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Design The Design Thinking Quickstart Guide,

Thinking made for teachers who want to create
for innovative solutions for classrooms,
Educators schools and communities.
How can I
improve my
school in just
an hour?
Well, truth is, Educator you are also a Designer.
This little book will introduce you to a process
that helps you be inspired to design new solutions
for the challenges you face.

Design Thinking is a
process that is optimistic, I draw on design process all of the
collaborative, and creative.
So, embrace your inner
time now in thinking aboutalmost
designer, step out of your every system you can imagine,
comfort zone, and try Design from how to archive student records
Thinking on for size. You
might just learn something
to how to involve parents in our new
new yourself! student assessment strategies.

Karen Fierst
Learning Specialist
New York, NY
First, you have to choose
a design challenge.
Whats your wish for something
you want to fix in your school?

You may wish for a better way to teach a tough lesson or for a HERES A TIP:
better way to collaborate with your peers. Maybe you have dreams
of a library that better serves todays learner or want to consider Think of a few
a new way to use your classroom space to more deeply engage things you may
students in learning. Heck, maybe you even wish your day would be find yourself
more balanced and wish that your school would design ways that complaining
teachers and students can be well. A new format for parent-teacher about or wishing
conferences that really engages parents. A new vision for the school could be better.
day schedule. The opportunities are endless!

I WANT TO DESIGN A:

CURRICULUM SPACE PROCESS OR TOOL SYSTEM

Already
feeling
nervous?
Good!
That excited DISCOVERY INTERPRETATION
energy will help
you as you move
through the
5 stages of the 1 2
design process.
I have a challenge. I learned something.
How do I approach it? How do I interpret it?

Make
Get sense
curious! of it all!
 B E FO R E
YO U B E
M E D ITA G IN, TA
TE ON T KE A M
H IS : OMENT
Design T TO
hinking is
a dif fere about be
n ce , a n d lieving w
having a
order to
ge n intenti e can make
positive t to new, relevan onal pro
cess in
impact. D t solutio
your cre e ns
ative abili sign Thinking giv that create
dif ficult ties and es you fa
challeng a proces ith in
es into o s
pportun for transforming
ities for
design .

IDEATION EXPERIMENTATION EVOLUTION

3 4 5
I see an opportunity. I have an idea. I tried something new.
What do I create? How do I build it? How do I evolve it?

Generat
e Make
new Keep
ideas! something! it going!
1
THIS I
O

Discovery 15

N
D
MINUTES

Get
curious!
If you want to create new and innovative solutions,
you need to find a new way to get inspired beyond the
things you already know. Dare to go out of your comfort
zone and explore A good designer is always looking
to be surprised, finding inspiration through asking great
questions or seeing the world with beginners eyes.
There are many ways you can get inspired.
Here are a few ideas for you

Immerse yourself in the context of Ask someone about their life.

the person you are designing for. Are you designing a new way to
Designing for a student? Sit in their engage students in learning foreign
chair! Designing for other teachers? languages? Ask them about what
Sit in their classrooms! they love to do over the weekend it
will give you ideas for how to engage
Visit a totally unexpected place.
them! Designing an approach to
Designing a new library? Visit a
professional development for your
hip retail store! Designing a new
school? Ask another adult about the
approach to teaching fractions?
last time they really enjoyed learning
Visit a pizza parlor!
something!
 A team fr
om Rive
S c h o ol w rdale Co
as desig untr y
for their ning new
teachers ways
They visi to collab
te ora
settings d a number of an te.
a fire sta alogous
corpora
te office tion, a
studio , and a de
to inspir sign
for their e new so
ch lutio
inspired allenge. They we ns
by re so
dynamic some of the me
s in the c eting
decided orporati
to use th on
em in the , they
ir schoo
l.

ry went
hool libra
re de si gning a sc in sp ired by the
A team store and
was team
e A pp le ri en ce . T he
to th ierge expe ice experience
re co nc
in-sto a serv
designing t they saw
.
ended up ired by wha
ct ly in sp
dire

DISCOVERY

Phase

1 FOR MORE DETAIL, SEE THE

Discovery METHODS LISTED IN THE TOOLKIT:
1-1 Understand the Challenge
1-2 Prepare Research
WHERE YOU ARE IN THE PROCESS
WHATS IN THIS PHASE

1-1 Understand the Challenge

1-2 Prepare Research 26
1-3 Gather Inspiration
1-3 Gather Inspiration 29
33
2
THIS I
O

Interpretation 10

N
D
Make
MINUTES

sense
of it all!

ounty
Howard C
uc ato rs from the st io n of
ed e que
A team of ploring th ence for
istrict ex ng experi
School D 1st centur y learni ey fo und af ter
a2 ns th
creating ts ca pt ure patter d teachers.
en
their stud parents, an
ith youth,
meeting w

FOR MORE DETAIL, SEE THE

METHODS LISTED IN THE TOOLKIT:
INTERPRETATION

2-1 Tell Stories

Phase

2-2 Search for Meaning

2
2-3 Frame Opportunities
Interpretation

WHATS IN THIS PHASE

WHERE YOU ARE IN THE PROCESS

2-1 Tell Stories 41

2-2 Search for meaning 43
2-3 Frame Opportunities 46
Your job as a designer is to see the forest through the
trees. Interpretation is the art of making sense of what
weve seen and heard during the observations. Its a
process that takes us from scattered observations to
meaningful insights.
During this step, you reflect on what you discovered and
see it from a totally, completely, new perspective.

What are 3 interesting patterns or Lets say, for instance, that you
themes that the people you talked are redesigning the space of your
to or the place you visited inspired classroom and you chatted with some
foryou? List them as opportunities students who made you realize that
for design. Not answers, mind you... theyre wishing for a mix of comfort
That will come in the next step. and structure in the classroom. You
could say, How might we create
A design opportunity gives you a
our classroom to integrate comfort
moment to think about what you
andstructure?
hadnt noticed before... And is most
helpful when you turn those insights
into an opportunity. We like to do that
as statements beginning with How
might we, or What if

A team of educato
rs from
the Blue Valley Ce
nter for
Advanced Profes
sional Studies
(CAPS) was taske
d with
publicizing the pro
grams in their
newly-built build
ing. Through
interpreting the
ir observations
they discovered
the simple
(but powerful) ins
ight that
parents were the
gatekeepers
of students tim
e. By shifting
marketing mater
ials to focus on
parents versus
students, they
caused program
enrollment to
sk yrocket.
3
THIS I
O

Ideation 10

N
D
MINUTES

Generate
new
ideas!
This is the part youve been waiting forBrainstorming!
Sometimes it takes a lot of not-yet-great ideas, to find
the ideas that really feel innovative. Sometimes it
takes combining multiple ideas to find the solution that
feels best. Brainstorming is a unique Design Thinking
method in that there are actual rules, and yes, you
must follow them! Trust us, this will help push you to
generate out-of-box solutions and get your creative
juices flowing.

IDEATION

Phase
FOR MORE DETAIL, SEE THE
3 METHODS LISTED IN THE TOOLKIT:
Ideation 3-1 Generate Ideas
3-2 Refine Ideas

WHERE YOU ARE

IN THE PROCESS
WHATS IN THIS
PHASE
3-1 Generate Ideas
3-2 Refine Ideas 50
54
 T IP
Find at le
ast 2-3
brainsto people to
rm jo
the more . The more head in your
ideas yo s
ull come in the game,
up with!

RULES
BRAINSTORM e no bad ideas
at
ER JU D G M EN T. There ar e to na rrow
DEF of tim
e will be plenty
this point. Ther
te r.
them down la
Even if an idea
W ILD IDEAS. ea
ENCOU RAG E istic, it may spark a great id
real
doesnt seem
else.
for someone
TH ER S. Think
E IDEAS OF O
BU ILD ON TH
an but.
and rather th t
To get more ou
FO CU SE D ON TOPIC. rm qu es tio n
ST AY ainsto
n, keep your br
of your sessio
in sight. M E. All ideas
SA TION AT A TI upon.
ey may be built
ON E CO N V ER
ard, so that th
need to be he d to
s, as oppose
V IS UA L. Draw your idea ures an d si mple
BE
in g th em down. Stick fig ds .
just w rit manywor
say more than
sketches can trageous goal

R Q UA N TITY. Set an ou d one good
GO FO ay to fin
it. The best w
then surpass with lots ofideas.
m e up
idea is to co
4
THIS I
O

15

N
D
Experimentation

Make
MINUTES

something!
If you build it, you will learn. Prototypes allow you to
share your idea with other people and figure out whats
workingand whats not workingabout your concept.
It can sometimes feel daunting to bring an idea to life,
but we assure you, you can do a lot with paper, scissors,
and imagination.
The important thing is to make your idea tangible.
Dont worry about getting it right the first time,
just get started. The best prototypes change
significantly over time. Youll be amazed at how
much you can learn about your idea just in the
process of building it out.

ATION
EXPERIMENT

Phase

4 FOR MORE DETAIL, SEE THE

-
METHODS LISTED IN THE TOOLKIT:
Experimen
tation 4-1 Make Prototypes
4-2 Get Feedback
THIS PHASE
WHATS IN 58
60
PROCESS Prototypes
ARE IN THE 4-1 Make
WHERE YOU
4-2 Get Feedback
 A team o
f teache
nation w rs
ere rede from schools a
the need sig cross th
s of toda ning the schoo e
s ee wha y l library
t a library s student. They for
if it was experien wa
bu ce would nted to
talking to ilt more like a tr
architec ee-hous feel like
tested it ts about e . Before
out in a
IN T E R A
C T IO N rapid an the idea, they
d rough
manner.

Prototypes come in all

shapes, sizes, and forms.
Challenge yourself to try
prototyping a form you dont
usually work with. You might
DIAGRAM surprise yourself with how
much fun you have with this
new working style!

MODEL
RO LE PL AY

MOCK-UP
5
THIS I
O

N
D
Evolution MINUTES

Keep
it going!
Phew, by now youve attempted to change
your school for the better. How did it go?
What was it like to go outside your comfort
zoneor your classroomto look for
inspiration? Evolution is all about reflecting
on what youve done, what you learned and
how youd do it differently next time, and
thenperhaps, most importantlywhat
you want to do next.
So, what do you want to do next?

A group of comm
unity volunteers
Design Thinking and educators at
Hawaii, wanted fee
challengethe Ca dback on their de
stle Complex Re sign
to assess comm design Initiative.
unity interest, ge In order
resonance of the t feedback, and tes
ir current ideas, the t the
session at the loc team held an outre
al Windward Mall. ach
For a deeper dive into
Design Thinking and
step-by-step worksheets
to guide you through your
next design challenge,
download the (free!)

Design Thinking
for Educators Toolkit
and
Designers Workbook.
www.designthinkingforeducators.com

We want to hear about what youre

working on! Send us stories about what
youve been designing. dt_ed@ideo.com
Design BROUGHT TO YOU BY
Thinking
for
Educators Riverdale