Design Thinking Sampler for Art Educators

Design thinking is a fast-paced, action-oriented and human-centered design process that defines problems and generates solutions.

WHY DESIGN THINKING IN THE CLASSROOM? Design thinking is a powerful process in the classroom because its structured approach to thinking encourages students to build ideas in meaningful, interactive ways, and to consider a problem from multiple angles and perspectives. In so doing, students create work that is more developed, thoughtful, and audience-oriented. The classroom is a natural setting for design thinking to take place because the design thinking process entails brainstorming, researching, prototyping, and revising – many learning activities that we, as art educators, are already doing!

RESOURCES

Graphic Design Thinking: Beyond Brainstorming, published by Princeton Architectural Press and edited by Ellen Lupton, MICA faculty member, is an excellent introductory text with dozens of techniques and sample student work.

Exploring Materials: Creative Design for Everyday Objects, published by Princeton Architectural Press and written by MICA graduate Inna Alesina and Ellen Lupton, is an accessible guide to design thinking through materials like clay, paper, and fiber.

Participate, Designing with User-Generated Content, published by Princeton Architectural Press and written by MICA faculty member Zvezdana Stojmirovic and graduate Helen Armstrong, offers ideas for involving students in design development.

THIS COLLECTION OF CARDS IS A COLLABORATION BETWEEN MACI THOMAS AND DENISE SCOTT, STUDENTS AT BALTIMORE DESIGN SCHOOL, AND ALLEN HIU AND HILARY AMENT, STUDENTS AT MARYLAND INSTITUTE COLLEGE OF ART, 2015.

During the research phase, designers/students work to understand the issue through information immersion. Designers/students can draw insights from existing research on the issue as well as talking to, observing, and learning from real people involved in the issue.

5 WHYS

activity can help students get to the root of a problem. Once students pick a design problem to solve, challenge them to channel their inner four-year-old and continue to ask “but why?” until they get to a specific underlying cause. For example, There is too much trash in Baltimore. Why is there too much trash?

Because people litter. Why do people litter?

Because there aren't trash cans. Why aren’t there trash cans?

Because the city doesn't have a budget for public trash cans. Why doesn’t the city have a budget for public trash cans?

HUMAN BINGO is an interactive game in which

students compete to be the first to complete rows or columns in bingo cards. In Human Bingo, students are the experts with the necessary information and therefore this activity prompts academic conversations as students interview one another to uncover relevant content. For example, if each student has researched an artist or designer, classmates interview one another to identify which artists or designers fit the required criteria, such as, “Find someone whose designer works in New York.” or “Whose designer did not attend college?”

SPEED DATING is a fun a way to encourage

interaction while creating a setting for academic conversation. In this activity, students stand or sit opposite one another in two rows, Row 1 and Row 2, with each student facing a partner. (Hint: if there is an odd number, the teacher joins in!). Every few minutes, provide a new question to the students. When you change questions, Row 1 steps down by one partner, so that each question prompts a conversation with a new partner. Speed dating is appropriate for a multitude of activities. The speed dating approach allows students to hear a multitude of ideas and perspectives without the pressure a critique often causes.

LIST MAKING is an informal and fast way to

frame research possibilities. Students might create lists in groups, “exquisite corpse” style, or from a prompt like a key word. List making can help design thinkers identify a large landscape of research topics, and gather momentum for the cause. The activity could be enhanced with directions such as “fill this slip of receipt paper with ideas,” or “make a list of 25 things,” or “generate a list until this song is over” or “add five things to your partner’s list.”

During the brainstorming phase, designers/students generate as many creative solutions to the problem as possible. In this phase of design thinking, no idea is too crazy!

CREATE A MIND MAP

Mind maps can help students make connections and generate unexpected solutions. Direct students to start with the problem at the center of a piece of paper. Then, prompt students to draw branches stemming from the problem, indicating different solutions. Ask students to continue to build out their web by connecting similar ideas or branching out to expand ideas.

DOODLES

Have students use sticky notes to draw their ideas without using letters or numbers. (Stick figures are ok!) Turn it into a competition by challenging students to draw as many different ideas as possible within three minutes. Students can then eaiser share, post, organize, edit, or compare ideas by moving the notes around along a wall or board.

During the prototyping phase, designers/students test their ideas by creating physical 2-D and 3-D representations of their solutions. Designers/students then give the prototypes to real people who use it and provide feedback to the designers/students for improving future iterations.

ROLE PLAY is a constructive way to engage students in developing narratives and identifying design

objectives for revising prototypes. Invite students to use imaginary or low-fidelity prototypes (paper, cardboard, diagrams) to act out how they would use a product. Students could role play as a certain type of user, drawn from a hat.

MATERIAL EXPLORATION can incite ways of considering the aesthetics and construction of a

prototype. Assign an unexpected material (flour, blanket, string, bungee cord, etc) to students and ask them to use it to solve any posed problem.

PITCHING is an essential part of any design process. Students develop public speaking skills, utilize

essential vocabulary, and write stories. Invite students to invent a commercial for their prototype, which they will then perform for the class.