconnect’ with life and self while still at work Wants to balance career with mental and physical wellbeing Longs for better quality of life.
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PArkour Parkour is the physical discipline of training to overcome any obstacle within one’s path by adapting one’s movements to the environment
“Parkour is not only physical activities, but also a state of mind” -David Belle-
PArkour Principles Parkour is not about the movements as much as having the mentality to overcome obstacles, and barriers in life whether they were physical or emotional. Parkour, in its physical actions and movements, hides deep meaning of facing fear and pain; for movements cannot be mastered unless the mind is controlled.Parkour also aims at boosting selfesteem by provoking critical and analytical thinking when
dealing with daily challenges of life.
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Parkour inspiratioNAL ELEMENTS
the parkour philosophy: -Mind Activity -spirit of challenge -Explore the possibilities of the enviroment -Use what is given IN THE Way it is given
Parkour playground design Criteria [from australian parkour association]
need to provide challenge and give opportunities for movement engaging and invite people for creative interpretations Unique and not modular therfore people can use it in different ways Promote Movements and introduce play
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design process
BRAINSTorM INSPIRATION PARKOUR
THEMES
MORE EMPATHY INTERVIEW
EMPATHY INTERVIEW corporate USER GROUP
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OBSERVATION USER GROUP TESTING
SKETCH + MODELLING
REFINED DESIGN ITERATIONS + REFINEMENTS
PROTOTYPING
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research findings research 1 -Barriers and motivations of young people for physical activity Using parkour methods, we can explore methods to overcome barriers to physical exercise. Firstly, we should learn how to protect self and avoid the injury. Secondly, from parkour comes skills that train people to exercise from the core, and get way, friends can encourage each other, help and give advice to advance through the levels together providing more motivation. Furthermore, parkour can be practiced anywhere allowing people to be active everywhere and anytime.
research 2. CREATIVELY USing OBJECTS BY DEFINING ITS FUNCTIONALITY THROUGH USE From the testing we conducted, most of the users in the testing are able to generate more ideas for usage of shapes, and creatively used the shapes in various scenario. Furthermore the more unfamiliar the shapes were, the more experimentation that occured. However, it is yet to be seen if this user experimentation will be a lasting effect or whether it only happens at the beginning period of usage. Therefore suggested scenarios for usage or rules of ‘play’ should be included in the design proposal. Additionally test results illustrated that our project approach complimented the APA’s parkour principles and will help to achieve our goal of bringing energy and play to the workplace.
research 3. Can objects and work spaces change behaviour to break users’ functional fixedness? From the background research and testing is derived that the use of
most preferred way to use the shape given for the purpose he/she has decided. The results show how the user, in the unconventional or unfamiliar environment, can become more creative with more combinations and more different orientations. be more creative in any aspect of the life. People must only be shown that being way.
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Mind Activity
Challange Parkour Philosophy
Explore The possibilities of a given Environment
Find the Thinktoy!
Work in An Uncommon Area
Break functional fixedness
Shapes no not Suggest Fixed Functions
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n
MindMapping of ideation Uncommon became Common
change the rules everyday
be more Creative it’s a Thinktoy if you do it once you can do it always Design without purpose proposal
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Brief: the environment but by the user
GOals:
Make people Think outside the square Invigorate opportunist thinking Get people comfortable with interpretation and improvisation; use the enviroment as given
How?
Our Shapes do not suggest any function. Uncommon objects generate an uncommon thinking. Change rules every day Use fun theory
DESIGN PROPOSALDIAGRAM overcome obstacles
fun motivation healthy
courage
parkour principle
Challenge high energy
originality
opportunist free mentality
bring motivation
inconvenient to exercise
routine
normal worker barriers little timeb
vitality
improve quality of life quality ove
freedom ideation adventure spirit increase creativity overcome barriers bring play
wants to reconnect with inner self
fixed ored
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SKetch + PRototype
people’s ability to see objects past its intended use. Rather than seeing this objects as a purpose-built design, we propose a perspective where objects are seen as components ready for user orchestration; to think freely in usage so they can come
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Interactions THe Shape Comunicates with the user. Its colour changes during orientation. it wants to be moved.
colours on the shape move towards the centre of gravity. When all the colour is at the bottom, to continue the colour display, the user must change the shape’s orientation and new combinations for use. THe more he change the more the color will take to reach the ground.
How is this Possible? hypothesis 1 electrochromic polymers
thanks to temperature or luminosity, the material gradually changes its colour.
Electrochromic polymers, like polyaniline, can change their colour thanks to
hypothesis 2 Led Fabric
around them. Those materials are conductive plastic created from Dr Greg Sotzing in the University of Connecticut. Through studies, researchers
connected together with thin metal wires, allow the material to be controlled as it is formed of different pixels. By that way when different
The Lumalive technology makes possible the creation of real dynamic fabrics. Coloured lightemitting diodes are integrated into the fabric, every pixel is connected
different colours. This allows the changing of colour in the material without compromising the of the fabric. Also the electronic parts of the garments are integrated and invisible in the fabric. This technology is useful to create dynamic messages and potentially give information through fabric surfaces.
support and contain red, blue and green LEDs for which intensity varied in order to produce the
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rendering
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BUSINESS CANVAS MODEL Key partners key activities value Australian Parkour p ongoing research & propositions Association (APA) networking p new approaches p Huddle Spaces p Safe Work Australia p Google Australia p Sydney Green Ring
p design thinking p contacts p establish creative customer touch points p practice parkour principles
p p p p p p p p
key resources
p Build materials p Design thinking and skills p IP – APA endorsement
p
cost structure
to spaces parkour principles unique designs customised wow factor customer experience ethical business practices play + zest user defined spaces mirror of values + cultures
p Value driven p Key costs: Design and refinement resources, build materials & business development
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customer relationship
customer segments
p urban city councils eg. city of sydney, paramatta city councils p corporations that value creativity, eg. google, red bulls, mlc, vogue
p work space designers p advisary role p specialist/expert
channels p p p p
Website Exhibition Public demonstration Corporate roadshows
revenue streams p p p p
City or work space design Specialist advisory services Construction coordination services Project collaborations proposal
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Xiangyu Ma Eldridge Segura Kayla Qi Wu
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There are A group of people home COUNTRIES, made A dec in this continent, become ne Australia to live a better lif struggling to get in touch PARTICIPATE in the culture.
How might we help them to make life originated by their own personality proficiency; and enable them to esta locals and other groups of immigr page
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e in Australia. they left their cision to start their new life ew immigrants. they came to fe, but...a lot of them are with the local society, and
easier? To Cross those invisible barriers,either y, their background culture, or their language ablish and create stronger relationship with the rants? proposal
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Introduction Australia is a well-known multi-cultural country with enormous cultural resources. The rapid growths of migrants with different cultures bring both opportunities and issues to the society. Cultural differences between local residents (old immigrants) and new immigrants can give rise to social barriers. These might due to differences in language, life style, religion, sense of value, family value, sense of belonging, sense of identity and education orientation. Confronting these barriers, a group of new immigrants purposed to deal with the issues of isolation, lack of social the society. Following mass media, culture in food industry and restaurants is regarded as the Common interests of a particular non-verbal communication, such as music, dance and food, are considered as a way to reduce cultural barrier. An analysis of how food
experience. Dining out is one of the most common social activities. More social groups, networks and sites about dine-out are founded in recent years, for instance, Eat with Me, Social Dinner Club, Dinning out & Social Events. Our project is built on the idea of using different cuisine as a platform to get people from all different cultural backgrounds together. By using an innovative interactive table as a tool, we intend to enhance the experience and joyfulness of multicultural food. Moreover, the project would ultimately create inter-cultural communication, and aid to assist with building relationships.
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Mind mapping OF Problem statement
Starting from scratch, to statement took us a long journey. The original problem area was waste, and the team were assigned an empathy group – expats. A series of empathy exerciese were conducted to uncover the
out that the biggest problem in our empathy group was not necessarily waste but the barrier between them and the local culture and society. Even some of the expats have became Australian citizen for decades, their sense of belonging to this country were weaker than locals who live in Australia for generations. With the outcomes of empathy works, the team switched the focus from waste to barriers among expats and locals. To narrow down our problem area, all the factors that considered contributing to barriers were list on the board, and most of the arrows are pointing to communication.
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The typical journey FOR buildING A relationship
Establishing communication and building relationship require certain stages over structured the steps for strangers to build a friendship. The key elements that our team aimed to work on with were creating the by throwing lunch/dinner event, and trying to help people build familiarity in limited time, and then build further relationship with our ThinkToy.
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empathy interviews “Language is not the most important thing when communicating with others because you could learn English here. The most important thing affect communicating is people come from different cultural background.”
“I learnt English here, from work and daily life. Most of time, when I have some problems, I will ask my husband to help.”
-- Chinese lady who works for homeware retailer, married to Australian Born Chinese
“A lot of them, they don’t actually understand English is our 2nd language; a lot of them think that why it’s so hard to speak English, they don’t realize that English is our 2nd language and not everyone has the same
-- A middle age Chinese Immigrant, small business owner
-- A young Indonesian migrant
“Sometimes it’s so hard for me to represent myself in English. It’s just hard. That’s why I feel very uncomfortable, but I believe it’s also uncomfortable for people in the other end.”
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“I thought I was so stupid then, I should have talked to them and be nice because when I was study abroad I was by myself I felt how it was.” -- A student from France used to be carelessness to two exchange students who speak poor French but tired to communicate with him
“In general, it’s very easy to be a friend with a local people, but to be a close I think the cultures; ways of thinking are too different. You have to push yourself (to get to know of them).”
-- A Chinese girl who moved to Australia for more than 5 years and plan to stay Permanentlly
“One Saturday I went to a new restaurant, they bring 3 different sauces and all kinds of meats, but I don’t know which sauce goes with which meat. I was thinking ‘How nice if there’s someone explaining to me what I am eating’,and I build my business”
-- Social dinner club founder Cenk
“There is an argument that you will never be able to be at the same level as a local people …unless you were married to one of them.”
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IDEATION empathy data, academic researches, and the most important feebacks from U.Lab every single week, we went through times and times of design pratices, the design proposal.
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“THINK TOY”
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Product statement Participating in social group is a key-driver of the topic because based on our research and experience interaction among people in social food environment communication channel. As a consequence, we analysed social group about food, and aim to create a “Think Toy” to enhance experience.
We designed a multifunctional dinning table with the physical features and technical capabilities to trigger and facilitate group interaction. The physical feature is to enable people to easily move around in the space to join anyone to form different shapes of tables.
“Capture the Moment” The main technical feature of this Think Toy is videotaping the live event with camera embedded in front of dining table. Our idea is to use
Our idea is to use sound and distance sensors to enabled the auto system to record the movements of participants while they were engaging in the socialcultural activities of food. During the event, all participants can share their cultural background and learn the other culture. And this would enhance the integration into the multicultural society.
Creating the space for dining
-Engagement -Participation -Flexibility -Inviting Environment
Hexagonal Collaboration table arrangement
Linear Collaboration table arrangement
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Ideally the camera started working when the embedded sensor detected the moment when someone sitting down and when conversation starting. So when people
themself in brief and express what they want to eat or what they suggest to eat; people from other table could response to them in person. Each introducing video would be shown to everyone who walks in the event use projector.
“Take Home A Memory� When certain length of video generated from all the tables, the system would automatically produce funny video with random selections from all the videos. Participants would be able to watch the video during and after the event. . Photos and video taken during the event will be shared online. Tagging on the web could be done by participants at their discretion.
Participants would then be able to refresh the memory. With the tagging function, participants could establish a social connection with people having same interests. For the extent, a social network would be formed and participants could enjoy the opportunity to review and share their experience with the network. The goal to form a social network for people with different cultural background could then be achieved.
Prototype table join others. To test the practicality, we prototyped the table with cardboard. The process of simulating dining with the model was joyful. And the size of prototypes were nice and comfortable.
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video experience Videotaping Testing To explore how people react with videotaping during eating, our team tested the idea in different siatuations: with one person holding video camera move around to tap video; and with one person moving with our prototype table and taping video. When the participants found someone was videotaping or photographing them, they reacted differently. Some people made funny face, some tended or pretended to ignore the camera, and some people stopped talking. We tried to play the videos to the participants afterwards, most of people found that interesting and willing to watch, while there were few people found that less interesting.
Live video projector With a live video projector playing introducing video clips from each participant, everyone in the event would be able to know each of the participants quickly without hesitating whom to talk to in the beginning. And starting with asking or suggesting food would encourage individuals to start conversations.
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video experience Video sharing Videos of the event would be captured and published within certain network for the participants. It would become a memorable experience shared within this group of people. They would be reminded what they have experienced throughout the event. Social networking could be a popular platform for the participants to get in touch in future.
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BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS
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u.lab is an experiment in design-led curriculum design and collaborative innovation research. u.lab connects with a broader movement posing radical change as an underlying approach for engaging with increasingly complex social issues. u.lab incubates future businesses - it seeks to skill society shapers. An Education Dilemma Traditional models of education rely upon implementation of tested methodologies to impart disciplinary content in the student mind. Case study approaches encourage learning by example, analysing and reciting the established building blocks and success formulas for existing institutions. Acquired knowledge is tested after graduation. Success is measured in performance terms against existing business models. who have excelled in a formulaic degrees. Performance based remuneration for educators incentivises classroom approaches that prioritise rote training. Knowledge is offered for mass consumption through tried and tested methods where the student is a passive receptor. The ontological assumptions are based upon discovery of universal truths encapsulated within scholarly texts. There is one right, and students compete in a quest to attain the solution with maximum competencies. This system does not value creativity, nor encourage radical innovation. Unmeasurable creativity is not rewarded. Aspiring for well-paid corporate placements, big industry further perpetuates the reinforcement of such techniques as they recruit the highest achievers through standard graduate selection pathways. In some cases this pull-effect increasingly commercialises the page
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educational system. Wicked problems clearly confront established global systems. About 8 out of 10 CEOs of the top organisations worldwide foresee that their biggest challenge for the future is to deal creatively with risk and uncertainty1 footage are uploaded to youtube every minute, how long will it be before the image of the teacher in a classroom is archived? In this world, what then becomes the educator’s role and which core competencies should be the focus of our methods? Can we have a borderless classroom? Getting Real u.lab is a systemic approach to curriculum design, where curriculum comprises both the subject content and the learning experience that students encounter2. Experiences engage the student’s senses and intellect in collaboration with their peers. Collaboration is a process, not an outcome. Curriculum design that immerses applied problem–based learning opens opportunities for students to practice competencies and inspires them to think independently, critically and creatively such that they emerge as creators of their profession. Competencies are ‘tested’ in practice, not upon completion. Teaching in u.lab does not instruct on ‘what is creativity’ or ‘what makes successful entrepreneurship’, but rather engage students in a creative problem solving process inspired by design practices; an approach commensurate with a trans disciplinary problem centred curriculum3. Design practices are enacted as a critical means4 in fostering innovation, particularly through collaborative processes of learning and knowledge creation; they represent a set of tools, methods and techniques that can support a profound shift in organisational problem solving5. The Entrepreneur Meanwhile, in entrepreneurship, there is a shift happening away from a focus on logic and analysis of business opportunities where the entrepreneur is considered key in capitalising upon structural opportunities, towards a focus on the processes of entrepreneurship embedded within a network of like minded individuals6. Entrepreneurial activity cannot be generated through training entrepreneurs. u.lab has no stake in training entrepreneurs, it aims to help build an ecosystem where and the learning of technical competencies or disciplinary knowledge. The u.lab focuses on providing opportunities to embed practices of strategy, engagement and incubation. u.lab students and staff jointly enact the meta-theories that shape practice. In application the knowledge is embedded in the process. Such a process inspired curriculum deliberately generates opportunities for radical deinstitutionalisation of existing practice. Traditional curriculum empowers students to interpret and master existing practices, while u.lab calls upon students to change them.
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PRACTICING
REFLECTING
u.lab is Sticky What are the attributes of a ‘successful’ u.lab graduate? As students iteratively and collaboratively engage in problem solving they learn the knowledge content relevant to master their practice. The process-based transdisciplnary curriculum shifts the emphasis to the practices of higher order cognitive skills (HOCS)7 such as empathy, critical thinking, creative and emotional intelligence, question asking and understanding multiple perspectives. u.lab is designed to engage such cognition whilst engaging with contemporary knowledge and practices. But how are these competencies to be measured? What impact will u.lab catalysts have in shaping futures? We don’t have theses answers..... yet! But what we can already see is that u.lab is sticky. u.lab alumni come back to teach and coach new generations of u.lab students or to engage in innovation research. The u.lab catalyst program is designed to leverage and channel this tremendous goodwill towards meaningful activities. In this book you have seen the outcomes of a radical experiment in curriculum design. We believe there is a role for the 2.0 university where isolated ivory towers will transform into hubs of human centred activity with students as catalytic change application through critical engagement with society. At u.lab processes are simple and the imagined impact is ambiguous. We challenge you to co-create the future.
1. IBM (2010) Capitalizing on Complexity, Global CEO Study. 2. Lizzio, A., Wilson K. & Simons R. (2002) University Students’ Perceptions of the Learning Environment and Academic Outcomes: Implications for theory and practice, Studies in Higher Education, 27(1), pp. 27-52. And Vermeulen, L and Schmidt, H. G Learning environment, learning process, academic outcomes and career success of university graduates, Studies in Higher Education, 33(4), p.431–451 3. Nikitina, S. (2006) Three Strategies for Interdisciplinary Teaching: Contextualising, Conceptualising and ProblemCentred, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 38 (3): 251-271.
4. Messner, M., Kornberger, M., & Clegg S. (2008) Critical practices in organizations. Journal of Management Inquiry 17(2), 68-82. 5. Dunne, D. & Martin, R. (2006) Design thinking and how it will change management education: an interview and discussion. Academy of Management Learning & Education 5, 512–23; Martin, R. L. (2009) The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage. Harvard Business School Press; Starkey, K., & Tempest, S. (2009) The winter of our discontent: The design challenge for business schools. Academy of Management Learning & Education 8(4), 576-586.
6. Parkhe, A., Wasserman, S., Ralston, D.A. (2006) New frontiers in network theory development. Academy of Management Review, 31 (3), 560–568; Jack, S.L. (2010) Approaches to studying networks: Implications and outcomes, Journal of Business Venturing, 25, 120-137. 7. Zoller, U. and Scholz, R.W. (2004), “The HOCS paradigm shift from disciplinary knowledge (LOCS) – to interdisciplinary evaluative, system thinking (HOCS): what should it take in science-technology-environment-society oriented courses, curricula and assessment?”, Water Science and Technology, Vol. 49 No. 8, pp. 27-36.
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u.lab catalysts
Sasha Abram Ahmad Aloqbi Andrew Ashton Vida Asrina Baptiste Bachellerie Wayne Brookes Sonja Caraian Michi Chan Rosary Coloma Emil del Rosario Anthony Doig Melissa Edwards Daniel Egan-Wyer Jessica Hartany Nasser Hussein Joanne Jakovich Julie Jupp Daniel Kim Manuela Kim Nathan Kirchner Chang Woo Lee Paul Lin Danielle Logue Xiangyu Ma Pamela Maldonado
Anoop Mohan Anna Moran Sutapa Nandy Evan Nguyen Natalia Nikolova Jigar Patel Jim Patete Cristian Ruiz Ramos Linette Salbashian Jochen Schweitzer Eldridge Segura Marco Setti Ying Su Haoxiang Sun Krisdewanto Suryopamungkas Hasan Syed Giulia Urlando Job Wallis Alan Wang Nathan Wiltshire Kayla Wu Ke Da Yan Zhao Zhang Aimee Zheng
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u.lab contact
u.lab is an initiative by Wayne Brookes, Melissa Edwards, Joanne Jakovich, Julie Jupp, Nathan Kirchner, Natalia Nikolova and Jochen Schweitzer. You can contact us at 3JWN@ulab.org.au Or share with us at facebook.com/u.lab.UTS http://ulab.org.au
Groundbreaker is a research collective of design thinkers, innovation champions, and thought leaders who are partaking in a series of interactions to explore and build new tools for collaborative innovation. http://groundbreaker.org.au
BikeTank is a program of the u.lab. You can email us at biketank@ulab.org.au Or follow us here: http://twitter.com/BikeTank http://biketank.org
Creative Minds http://creativeminds.org.au/
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