Concept Development for Impact 2018

Day I — Keeping minds open

Getting away from the dusty and bumpy roads of the city, when I reached Godavari, the view which I got to see was mesmerizing. What better place could you think of when you are trying to come up with an idea which hopefully will be the next big thing in the Nepalese business sector?

In my opinion, The 5 day intense workshop being conducted by BUCSBIN which simply aims its participant to focus on human centric design process in a lab setting and be more innovative, creative in understanding and solving real life problems is indeed very impactful and useful for us in personal as well as professional level.

On the first day of BUCSBIN workshop, I met 50 new people full of energy and enthusiasm. It seemed all the participants were very eager to learn, interact and enjoy their 5 days’ workshop. Networking, sharing and then polishing ideas with the knowledge shared by friends from within and outside the country is certainly a major opportunity to all the participants.

First day was more of getting to know each other, being open, interacting, setting personal goals, exploring problems and getting validation.

In the first half, Ulla and Janne facilitated the sessions where students were made to draw pictures, play games, design gifts, do 30 circle challenges in order to see things from different perspective rather than choosing the easier option and also see/do things out of the box rather than narrowing yourself by assuming things. During the sessions I realized that students were really focused and creative.

In the second half, with the objective of understanding real needs and desires; different topics were given to the teams like independent living of elderly, child abuse, bullying, depression, water pollution, managing waste, smoking in adults, safe pregnancy, accepting orphans in society etc. Participants were made to discuss and brainstorm as much ideas as possible. They were told to focus more on understanding the problem rather than jumping into the conclusions and were repeatedly reminded to go deeper and wider while going out and taking interviews with the local people. Some of the places they visited were nearby orphanages, old age homes, schools, houses, etc. After coming back from the data collection, few of them were emotional, some were happy to have understood the problem and some even said they couldn’t find any problem. Later the session was concluded with empathy mapping for the students and feedback round for the Coaches.

Overall the day was very productive. I was amazed to see Ulla, Janne and Kimmo’s dedication, energy and hard work. Thanks to the Oamk Lab’s team, KUSOM team, King’s College and YoungInnovations team and all the students for being super supportive and making the day interesting and resourceful.

Hoping for another great day at BUCSBIN tomorrow.

Date: 13th June 2018, View Bhrikuti- Godavari

Published by : Aakriti Acharya, Idea Studio Nepal

Moments captured of the day — link to Facebook