Learning how to be Professional Interviewers. Sort of.
This week in Design Lab we worked on the Inspiration phase of the Design Thinking process.
On Monday we presented the salient points that we had gathered from the Steelcase 360 articles, which helped us figure out what exactly is useful in a design space. We condensed the information down to several points:
Learning has a rhythm.
Students need cycles of activity/rest in order to stay alert and vigilant. Children's and adolescents' attention spans wax and wane, typically decreasing as the day goes on.
Change of classes.
Differing schedules stimulate creativity.
Classroom design
Colors and zones (of individual and collaborative learning) engage students.
Students should be able to choose what to learn
Keeps up their interest and makes them work harder because they will most likely be passionate about the subject.
This is a picture from one of the other articles that students read from Steelcase 360: Class, Can I Have Your Attention? I will include a link to the article below.
Looks awesome, doesn't it? It certainly doesn't look like a typical classroom, but it has all of the characteristics of a creativity and collaboration-stimulating environment.
Then we learned about the 4 Elements of Redesign, which I took some notes on:
Flexibility
Different configurations of space
Easily movable, freestanding furnishings
Access
"Plug and Play" - outlets in various places around the room
Available technology and wireless data
Adjustability
Chairs, monitor arms, workspaces
Expression
Furniture/design elements that facilitate communication and idea sharing
Whiteboards (could be on walls, desks?)
Vertical writing spaces
Then we moved to the 'observe' and 'POV' stages of the Design Thinking process; interviews.
Interviews are important in when designing because you can uncover latent (or hidden) needs of the type of user that you are designing for.
The most important part of interviewing a user is to get the user to tell stories. Then you let them speak and - this is important - listen to what they're saying.
By getting the user to talk about their own experiences, you make them feel more at ease during the interview. It also elicits answers that aren't the standard, biased ones you receive when people are put on the spot.
You're not asking what it is your user wants and likes/doesn't like; you're asking what it is they need. That way and you can observe what it is they are saying.
Our trial user was our teacher, Mr. Heidt.
For the interview, each group used an empathy map that was divided into 4 sections; say, do, think, and feel. Each person in every group took one of those roles, and went into the interview with that role in mind.
I was supposed to follow what Mr. Heidt was thinking, which was a task more easily said than done.
The interview itself went really well - we actually had to cut it short because we didn't have enough time to finish in class.
But the next day, when I looked back at the notes I had taken, I realized that I had made more observations on what Mr. Heidt was doing rather what he was thinking.... oops.
Anyway, we individually read over our observations, making note of the verbs that we had written down. Verbs are significant when identifying needs - they are the activities and desires with which the user could use help, while nouns are the solutions.
Using those verbs, we created a needs statement and shared them with the class.
The one that I came up with was, "The disorganized thinking English teacher needs a way to discuss and reflect in the classroom because when he does he feels enlightened."
We went through the same interview process over the following day(s), only this time we interviewed two students; one from the perspective of a Gifted Honors English student, and one from a regular English student. We found the verbs, created our needs statements, shared, etc.
Once all of this 'research' was done, we condensed our observations even further and reconstructed the Design Lab Needs Statement.
(That's the statement that is the foundation for the entire class)
Our new needs statement is, "How might we create an environment where students can be motivated, creative, comfortable and communicative while being able to transition between different modes of learning in a way that makes them feel engaged?"
It's a lot to take in at once, but I'm finding that if I just get my ideas out and make something of them, I can create a much better final product than if I just sat there and thought about what I could do.
More next week!
