D4i Challenge @ Avenues São Paulo, May 2019
How might we provide meaningful opportunities for students and professionals to collaborate to solve real problems?
[shorter version X-posted on Avenues OPEN Blog]
This was the question that launched Design 4 Impact, a student-run startup bringing real-world problem solving to K12 education, on our NYC campus in 2015. D4i trains students in design thinking and facilitation, and runs design challenges — like hackathons without the tech focus — of various durations with students and professionals (Pro Partners), in order to tackle real problems and build leadership skills. Since then, D4i has evolved, with successive waves of students running challenges, hosting large-scale events, and running summits at national conferences. With each milestone, students have recognized the unique value of this work, and we’ve grown more eager to “go global.”
And here we are! In May, the five 10th grade Leads of D4i São Paulo conducted their first full-day design challenge featuring 40 local students from four different schools and six adult organizations with problems to tackle. In an attempt to widely share our Design Challenge methodology, here is a phase-by-phase rundown of our latest event.
When strangers convene, first impressions are important and can easily be overlooked. Thus as students and their teacher chaperones gathered in the atrium around 8:15 to Meet and Greet, D4i Leads and about ten recruits fanned out and spoke with everyone, while teachers and I brought the adults into their first huddle. After this informal icebreaker, Leads ushered everyone into the auditorium to start the event.
As the groups settled at their tables, JP introduced his team and the Design Challenge format, and then introduced a full-room icebreaker (a Roshambo tournament that ends with 1 champion and lots of yelling fans). I then provided a brief history of D4i and some tips for the visiting students (and our Leads, who were nervous!). With that, Isadora took the mic and introduced the Empathy phase. Amidst a buzz of anticipation and perhaps a bit of anxiety, the challenge had begun. At each table, a D4i lead facilitated the activities, which included empathy interviews with company representatives, internet research, and reading through relevant materials Pro Partners had provided. The groups eventually shared their information via post-its with the full team to get a sense of the problem’s larger context, stakeholders, and relevant details.
In the Define stage, this data was organized into an “empathy board” that charted what those stakeholders said and , what they did, and how they thought and felt about the problem.
As the groups organized and discussed the ample qualitative data, they made connections that unlocked key insights. This allowed them to identified relevant points of view (POV statements) of stakeholders that distilled the problem clearly, built around a fundamental constraint. They then devised a How Might We statement (HMW) that effectively redefined the problem in specific, data-driven terms, to tee up the ideation process. This process is challenging and requires a level of design expertise and facilitation that, frankly, our 10th graders do not yet possess. But, having gone through the phase several times in class projects and in our own practice, they are adept enough to push through “our version” of this process in the public-facing one-day format. Students were able to understand the essential goals and process, even if it felt new. We teachers ducked in to offer a few words of advice.
With the challenging, analytical Define stage out of the way, and with a more relaxed energy established at each table, teams moved into the Ideation, more commonly known as “brainstorming” phase. Through role plays and deliberate explanation, D4i leads modeled a few ideation techniques in which groups conceived shared many ideas, shared them, and then narrowed them down, eventually “voting” for the best. The goal here is to establish consensus around which solution to pursue, while recognizing a number of viable options, contexts, and opinions. This process is critical later: if a prototype bombs, teams realize they can develop another of the top solutions (which they don’t have time for in this format, but they have to simply make the connection). The discussion around this time is always fun to watch: by now the energy is high and students understand and are bought into the day’s purpose. With positive momentum, we broke for lunch.
Upon return, after a few more minutes to decide which single idea to build out, the event moved on to the Prototyping cycle. In these phases, teams go from thought to action and bring their idea to life with physical models, user experience role plays, and other creative visuals and props that make their solutions testable. It’s a fun phase, with everyone on their feet and building. It’s also deceptively difficult. Students and adults alike tend to discover how difficult it can be to build with 3D materials, or role play a concept, such that a stranger on the street can actually understand it meaningfully. It forces the team to think clearly at both a general level and include critical details. Most kids have never done this before, and tend to overestimate their prototyping skills. As a general rule, I’ve found that the older humans get, the worse they become at drawing and prototyping as institutional schooling beats the creativity out of them — but I digress.
After less than 30 minutes of frantic prototyping using the recycled materials at the back tables, teams Tested their solutions on each other. Since each group was working on a completely different problem — from supporting local recycling micro-entrepreneurs to building out an afterschool education program — they were able to function effectively as random testers and provide feedback from a fresh perspective. In this stage the students (and Pros) had to learn to adjust their mentalities starkly: from prototyping like they’re right, with confidence in their idea, to testing like they’re wrong, with the humility that their concepts were flawed and would improve with based on user feedback. D4i facilitators are taught to keep hammering on this metacognitive “focus and flare” approach so that kids recognize how skills and mindsets change from phase to phase in the cycle.
With new data to inform their solutions, it’s time for each team to refine or Iterate to improve their prototypes. The basic directive here is to identify at least one specific improvement to make based on a valid claim from an outside user. In reality this can be difficult because the testing time is “fun but frantic,” i.e. feels good but in reality is less effective than we’d like. The leads and groups need more time and coaching to give and receive feedback.
Time is ticking, however, and teams pushed forward to refine their product or service and prepare to present to the full group! Leads introduced to the simple Presentation protocol — three minutes, state the problem/solution creatively, use no tech, everyone must speak — and given 30 minutes to prepare and rehearse. All teams and a small audience were given basic rubrics to score presentations. The visiting students’ teachers, who had been participating in a recurring “Teacher Huddle” I led over the course of the day for Professional Development, eagerly observed team rehearsals and provided enthusiastic feedback.
While three minutes is shorter than we’d like, it’s the best option when time is running short and there are six teams. It’s always fulfilling, and usually entertaining, to see each teams proudly present the fruit of their day’s labor. Kids who were quite shy to start the day inevitably find themselves sharing their part with a room of over 50 people. While most of the day focuses on small group work, the Present phase incorporates a bit of entrepreneurship and reminds participants of the need to complement a great solution with a compelling story to bring the solution alive and make people care.
Finally, by 3.30pm, all six groups had presented, rubrics were filled out, the auditorium was a beautiful mess, and it was time for concluding remarks. D4i Leads thanked everyone for their hard work, patience, and flexibility. I stepped up to echo our gratitude, and also to especially to thank the D4i Leads for the incredible effort they put in to make the work a reality.
With each passing challenge, from Avenues campuses to the UN to SXSWedu to Bronx middle schools, I’ve come to see just how powerful and effective the Design Challenge model can be to bring real-world solving and adult-youth collaboration to high schools. However, the logistical and capacity-building work required to make this happen is substantial. To even arrive at a one day challenge, schools must first to train students (who will become Leads) in design thinking and event facilitation, which they must practice for an extended period, supported by a series of smaller events. Related tasks include: create a full powerpoint deck to support facilitation; investigate and recruit potential pro partners in a professional and persistent way; get the word out to their communities; prepare surveys and feedback mechanisms; use these as part of a robust reflection process to learn from mistakes and improve deliberately.
These are all critical 21st-century skills for young people to develop, but it can only happen with time and guidance. For that reason I want to thank D4i advisor Samantha de Silva, a Secondary Division Dean and swiss army knife, and guided the D4i club through countless afterschool meetings and Challenge rehearsals; Sylvia Guimaraes, NGO founder and our Community Engagement Director , who has found partners and provided classroom opportunities for D4i and other students to practice service and entrepreneurial work; and Bryan Iversen, our Tech Integrator and Project Manager who ensured our diverse team met deadlines and the event went off perfectly. Finally, I’m grateful that Avenues believes in this model and is willing to support the creation of such learning and doing opportunities. With the school, our student-run startup has now expanded to a new continent, and the best is yet to come.
