Methodology
Design Thinking
During this study, the process of design thinking was adopted to analyse data and situations that arose, as well as to create possible alternatives for answering the client’s needs. Design thinking is a method of creative problem solving. According to Roger Martin (2011), “I consider design thinking to be the productive mix of analytical thinking and intuitive thinking. I call it a productive mix because you need both kinds of thinking if you’re going to analyze the past, project what you can from it, and create futures that go beyond an extrapolation of the past.”
According to Tim Brown (cited in Fixson and Rao, 2014), one of the skills that design thinkers need to practice is empathy. As a researcher undergoing the process of design thinking, one must attempt to understand the context in which the client and stakeholders belong to, as well as their needs and desires. Research shouldn’t be conducted solely on quantitative methods: deep understanding of the customer will only be successful by qualitative investigation (Martin and Euchner, 2012).
As a researcher, I opted for following the process of the design thinking, as when this project was planned it encompassed a reasonable period of observation, as a significant part of the process was based on an investigation regarding people’s behaviours inside the school environment. According to Montessori (1966), educators should give students space and engage in observing them, their behaviours and relationships with one another. Furthermore, the action of empathising would occur through interviews with stakeholders, such as teachers, heads of pedagogy and students, in order to try to understand what were their thoughts regarding the school and the subject matter of this study, which is teamwork.
Empathy has also played an important part in the growth of one of the best educational systems in the world. According to Tiina Tahka (2016), a Finnish educator that was part of the elaboration of the new High School curriculum in Finland, the key in developing education lies in listening to students. This served as inspiration for my process as a researcher and it provided a clear direction for elaborating questions for interviews.
Combined with empathy through observation and interviews, another important element of the design thinking method is the process of prototyping and testing. In the entrepreneurial mindset, experimenting is essential and failure is acceptable, since mistakes can lead to opportunities (Fixon and Rao, 2014). Only by experimenting can one test its idea, as well as build up on it in case it fails. Once again, the Finnish educational system was an inspiration for this project, as according to Hancock (2011) “If one method fails, teachers consult with colleagues to try something else. They seem to relish the challenges.” As education is a new field to me, I was aware that there would be various challenges with developing ideas and testing, as the number of variables is considerable, since the process included at least thirty students, as well as teachers, members of staff and bureaucratic details to be considered.
Finally, according to Tim Brown (2009), “The great thinkers to whom I am so deeply indebted (…) were passionately committed to the goal of a better life and a better world around them.” Education is a true passion of mine and part of my purpose in life, as I believe it to be part of the solution for many problems the world goes through today. That is the reason that I chose to study it for my final project. The whole research project was precious to me and I truly committed to it.
Double Diamond
Created by the United Kingdom Design Council in 2005, the Double Diamond is a clear framework for designing solutions. It constitutes of four distinct phases and it is a useful tool to not only develop but also to manage projects. During the Hyper Island Digital Media Management taught masters course, Design Thinking was applied by using the Double Diamond and I chose to use it again. The distinct phases are as described below.
Discovery
According to the Design Council’s report Eleven lessons: managing design in eleven global brands: A study of the design process “The objective of the Discover stage is to act as a ‘phase of divergent thought’, where the designers and other project team members keep their perspectives wide to allow for a broad range of ideas and influences.” (2007) This is supposed to be the moment where the researcher identifies the client’s needs and investigates the field of study in more depth.
In the case of this project, the Discovery phase begun after the definition of the subject area, which is education. Desk research was conducted in order to pinpoint a specific interesting topic inside said subject, as well as to deepen my understanding of it. At this point there was a moment of definition, when there was the decision to explore teamwork inside schools and where the primary hypothesis of the study was formulated.
Following this process, a period of observation started. Five groups were observed during the course of a month, for at least twice lessons each week. During this time, interviews with the teachers were conducted, in the attempt to understand their needs and impressions of the students.
Define
During the Define phase of the Double Diamond, the researcher is encouraged to engage in convergent thinking, in order to synthesize information gathered during Discovery phase and reach the key elements of friction that should be solved. According to the Design Council’s report “The Define stage ends with a clear definition of the problem(s) and a plan for how to address this through a design-led product or service. In practice, the Define stage ends in a project go-ahead through corporate level sign-off.” (2007)
The Define stage of this dissertation began with the validation of its primary hypothesis. Combining elements that were convenient to test it out and aspects that would benefit the Manchester Creative Studio’s everyday dynamic with their students, a set of tools to be tested was elaborated. Said toolkit was then presented to the school’s management and teachers, who gave primary feedback regarding specific elements and authorized the research to proceed to its Develop phase.
Develop
With the school’s authorization to proceed with testing the toolbox, and combining with interviews from other members of the education industry that provided additional inspiration and insight, the study entered its Develop phase. According to the Design Council’s report “During the Develop stage, the design team, either together with key internal partners (such as engineers, developers, programmers, and marketing teams) or via external design agencies, refine one or more concepts that will address the problems or issues identified during the Discover and Define stages.” (2007) After testing and making iterations, teachers provided insightful secondary feedback regarding the tools.
Deliver
Based on the feedback received during the Develop stage, a list of recommendations was compiled for the school. This included resources to use in the classroom, workshops to be conducted with the students and staff, as well as some suggestions that could improve Manchester Creative Studio’s dynamics. According to the Design Council’s report, the Deliver phase should “result in a product or service that successfully addresses the problem identified during the Discover stage. It will also include processes for feeding back lessons from the full design process to inform future projects, including methods, ways of working and relevant information.” (2007)
Ethics
As this project was executed inside the facilities of a public secondary school, a set of ethical elements needed to be observed. As soon as the observation period started, I was asked to be checked by appropriate regulatory body, and a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check was executed. Furthermore, as I was a voluntary, a teacher was always necessary as a supervisor.
Communication was established daily with two teachers of the Creative Media subject, who gave instructions of what was needed for each lesson, as well as assigned roles and responsibilities. According to the National Union of Teachers, “Effective consultation between teachers takes place in an atmosphere of mutual respect for the professional expertise and a recognition and understanding of the various responsibilities, of those involved. Teachers should be able to express freely their considered professional opinions while recognising the responsibilities borne by colleagues.” (2009) These values were observed at all times, from both parties. Before conducting any kind of testing, teachers and administrators were asked for permission and the proper paperwork was signed in order to do so, in the case of after school coaching sessions.
Regarding students, I was advised to have a friendly and respectful relationship to them, but always observing the roles of educator and pupil, which corresponds directly to the National Union of Teachers code of ethics. “The growth of a friendly relationship between teacher and pupil which is based on mutual respect and recognition of the role that each plays in the learning situation is desirable. It is, however, an abuse of this professional relationship for a teacher to: a. enter into an improper association with a pupil; b. show undue personal favour or disfavour towards a pupil; c. commit such acts against a child which are illegal; d. endeavour to exert an undue influence with regard to personal attitudes, opinions or behaviour which are in no way connected with the work of the school” (2009) This was observed at all times. There was no serious conflict with either teachers or students during this project.
