“Beyond Design Thinking: A Journey into Collaborative Practice and Imagination”

I must say this was a great course that led me to more than design thinking but a full collaborative practice. It is not the first design-related course I have taken, but this semester has brought me a new perspective on how we can learn things differently. Although this class is DESIGN THINKING, I feel it is more of an exercise in stepping into the world. We had laughter, passionate discussions, and the tedious task of organizing interviews and testing samples. But the overall feeling was of a well-rounded experience.

For example, in the process of learning Journey Map, we worked in groups to label the whiteboards and analyze people’s journeys when using a certain product, and we also used Miro, to apply the Journey Map that we learned to become more proficient. I see these as part of the curriculum and more of an exploration of moving into the community.

This semester we went through countless brainstorming sessions and kept exercising our imagination. The most impressive one was when we were given pieces of paper with circles drawn on them, and we needed to turn the circles into objects on our own. Some people drew balls, pizzas, globes, smiley faces, and many, many more. This experience showed me the power of imagination, and as I was faced with the circles myself, I racked my brain and felt that I had drawn the vast majority of possibilities. But when everyone’s work is combined, I always turn up new and unexpected ideas. For example, when someone simply added a stroke to turn a circle into an apple or drew around a circle to turn it into a turtle, I realized the impact of imagination.

As the course progressed, we became more and more focused on our group projects. We experienced the joy of making the prototype without any clue, the excitement of making the final prototype after many discussions, and the relief of making the final prototype. I don’t think we were the most communicative group, but we were the most efficient, and it made me glad that I had already experienced efficient teamwork when I was a student.

I had done another project on mobile software as an undergraduate, but this time, I went from being overwhelmed to being organized. I felt my growth. All in all, I’d like to say thank you to Kristine, I am thankful for the growth this class has brought me, the exercise in my ability to visualize, and the legacy of work that I can show to others later. No doubt, this is the class to take with no regret.