Design Path for Schools

Observation helps define the design problem, interviews and photographing the problem can be used as part of this process. It is best to listen to the views of as many different people as possible to find out the full extent of the problem.

Students can be instructed to observe the problem in the following ways:

• Photograph and film

• Interview users and experts

• Observe how the service and space is used

• Find out more about it, e.g. on the internet

• Get background information and find out how things are done elsewhere

• Put yourself in the place of the user and experience the problem yourself

• Follow and ‘shadow’ users

• Collect the information for everyone to see

Example:

The following methods could be used to observe the messiness of the lounge:

• Taking more detailed photos of the lounge, both the whole space and in minute detail

• Students interview each other about using the space: Do you use the lounge? How much? With who? For what purpose? Do you find the lounge inviting? Why?

• Interviewing the school cleaners and other experts about the effect of tidiness on learning and how welcoming a space is.

• Searching the internet for information on how other school’s lounges look and looking for solutions for similar challenges.

• Putting yourself in the position of the user by agreeing to have one group of students setting up a mess in the lounge and other groups of students coming in to test the space and how well it can be used for different purposes. Collect the testers’ observations and experiences.

• Pairing students up to be detectives. Each pair is tasked with observing the use of the space and writing down what they notice.

All information gained from the observations are collected on a notice board or web platform. It is best to have teachers check the observations and notes before publishing, so that no students are identified by name and portrayed negatively.

After brainstorming, evaluate the suggested solutions. Which of the ideas are implementable? How well do they answer the problems identified during the challenge phase?

After the evaluation, choose the solution that will be tested in practice. You can test several solutions.

In practice, students can be instructed to suggest solutions in the following ways:

• Draw, copy, and hand out ideas

• Draw a new type of service step-by-step as a comic strip

• Look for pictures about the topic – how have others solved the problem?

• Colors, materials, sounds – which ideas speak to your senses?

• Have a vote on which solution should be used  – ask for outside feedback

• Divide the problem into pieces and solve them one by one in groups

• Prioritize and group ideas

Example:

The suggested solutions could include the following ideas:

• Students take turns to watch over cleanliness

• Punishments for getting caught for making a mess

• A picture collage about beautiful, clean lounges

• Rewards for students who keep the space tidy, especially when it is not their mess

• Restricting the use of the lounge and giving classes turns to use it

• Teachers guard the space

• Security cameras

• Taking a picture of the space every time you notice it to be tidy and hanging the picture on the wall with the name of the photographer

• Sending a message to home asking parents to talk about the issue with their children

• Having a lesson about tidying up and practicing it in class

• Decorating and fixing the lounge to be more welcoming so that people want to keep it tidy

Testing also gives you the opportunity to develop the ideas to be even better at solving the original problem.

In practice:

• Collect experiences – how would the idea work?

• Make a character model and collect feedback

• Ask for feedback on the ideas and make the ideas better based on it.

• Make a prototype – test it in real circumstances

• Search the internet for similar ideas

• Model and 3D-print the idea

• Summarize how the idea will make the current situation better

• Describe, sell, and market the best ideas

Example:

The ideas chosen for testing could be:

• Taking a picture of the space every time you notice it to be tidy and hanging the picture on the wall with the name of the photographer

• Decorating and fixing the lounge to be more welcoming so that people want to keep it tidy

Testing the ideas could be done by asking students to take pictures of the space with their phones for the next two weeks every time they see it tidy and collecting the pictures in a class folder. After a week, the pictures are shared with all students and observations about them would be published as announcements on the school radio, in assembly, or as a photo exhibition.

Decorating and fixing the lounge to be more welcoming presents an excellent opportunity for modelling: students could make cardboard models about how the lounge would be both more welcoming and easier to keep tidy.

If neither of the ideas work, try the other ideas or think of new ones.

Evaluate how much the changes will cost or what the change will actually require you to do.

Students can be given the following instructions (at this phase support from a teacher is important!):

• Define how the idea is going to be implemented

• Model, measure, and make drawings

• Define the materials, structure and colors

• Outline the scale, practices, and rules of conduct

• Communicate to others how the plan works – create a service path

• Evaluate how much the implementation will cost

Example:

If both ideas work, create a plan for implementing them. To make the lounge more welcoming, you could discuss the following things with the school staff:

• Will you need money for decorating and furnishing the lounge? How much? Could it be done without money?

• What will you need to make the lounge more welcoming?

• Could you have students help decorate the lounge with projects made during arts, crafts, mathematics or science classes? Could you furnish the space with recycled objects?

• Asking students for ideas to make the space more welcoming is a good idea, because their participation will make them feel more connected to the space, which will in turn affect their behaviour in the space and make students more likely to help keep it tidy.

• The space could be made more personal with objects and pictures of things that display students’ skills, hobbies or interests.

The plan should also include rules for using the lounge. If having everyone keep the space tidy does not work, could you assign students to clean the lounge in turns? Will you try some of the other ideas you brainstormed?

In practice:

• Will you do it yourself or with someone else? With whom? How will you reach your goals?

• Find a producer, sponsor or partner

• Monitor the quality of implementation along the way

• Draft a schedule and calculate the cost

• Train people to understand the results of the change

Successful leadership during the implementation is part of design.

Example:

The whole school participates in making the lounge more welcoming in turns. Schedule a timetable for the implementation. Students should feel like they are part of the process from start to finish, so they will feel ownership for the space when it is finished.

Using the lounge as an actual learning environment or furnishing it to suit teaching lessons is work that should be done by teachers.

Have you been able to solve the original problem? What kind of new solutions have you created? How does the situation before differ from the situation after? How well have the new practices been adopted? It is also important to analyze failures to help you act differently in the future and avoid failure.

In practice:

• Compare the situation before and after

• How did cooperation work – discuss!

• Collect the created material and document it!

• Measure achievements

• Organize an exhibition and collect feedback during it

• Publish your achievements and the design results as a magazine or webzine

• Make a Youtube video

Example:

Once the lounge is more welcoming and the picture project has been up for a while, the whole school can gather to evaluate the results.

You can collect experiences from the new space by interviewing people or doing a survey. You could take before and after pictures of the space and compare the tidiness.

If the project succeeded and it will be continued, the school could publish a brochure about the project and it could be shared with parents.