Define: Situation, Problems, Players

All design is about and for people. To innovate in human-centered design thinking, the first step is to define. Defining the situation, problem, and players helps the designer ask the right questions. The foundation for defining is asking questions like, “What is the actual problem?” “Who is affected by the problem?” and “What are the different ways to solve the problem?”?

In this article, I summarize, compare, and contrast two case studies on the theme of define. For this exercise, I will focus on the theme of “define” through the three categories of situation, problem, and players.? My first case study is an interview with Sarah Minegar.? She is the Archivist and Museum Educator for the Morristown National Historical Park Museum & Library in Morristown, New Jersey. The second case study comes from Julie Colantoni, a first-grade teacher in Medfield, MA.?

Situation Summary

One of Sarah's roles is that of museum educator.?She hosts professional development sessions for teachers built on information-based and lecture-style gatherings.?Teachers provided excellent feedback on the programming, but less than 3% of them would return with their students for a museum field trip. Sarah began implementing design thinking to address her problem of not gaining customers (field trips) despite quality information workshops for teachers.?The secret to her unparalleled success in attracting teachers and students to the museum came from leaning into her stakeholders (teachers).?Instead of staff-led development sessions, she began collaborating with teachers and hosted co-led workshops and teacher-led field trips. Furthermore, she worked alongside teachers to create lesson plans that integrated the museum endeavors and gave teachers resources and something tangible to leave with to continue education in the classrooms.?The results were astounding, as 99% of teachers now return with their students and participate.? Wow!?

In Julie’s story, as a first-grade teacher, she was inspired by the empathy she connected with in a story through social media posts. She began contemplating how to institute design thinking with her young students. Her framework and language were about the power of problem-solving and building community in the classroom. The school had a problem that existed in the bathrooms that was causing extra work for the custodians.? Julie used some questions as prompts, and through those questions, the students began to experience empathy for the custodians.?They realize that their behavior and actions have effects on other people.?Through empathy, the students defined the problem. Then, they tackled what to do about it.?They collaborated, debated, edited, and problem-solved their ideas until they devised a plan.?When reflecting on the students in this design process, she said, “When looking at what the students did to solve their problem, I realized that they were applying a lot of the skills that we were working on, but in a more practical way. When they created posters for the bathrooms, they had to write for an audience. They had to decide the number of bathrooms that needed posters. They had to ask to make an announcement on the speaker and create what they were going to say. They were editing their own thoughts. Win...win!" (Holland, 2016).?

At the beginning of this post, I asserted that all design is about and for people. This is precisely what transpired in Sarah and Julie’s experiences. Both educators felt the power of empathy and recognized that the stakeholders—teachers for Sarah and students for Julie—were the linchpins of the design. When the stakeholders participated in defining the problem through empathy, prompts, listening, and collaboration, the improvement goals and desires were attainable.??

Although Sara and Julie’s design processes looked slightly different, both women created environments where the right people could define the problem and ask the right questions. Human-centered design takes time, vulnerability, trust, and patience.? Sarah and Julie are outstanding examples of leaders who innovate by defining the situation, the problem, and the players.??

References

Design thinking for equity in a national park: An interview with Sarah Minegar of the Morristown? ? National Historical Park. Design Thinking for Museums. (2019, April 30). https://designthinkingformuseums.net/2019/03/20/design-thinking-for-equity-in-a-national-park/?

Holland, B. (2016, May 11). Design thinking in the elementary classroom: The Power of Empathy (opinion). Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/education/opinion-design-thinking-in-the-elementary-classroom-the-power-of-empathy/2016/05