Design Thinking Challenge

As students returned to campus, The Commons created a dynamic and immersive Pre-Orientation Design Challenge in partnership with Emory University's The Hatchery. Over the course of three days, incoming First-Year students engaged in a series of activities aimed at harnessing the power of the d.school's design thinking model to tackle real-world challenges facing the educational sector. Here's a look at how the event unfolded, reflecting the intensity and innovation at its core.

Day One: Laying the Groundwork

Starting with a kick-off video titled "A Futurist Look," which explored the long-term impact a teacher has on their students, First-Years were asked to imagine they were designing for their favorite teachers. The day continued with discussions on the big picture issue of educator wellbeing. Relying on data and research, students gain a better understanding of the factors that contribute to teachers thriving, languishing, and or burnout.

A crucial part of the day involved stakeholder interview training, preparing students for conducting empathy interviews. This preparation set the stage for the afternoon's empathy interviews, where participants applied their training to gather insights through various platforms, including in-person interviews and social media.

Day Two: Deep Diving into Design Thinking

The second full day of activities focused on refining the insights gathered from the empathy interviews. Participants worked on defining problem statements, a task that encouraged divergent thinking followed by convergence on specific issues. The latter part of the day was dedicated to rapid prototyping, allowing teams to ideate, prototype, and test their solutions, applying the design thinking model's core principles.

The challenge concluded with a celebratory event where teams presented their solutions to teacher burnout. This session not only showcased the innovative approaches developed by the participants but also celebrated their hard work and the collaborative effort put forth throughout the challenge. 

This Pre-Orientation Week Design Challenge was more than just an event; it was a transformative experience for the participating students. By employing the d.school's design thinking model, focusing on empathy, defining, ideating, prototyping, and testing, participants tackled pressing issues in education with creative solutions. The challenge prepared students to approach problems with a design mindset, emphasizing the importance of empathy and collaboration in creating impactful solutions.

Through the intense, hands-on experience, students left the challenge equipped with valuable skills and insights, ready to make a difference in their educational journeys and beyond.