PLAY LAB QRO. Reporte 2017

March 2017 Semestre i Report, EDA Campus Queretaro Reflections, advice, and recomendations

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Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015

About this document This report presents a summary of the process and the learning from the first Semestre i programme lead by the team of Rachitecture and Industrial Design at Tec de Monterrey, campus Quereratro.

It is written by the core-team who were involved in designing and leading this programme between Auguat 2016 and December 2016.

It offers our reflections, recommendations and considerations specifically forthe team at EDA who are looking to launch future Semester i programmes. The obejcetive is to create a shared strategy to see the Semestre i initative as a single unitied stategy across our school .

This senestre i programme sought to create impact across these five main areas: • The students educational experience • The Univeristies acemedic qality and value • Society in Mexico This report deconstraucts the process of setting up and running Semestre i. Against each stage it gives recomendations and advice. And it ends with the major learning along with provocation questions next steps.

Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015

Contents An introduction Challenging our students, our methods, and ourselves

6-7

Designing the programme 1.1 Vision and objectives 1.2 Model for innovation 1.3 Core competencies 1.4 Modules and content 1.5 Evaluation 1.6 Internal structure of the team 1.7 Student recruitment

8 - 23

8 Pieces of practical advice 2.1 Value and vision 2.2 Organisation of team 2.3 Workshops not meetings 2.4 Relevant and flexible 2.5 Involve students in evaluation 2.6 Recruitment experience 2.7 Rigour and flexibility 2.8 Space, physical and virtual

24 - 31

10 big lessons learnt 3.1 Deconstructing boundaries 3.2 Learning through uncertainty 3.3 Relevance 3.4 Trust 3.5 Power of collective 3.6 Motivation to make a difference 3.7 Learning and failing 3.8 Getting the relationship right 3.9 Impact evaluation 3.10 Making it last

32 - 37

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Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015

The Play Lab The Play Lab project was created by the School of Design and Architecture in Tecnologico de Monterrey campus Querétaro (EDA) as part of a pilot model called Semester i.

The vision was to bring industrial design and architect students together to tackle social challenges within a local community. It was called the Play Lab to invite the students and the community to use play as a method for innovation and social change.

This project was designed as a social innovation challenge over one semester. The content of the traditional subject-based curriculum was transformed into agile learning modules which responded to the needs of a real-world social challenge.

Challenging our students, our methods, and ourselves The invitation for Semestre i was to create real-world challenges for the students that would create real-world impact outside the campus walls.

Tecnologico de Monterrey launched an educational initiative called Model Tec 21, which seeks to develop the leadership capabilities students will need for the future. Leaders with an entrepreneurial flair, a human sensibility and internationally competitive capabilities.

One of the initiatives launched through Tec 21 is Semester i. A model which consolidates the academic content of one semester, into one real world applied learning challenge. In 2016 the team at EDA developed their own programme for Semestre i called Play Lab. The Play Lab was a unique challenge for the students, teachers and for the School of Design and Architecture.

The paper will present an overview of the structure of the project and the main lessons learned.

The Play Lab was launched in August 2016 by a team of 23 students and 12 professors. This paper provides an introduction into the process used, some of the main lesson’s learnt, and some recommendations for future Semestre i programmes.

“I don’t know how to feel about everything now. When I started on this course, everything was OK, hard but OK. But then you have Semestre i and it is another world... now I don’t know what to think.”

Play Lab Student

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Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015

Designing the programme

1 // Set-up

Designing Semestre i required a deconstruction and reconstruction of the traditional academic courses, around a new social innovation challenge.

It also required a transformation of the working culture for teachers and students.

1.1 Defining the vision and objectives Our first priority was to define the vision, mission and theory of change for this work. This became the foundation on which we would design the programme.

The vision statement we used as the framework for the design of Play Lab was:

Traditionally the students would work on projects with a pre-defined problem to solve, building understanding through applying knowledge.

Ending in a theoretical solution. Challenge based learning involves an open real-life challenge in which the students need to define their own frame and direction. Leading to a solution that has realworld impact. In project-based learning the teacher is the manager, in challenge-based learning the teacher is a mentor, co-designing and co-creating the work alongside the students.

The following section provides information on the methodology used to achieve the goal.

De-constructing and reconstructing our traditional system. Building a new teaching and learning culture.

We will create a team of design students and members of a local community, to co-create valuable, playable and sustainable designs that transform underused spaces within a local neighbourhood.

And our seven main objectives were: 1. To use ‘play’ as a principle within both our process, methodology and design solution.

2. To build genuinely equal and cooperative relationships between our students and the local community.

3. To share the design tools, methods and processes used throughout; directly with the community, and online.

4. To create design solutions that the community want and need 5. To create a design solutions that make a positive difference to people of all ages living in this community.

6. To create design solutions that last beyond the scope of this Semester.

7. To build entrepreneurial practice into both the design solutions and the participatory process.

We also created a theory of change to clarify the desired impact of this work across the five main stakeholder groups: The students, the direct community, the university, the project partners, and wider society. This is on the next page.

At the earliest stages of this process, our priority was to establish a shared philosophy and direction for the work that would then underpin and reinforce all the subsequent decisions that the team was required to make.

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Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015

Our Theory of Change

Design & Architecture students

Community participants

School of Design and Architecture

Project partners

Develop all 6 capabilities outlined in our strategy

Increased access to opportunities after graduation

Making cross disciplinary relationships that last

Building participatory practice into future work

Confidence in their creativity and in the design process

Turning their creative ideas into action

Feeling more able to make change in their own communities

Increased personal and social development

Sparking new collaborations across disciplines

Sustaining collaboration & participation across course disciplines

Creating more joined up academic programmes and learning experiences

Building innovative and collaborative practice into every-day teaching practice

Build a relationship with the University

Invest in the design concepts, or in future social design projects

Theory of Change is essentially a description of how and why a desired change is expected to happen in a particular context. It is focused in particular on mapping out what has been described as the “missing middle” between what a program or change initiative does and how these lead to desired goals being achieved. It does this by first identifying the desired long-term goals and then works back from these to identify all the conditions (outcomes) that must be in place (and how these related to one another causally) for the goals to occur.

Reflective and collaborative leaders, using their skills in socially responsible ways within their chosen careers

A connected community, working together to build positive social action within everyday life.

A university that has a social and economic value to the communities in Mexico.

Embed design practice into social problem solving activity

1.2 Designing the model for innovation The semestre was designed around one main challenge, this challenge was then divided into three stages. The details of the design process needed to be further defined using a real design challenge. This is when we started a collaboration with Fundación Hogares.

Fundación Hogares are a community development organisation who work across Mexico to help communities improve aspects of their physical environment. They work a lot with methods of community organisation, activating people to take action in their community, and supporting groups to organise around local spatial improvement projects.

At the time we met them they were working with a community in the north of Queretaro called La Loma. We met them to discuss the opportunity of our students becoming part of this work and bringing a new way of thinking and making into their tool kit of community development. We believed that the students skills in design-lead research, urban analysis, creative ideation, and making would provide alternative perspectives for the organisation and for the people in La Loma. They were open to learning from the students and we were open to learning from them.

Through a series of open discussions and workshop activities we defined an approach for the project that reflected the principles within an open-innovation model. The first stage (weeks 1-6) was about open investigation and trust building. The second stage (weeks 7-12) was about creative ideas development and collaborative prototyping. The third stage (weeks 13-18) was about building and construction and implementation.

The core principle of an open-innovation structure is that the destination of the challenge remains unknown until it is discovered. Therefore the design of the programme had to both invite open exploration, and structure and define some parameters to enable progress and security within an otherwise quite short period of time. The culmination of all three stages was then the structural framework for the Semestre i programme. Used as a guide on which to define the exact objectives and deliverables required over a time span between August and December 2016.

The model illustrated on the following page describes the process we designed. A three stage convergent and divergent process which allows for investigation and discovery. While using clear milestones to structure the progress and decision making.

The core principle of an open-innovation structure is that the destination of the challenge remains unknown until it is discovered.

CHALLENGE #3 BUILD AND SUSTAIN

Generating the conditions in which students and community can work effectively together. Designing and implementing design research strategies, and collaboratively investigating opportunities for change.

Understanding deeply what the needs of the community are and translating what they really want and need into workable design ideas and prototypes.

Building a solution(s) that is sustainable and lasting and has a positive impact within the neighbourhood.

ETHNOGRAPHY & DESIGN RESEARCH

VALIDATION WORKSHOPS

SECONDARY RESEARCH

COMMUNITY MAPPING

+ Visual research report inc. film, photography, human & urban analysis + Design brief - outlining the design opportunity

RAPID PROTOTYPING

CO-DESIGN

BUILDING SPECIFICATION

SKETCHING & DESIGNING

MILESTONE // Delivery #2

CHALLENGE #2 CODESIGN AND TEST

MILESTONE // Delivery #1

CHALLENGE #1 DISCOVER AND DEFINE

BUSINESS PLANNING

LAUNCH

PROCURING MATERIALS

+ Prototyping learning report inc. film, photography, results from testing + Final prototype and specification for build and implementation

BUILD

MILESTONE // Delivery #3

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Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015

+ Final design in context + Business model + Sustainability plan

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Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015

CHALLENGE #1 DISCOVER AND DEFINE WEEK 1

Participation

WEEK 2

Formal accountability processes with the community. Process & ethics

Framing

Creativity

WEEK 3

CHALLENGE #2 CODESIGN AND TEST WEEK 4

WEEK 5

WEEK 6

Develop and use relevant tools for research & engagement with community

Enquiry tools and analysis tools i.e. personas, and journey mapping.

Entrepreneurship

WEEK 8

Develop and use relevant codesign methodology in ideation process

Insight analysis, opportunity spotting and collaborative brief building.

Innovative and creative approaches to research and engagement

Co-designing ideas that are impactful, bold and effective

Prototyping

Communication

WEEK 7

Connecting & testing ideas with a range of divergent stakeholders

Confidently communicating with community, getting support and trust

Building visual language for project

CHALLENGE #3 BUILD AND SUSTAIN

WEEK 9

WEEK 10

WEEK 11

WEEK 12

WEEK 13

Develop iterative and collaborative prototyping methodology

WEEK 14

WEEK 15

WEEK 16

Building solutions with people

WEEK 17

WEEK 18

Building business models and legacy plans with community

Using prototyping learning to revisit and rebuild brief.

Spotting opportunity to build better solutions

Defining a solution that is appropriate for the context and relevant to people

Seeking out the resources required to build a solution

Rapid and iterative prototypes - desirability, usability, viability

Building a lasting and quality design solution in the community.

Able to tell the story of insights and analysis and ideas process

Building a clear and compelling case for support & investment

Seeking out the business opportunities and models within early ideas

1.3 Defining the core competencies The structure of the Challenge provided information for the types of competencies the students would be required to develop to achieve the objectives of the programme. These competencies were agreed by the University as the six main pillars on which to measure and evaluate the progress of the students. The diagram above shows how their relevance was explored in relation to the three part structure of the programme.

Participation Build productive collaborative relationships with people within the community and key programme stakeholders, engaging diverse groups of people within the design process at every stage.

Framing Identify design opportunities based on the needs of stakeholders and insights uncovered through research.

Create a design brief with a holistic understanding of human, social and cultural factors.

Building & testing new business models that meet financial and social aims

Developing strategies for sustainability with the community and beyond

Creativity Collabratively generate creative ideas in response to requirements within design brief, transforming them into design solutions that satisfy relevant needs and opportunities for the community.

Prototyping Build, test and iterate ideas through prototypes in both 2D and 3D, conducting meaningful viability, usability, and desirability testing with users. Using technical and creative skills to draw, render and build design solutions that work Communication Communicate ideas and their process with confidence and clarity, verbally and visually. To a range of different audience.

Entrepreneurship Develop sound business plans, enabling work to be locally built, sustained, and/or replicated in other contexts, or developed for other markets.

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Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015

1.4 Defining the modules and the academic content To meet the requirements of the challenge, and the competencies the students needed to develop, we then needed to align the academic content with the needs of this design challenge. We identified the 6 main courses that matched the structural needs for Semestre i, and working with these professors we designed a series of workshops to help each professor examine the needs of the programme, the relevance of their knowledge and course materials, and the timing of the modules.

To reach this goal we designed a tool using coloured blocks and a time-line of the challenge and the three stages. We invited each teacher to take one colour to represent their course, and then place on the project map a block where they believed the content of their course would add value to the objectives of the stage.

They then needed to label their blocks as if labelling a new module within their course. These blocks then become the educational modules which were placed onto the design challenge. Each lasting 2 hours.

Ranging from 5 hours to 20 hours. 23 modules were developed in total.

It was like breaking down the theoretical course structure, and then reconstructing the content logically in bite-sized pieces around a new set of practical objectives. We had to work close to match the different methodologies between architecture and design. To find the common threads. The process helped all the professors contributed to develop the syllabus based on their own deep understanding of their classes and expertise.

The illustration on the following page describes how the modules were structures against the three stage challenge process. The students received this information on the first day.

The picture top left is from a Semestre i workshop in Monterrey. Where we were asked to design a plate, and then smash the plate. Symbolising the need for us to reconstruct the tradition system, and let go of what we think we know.

The modules

ARQ::1

UD::1 ARQ::2

WEEK # 4 Aug 29th Going deeper and finding the really juicy insights

WEEK # 3 Aug 22nd Getting started with the research and engagement

UD::5 PRO::1

Building a stronger and more defined specification

DIG::3

Refining the specification and creating a construction plan

WEEK # 10 Oct 10th

Analysing all your data and information and spotting the gems

WEEK # 5 Sept 5th

Finalising your idea building your team

WEEK # 11 Oct 17th

DIG::4

DIG::4 PRO::2

ARQ::5 ENT::3

DIG::4 ENT::3

ARQ::5 EX::4

Getting investment and raising awareness

DIG::4 PRO::2

Building a business plan

ARQ::5 DIG::4 PRO::2

Gaining support and procuring all the right materials

PRO::2

WEEK # 15 Nov 14th

ENT::3

WEEK # 14 Nov 7th

Getting stuck in to building your solution

WEEK # 16 Nov 21st

Finishing off and celebrating everyone’s work

WEEK # 17 Nov 28th

PRO::2

WEEK # 13 Oct 31st

PRO::2

CHALLENGE #3 // BUILDING YOUR SOLUTION, AND CREATING A LONGER-TERM BUSINESS PLAN

ARQ::3

Making early prototypes and rapidly testing them

PRO::1

Co-designing ideas with the community

EX::3

WEEK # 9 Oct 3rd

ARQ::4 DIG::3

WEEK # 8 Sept 26th

ENT::2

WEEK # 7 Sept 19th

UD::5

CHALLENGE #2 // CO-DESIGNING, TESTING AND DEVELOPING IDEAS

DIG::1

UD::1 ARQ::1

Learning about the relevant tools, methods and skills

UD::2

WEEK # 2 Aug 15th

UD::3

Understanding the context and diving right in

EX::2

EX::1 PRO::1

DIG::2

WEEK # 1 Aug 8th

DIG::1 ENT::1

EX::1 DIG::1

EX::1 DIG::1

UD::2 DIG::1 ENT::1

DIG::2 ENT::1

UD::3 ARQ::2 ENT::1 ARQ::4 DIG::3

UD::5 EX::3 PRO::1

ARQ::3 DIG::3 PRO::1 DIG::4 ENT::3 PRO::1

ARQ::5 PRO::2

ARQ::5

DIG::2 EX::3

DIG::2 ENT::2

UD::4 ARQ::4

EX::1 PRO::1 PRO::2

DIG::3 PRO::1

DIG::3 ENT::2 ARQ::5 EX::4

ARQ::2 EX::4

EX::1 DIG::2 PRO::1

CHALLENGE #1 // DISCOVERING AND UNCOVERING THE TRUTH

PRO::2

UD::4 LAUNCH

CHALLENGE #1 // DISCOVERING AND UNCOVERING THE TRUTH

Deadline: Monday 5th December

s: put out built d e ect tion Exp al solu lan n p in io 1. F siness aluat u ev bsite B . & 2 or y e t te w 3. S mple ion o t a 4. C esent r 5. P

WEEK # 18 Dec 4th

Deadline: Thursday 27th October

s: pu t out d e ect es Exp totyp s o lt r d 1. P st resu pdate n u e o i T 2. ebsite ificat c e W p .

3 ls n ina atio 4. F esent r 5. P

WEEK # 12 Oct 24th

Deadline: Thursday 16th September

: uts utp o ed ect rief Exp sign b e t 1. D bsite repor e ch W s 2. sear tool e h 3. R searc ion t e a R t 4. esen r P .

5

WEEK # 6 Sept 13th

19/19

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Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015

1.5 Designing the evaluation The evaluation of the students development formed an important component of this programme, and we were challenged with finding methods of evaluating competencies over tangible deliverables.

The evaluation needed to focus on the learning and development of the students, to what degree they have reached the expected competencies. We did through developing an evidence matrix at the end of the three milestone stages.

We also designed a co-evaluation system to giving the students the opportunity to evaluate themselves and their team members. This provided us with a much richer understanding of the nature of the collaboration and team-work happening within the group, outside of our own observations and conversations. A core principle for the evaluation throughout was the value of feedback, listening, and improvement. The students were encouraged to be much more focused on constructive verbal and written feedback, and learn skills in giving verbal and written feedback to others.

A matrix for the evaluation Competency Participation Build productive collaborative relationships with people within the community and key programme stakeholders, engaging diverse groups of people within the design process at every stage.

Framing Identify design opportunities based stakeholder needs and insights from research. Create a design brief with a holistic understanding of human, social and cultural factors.

Creativity Generate creative new methods and ideas in response to a relationship with the community , transforming ideas into design solutions that satisfy needs and opportunities.

Prototyping Build, test and iterate ideas through prototypes in 2D and 3D, conducting viability, usability, & desirability testing with users. Using technical skills to draw, render & build design solutions that work.

Communication Communicate ideas and their process with confidence and clarity, verbally and visually. To a range of different audience.

Entrepreneurship Develop sound business plans into the final work, enabling the work to be locally built, sustained, and/or replicated in other contexts, or developed for other markets.

Criteria

Evidence

Strength and depth of meaningful, productive and positive connections with the community

Ongoing participatory processes adhered to (e.g. maintenance of meetings etc)

Proactive ideas for improving & building on the working relationship.

High quality mode of sharing design tools and processes at every stage of the programme

Sharing design tools and processes online to a wider audience

Consistent positive interactions with community.

Depth of analysis into genuine needs, insights, and opportunities

Quality of design research tools and approach to design research

Assessment approach

Relevance, inspiration, and level of innovation within the design brief Depth and quality of insight and analysis Proactive creative ideas that are relevant, practical and delightful within the context of the project

Quantity and quality of creative ideas in the development of tools and approaches Quantity and quality of creative ideas in response to the design brief Ability to transform insights and co-design content into unique and delightful design ideas.

Iterative, innovative and systematic approach to development and delivery of prototyping strategy with the community Ability to build prototypes relevant to testing strategy.

High quality verbal and visual presentations of ideas, analysis and process within the community and within the university

Entrepreneurial attitude, ideas and processes are embedded into every stage of the process

Observation by professors Students evaluating own practice Community evaluating student’s relationship and approach Engagement in shared tools Online analytics Students evaluating own practice Community and partners feeding back on insights and analysis Assessment of design brief by professors, community and partners Students evaluating own practice Professional analysis by expert professors Assessment of design ideas by professors and community partners and students

Quantity and appropriateness of tools used in the delivery of prototyping strategy

Assessment of design ideas by professors and community partners and students

Prototyping development and learning visual report

Professional analysis by experts

A range of physical prototypes that have developed and adapted with testing and iteration with the community.

Assessment of design ideas by professors and community partners and students

Formal presentations to the community and project partners at the end of each Challenge phase

Assessment of design ideas by professors and community partners and students

Ongoing visual and verbal representations of ideas internally and externally

Professional analysis by experts

Ongoing use of project website to share process and approach and lessons learnt

Students evaluating own practice

Entrepreneurial thinking exists within the ideas generation and prototyping strategy

Assessment of viability by professors, community partners and students

Business plan is implemented for both the participatory process and the design solution Investment is successfully sought for the longer term sustainability of the design solution

Professional analysis by external experts Professional analysis by professors

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Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015

1.6 Designing the internal structure of the team The team was structured around the logistical, academic, and social needs of the programme. We had a project and relationship manager who took responsibility for the logistics of the programme and the ongoing engagement of the client. We had a student mentor who worked impartially to listen to the experiences and needs of the project, and we had a creative lead and participatory design lead who worked on the overall strategy of the programme ensuring quality and integrity. There was also a team of 9 more professors who were responsible for their areas of academic content. The team was big and needed strategies for ongoing communication and reflection. We set up a whatsapp group for day-to-day communication and issue-raising, and we set up weekly meetings on Fridays where we shared issues of ideas from the week, and plans for the week ahead.

The image below shows the team structure we shared with the students at the start of the Semestre.

AND HERE IS YOUR SUPPORT TEAM. Much like professional athletes, you will receive support and encouragement from a team of excitable experts.

Here is a list of names and roles.

Here are your main contacts for the programme: Mariano García Martínez Our guide Here to help you navigate the process, listen to your feedback and give you time to reflect and learn.

Mariana Maya López Programme lead Holding all the pieces together and keeping her eye on the bigger picture. Also a whizz on Canvas.

Ella Britton Social innovation lead Embedded into the programme to guide and mentor you, and keep you focused on the core values.

Rodrigo Pantoja Calderón Construction genius An expert in what makes great architectural projects. Here to ensure quality, and ensure that what we build won’t fall down.

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Your expert mentors:

l ng fun w it. nd

Alejandro Acuña López Making mastermind Here to help you with all the hand-on practical aspects of this work.

Stefania Biondi Participatory urban expert An expert in working with communities and bringing people into the process.

Tania Muñoa Moranchel Materials guru Helping you learn about all the different ways you can use and explore materials

Emmanuel González Anaya Urban design magician A master at urban planning and a expert in the city of Querétaro.

Elsa Nadia Ontiveros Ortíz Social entrepreneur A super star at social business and understanding how to create social impact

Ivo Gonzalo Ezeta Batres Visual communication guru An expert in the dark art of graphic design and visual communication.

Rodrigo Vilanova de Allende Superstar anthropologist A passionate and creative expert in the cultural identity of Mexico.

Alberto Solís The king of story telling A designer with an eye and an ear for compelling and inspiring communication.

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“ NEVER DOUBT

THAT A SMALL GROUP Of THOUGHTfUL, COMMITTED CITIzENS CAN CHANGE THE WORLD; INDEED, IT IS THE ONLY THING THAT EVER HAS”

Margaret Mead Cultural Anthropologist

1.7 Recruiting the students The most important element to this programme was of course the team of students who would be the engine. We needed to find students who were open to a new of working, collaborative. Above everything we were looking for students with a desire to learn, and a positive attitude towards collaboration and openness.

We created a video and facebook page aiming to set out the creative vision for the programme and invite students who were keen to work on a real life challenge, collaborate across disciplines, as well as collaborate across the threshold of the university campus.

Because this was a new model and an ambitious one.

A lot of students needed more detailed phone calls and meetings with the teachers tea, in order to feel safe and reassured that this was not an academic risk, and actually it was an opportunity for them to apply their ideas and skills directly into a real place with real people. We needed to provide choice to the students: If they joined the team out of a sense of obligation would they really be part of the team’s forward motion and success. And we needed to provide reassurance: This programme was a very different way of working for TOGETHER WE CAN them and many of them felt concerned how that would CHANGE THINGS. affect their grades and their academic development. Here are five important principles that will underpin our work as a team during Semestre i. Let’s help We also accompanied the invitation to the students each other remember these, because we think these principles will be valuable guides during the with phone calls meetings, and letters to their parents inevitable highs and the lows of our work together.

PLAY. as a way of creating reassurance that the programmeWE WILL Play will be an underpinning philosophy throughout our process and within our solution. We will trust our inner forces, we’ll experiment courageously, bend the was to be fully supported and enabled by a dedicated creative rules, turn problems into opportunities, play with new ideas, and get right back up when we fall. and skilled team. That failure, while an inevitable WE WILL COLLABORATE. will build genuinely equal & cooperative relationships symptom of innovative practice, would not be part of Webetween all involved. We will listen to others, with open and open eyes. We will be generous, spotting the ultimate goal of this work. That this was going to beears, opportunities to involve and include people. While the compassionate leadership necessary to a high-quality lead project, involving real people and displaying make important decisions.

You are now part of creating an The Play Lab will use architectural and WE WILL SHARE. creating real impact. innovation lab which links your awesome design skills to transform under-used We will keep relentlessly sharing our tools, methods

WELCOME TO THE PLAY LAB TEAM.

design and architecture skills with the needs and wants of local communities.

Breaking down those university walls, and putting your talents to some good use.

We have called it The Play Lab. And it is the first of its kind for EDA.

This lab has been created as part of Semestre i, which is a new education model launched by Tec21. The aim of Semestre i is to create immersive learning experiences which lead to real life impact.

Thank you for joining the team.

spaces within a local community.

You will form a collaborative partnership with a community in Querétaro called La Loma, and with a development organisation called Fundación Hogares.

La Loma is a community with a lot of under-used and underdeveloped public space. It is also a community with a lot of enthusiasm and desire to make change. You will work with people in La Loma to figure out, design and build transformational places that change people’s everyday lives. Turning spaces into valuable, playable and sustainable places.

and processes. Sharing honestly what we think and what we are learning. We will use the internet to make our processes transparent, turning this work into useful material for future students, universities and communities.

WE WILL MAKE CHANGE.

We will only create design solutions that the community want and need, and solutions that will make a positive difference to people’s lives. We will be thoughtful about what we are doing, what we are making and how we are making it.

WE WILL BUILD TO LAST.

We will only create design solutions that last beyond the scope of this Semester. We will do everything in our entrepreneurial powers to sustain this project for future communities.

“We were pretty cynical at the beginning when we heard about the project. My first thought was, what is this? what will we actually do? what we will actually create? it felt very different from a normal project and I couldn’t really understand it. My second thought was, will I get good grades and will I get good classes, we were worried it would affect our academic performance... In the end there was a group of us and we all said ‘I am in AND GET ifBETTER you are in’ so we kind of all decided to go in ALL THE TIME. together... obviously I am glad I did!”

Evaluation will form an important part of the learning process, and an important part of this project. We will all be helping each other learn and improve throughout the process. Which means all of us taking responsibilty for our own and our team’s development. It also means the evaluation will be more than receiving a single mark. Honest feedback and critique will be essential through this process.

Your evaluation is based around the development these six competencies.

Play Lab Student

Collaboration and participation Framing Communication Creativity Entrepreneurship Prototyping We believe these six competencies will give you a good grounding for your professional future.

And it is not all about technical skills, but also your attitude and behaviour. We are interested in using competency development at the centre of the evaluation because we think this will be more valuable to you as you get ready for life outside of University. The evaluation is split into two parts: Modules: There are 23 modules, and at the end of each one, the professor will evaluate your work.

This mark will link to one or two of the six main competencies. In total, all 23 modules will contribute to 50% of your final grade.

Challenge: There are three challenges within the whole programme. These challenges are designed around the methodology of the project. At the end of each one there will some deliverables you need to present to the evaluation board. These deliverables, and your overall approach to the project will be evaluated. Again, using the six competencies as a framework. In total, all three Challenge evaluations will contribute to 50% of your total grade.

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Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015

8 pieces of advice on set-up Here are some tips and words of advice that might help other people streamline the set-up of their programme.

Making sure the programme has been developed with a quality foundation. And also making sure it has been developed efficiently, respecting everyone’s time and energy.

These pieces of advice are based on our own mistakes and lessons learnt. Things that we would do differently next time.

2 // Advice for Setting up a Semestre i

Based on our lessons learnt and our mistakes.

2.1 Focus on the value and the vision first A lot of the support given to you to set-up a Semestre i will be concentrated on the logistical elements of the work. This is impossible to implement logically without a clear vision and set of objectives. Why are you doing this in the first place? What does success look like? What is the strategic link to the vision and mission of your academic department? How might this work link into other programmes that exist in your school, or further afield? What models of practice can we learn from else where? What does being innovative mean to us?

Facilitate a vision session at the very beginning to co-develop the vision and objectives of the programme with your core team. Build a philosophy together, which can then be used as a guide and check-list against all further logistical decisions. This vision could then be used at the start of the conversation with everyone that subsequently joins your team. We found a set of guiding principles very helpful, as a device to ensure that staff and students were making decisions within the a united values framework.

2.2 Formally organise the team Clear lines of responsibility within the team is essential from the beginning. Treat this programme set-up how you would treat the set-up of a project in the professional world. Keeping the team lean at the start will help to streamline the effectiveness of the programme set-up. We suggest the following roles and responsibilty. These could be done by one person each, or someone taking a couple of these roles: Project manager - planning meetings, keeping communication consistent, coordinating on deadline with Tec, keeping a flow chart for activities and keeping track of hours spent Project lead / creative lead - keeping the vision of the project at the heart of the development, researching further afield to find examples that will help define objectives and aspirations, helping facilitate workshops with clear goals around what needs to be done Academic assistant / someone coordinating directly with all teachers involved in the academic aspects of the programme.

Ensuring the correct teachers are engaged and clear Student coordinator / someone dealing with the communication with the students. A consistent person giving consistent advice and support for students interested Connector / someone helping to find and open connections between your project and the work of others across Tec and further afield. Making links that could support the success and trajectory of the work.

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Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015

2.3 Facilitate workshops, not meetings When inviting more people to join your team and join the discussion, the meetings can become less and less productive.

Especially if there are a lot of opposing points of view and conflicting expectations for the project. Open discussion is of course vital, but we suggest you give careful thought to the structure and design of team sessions. You will need to design tools to help you get the content and decision making that you need at each session. And respect people’s time by clearly explaining the objectives of each meeting and each activity. Here are some ideas: Detailed module content and module positioning: • Create a time-plan template that can be pasted on a wall.

Showing each week and the hours in each day of the week. Tec suggests planning a 6 hour day. 2 hours are for the project and 4 are for formal modules. This can be on average, so week by week the dynamics might be different.

• Give each professor who is responsible for each course subject, a different coloured post-it. So each colour represents a different course. Invite them to write on a post the name of the content they would need to teach at different stages of the project. To meet the objectives of each week, or each stage.

• These posits become a guide for the content of the modules.

Now ask the professors to look in detail at these and articulate how many classes they would need to teach each module, and where on the time-plan these classes should happen.

• You have the basis for your curriculum.

SEMANA #18 //

FINAL DELIVERABLES

LUN 5 th

10am 11am

JUEV 8 th

VIEN 9 th

SAB 10 th

BY END OF WEEK // // Students have final evaluation feedback and they submit final documentation

12pm

// FINAL STORY OF THE PROJECT

1pm

// WEBSITE UPDATED & COMPLETE

2pm 3pm

Play Lab Student

MER 7 th

9am

“You gave us freedom to self-organise and make our decisions. It was a very new feeling for us... to be trusted felt good”

MAR 6 th

// PRESS COVERAGE // REFLECTIONS DOCUMENTS // PROCESS ‘TOOLKIT’

4pm 5pm 7pm 8pm

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Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015

2.4 Making the module content both relevant and flexible The time up-front in designing the content of the modules is essential. Don’t assume you can run the same class you always have, just using less time. If you are responsible for some of the modules, you will need to spend enough time revaluating the content and approach, and looking at ways of ensuring the content has relevance to the purpose of the programme.

We found that not all content was relevant for our programme, and therefore there were moments of frustration for the students. There will be some content that you need to teach, and if it does not feel completely relevant to the programme, find a way of intentionally separating it. Perhaps there are some theory modules, in a separate classroom, which feel deliberately separate from the practical work required for the project. Try and make sure the students are aware of the different dynamics of the modules.

2.5 Involve the students in the evaluation The evaluation matrix and structure is one of the more time consuming elements of this programme. There is no generic advice here, but the two things we learnt were about involve the students in the evaluation process, and prioritising qualitative feedback.

“I used to be quite shy, I would never talk to strangers. But now, just last week I was in the post office and I was talking to an amazing old man in the queue...”

Play Lab Student

At each milestone set up a self and peer evaluation system that can be used to invite your student team to give themselves and their peers feedback. You can use your competencies as a guide to structure the questions you ask them. We found that the feedback received by their peers was much more influential to them than the feedback they received from teachers. Even the following semestre, students still refer to what they learnt from the feedback they gained from their peers. We also found that the numerical grade had less impact and effect on their learning experience than the quality of the verbal and written feedback they received about their work and their engagement within the team.

2.6 Design the recruitment experience Getting the students together around this new model is one of the most important considerations. From our experience many students were nervous about being part of something new. They felt it might be too much of a time commitment, they were worried about how it would affect their grades, and if they would get full access to the academic content of all the courses involved.

We would suggest you host a series of talks and workshops with the students before the pervious semestre ends. Inviting any student interested to listen to your vision and your objectives, and get a sense of the new culture they will experience as part of this project.

They are likely to be interested in ‘peer’ groups, rather than as individuals. So consider this in your recruitment strategy.

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Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015

2.7 Balance rigour and flexibility The programme is challenge based, therefore should follow the open course of a challenge. A challenge is about problem solving, and being responsive and agile, ready to adapt. The structure of the programme therefore needs to be provide both security and openness. As does the culture of how we work, how we teach, and how we learn.

We suggest to define the elements of your model which absolutely can not change, important milestones and deliverables. And then then build into this platform the room for innovation and open investigation.

As a team you will need to be responsive to the realities of the programme as they unfold, ready to adjust things and deal with the real needs of the programme and the students. Don’t over think everything at the beginning, it is impossible to risk-assess every element of the programme, but you can take measures to ensure you are ready to respond and adapt. Regular communication as a team and with the students is an important part of this.

2.8 Space Phyiscal // Creating dedicated space for the students to be was one of the most useful devices in building the right culture for the project. The students had somewhere that was their’s, they could start modelling a real-life studio, working together and creating organisational structures that would help them plan their time and commitment. When speaking to the students at the end of this semestre, the studio space was seen as one of the core elements of success.

“This worked because we loved what we were doing.

We put love into it... that was the ingredient for success” Play Lab Student

Virtual // Creating a dedicated online space for all the information and communication to happen between students and teachers was also essential. We found Canvas very useful. There is a lot of work to do up-front to add all your evaluation criteria and course content, but once the work is done the system makes ongoing management much more efficient. Speak to the Tec team about this as they can help you set it up right from the start. https://canvas.instructure.com/

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Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015

Our big lesson’s learnt This section is about the lesson’s learnt from the whole programme.

SCHOOL

SOCIETY

STUDENTS

3 // School: Learning about academic practice Here are the main learnings related to the academic aspects of the Play Lab 3.1 Deconstructing boundaries Both students and teachers gained experience in working across the barriers of their own practice.

Looking beyond their own realm of experience and expertise and exploring a myriad of possible approaches, methods and philosophies in design and architecture. Urbanists worked with product designers, anthropologists worked with architects, social entrepreneurs worked with service designers.

Our degree’s can often be taught through the lens of single specialism, and when looking at the changing trends of work and employment, it seems important to address the lack of cross-practice collaboration within our education system. During this programme, we gave our students opportunities to understand both the wider relevance and the shortfalls within their own discipline. At IDEO they call for more ‘T shaped people’ (REF). “The vertical stroke of the “T” is a depth of skill… the horizontal stroke of the “T” is the disposition for collaboration across disciplines…

T-shaped people have both depth and breadth in their skills.” Tim Brown Out team was a mixture of Industrial Designers and Architects, but this project did not need an Industrial Design solution, nor did it need an architectural solution. It called for an innovative solution, across both design and architecture practice, which was truly responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people living in La Loma. As Bruce Mau describes in number 40 of his incomplete manifesto for growth: “Avoid fields. Jump fences. Disciplinary boundaries and regulatory regimes are attempts to control the wilding of creative life. They are often understandable efforts to order what are manifold, complex, evolutionary processes. Our job is to jump the fences and cross the fields” (REF).

3.2 learn through uncertainty The Semestre i process was designed as an invitation for the students to explore and identify the real needs and opportunities in La Loma before designing a solution. Therefore it was wrought with uncertainty and open directions. Typically in our education system we start projects with a clear vision for what will be designed. For example: We will design a chair that does this..., or we’ll be making a school building in this place. But designers and architects are requested more and more to be part of shaping a brief and designing the direction of a project, design strategy or ‘design thinking’ is a fast growing service within design practice, and it is something that our students need the competency to exercise. But the skill, as is often one of managing and designing within uncertainty.

Finding ways to explore and experiment, take risk and learn quickly in order to reach solutions that make complete sense within the context of the project. The ‘unknown destination’ of this project gave the students an incentive to strengthen the integrity of their design research, build strong and lasting relationships with the community, and adhere to rigorous decision making milestones in order to move the work in a forward direction. It also gave the students confidence as they saw the project develop in a direction that only they could be the masters of.

“The openness of the project kept us focussed on the integrity of our research in the community, and we used our real understanding of La Loma to guide our decisions… we became the experts in what needed to happen. This guided us”. Quote from a Play Lab student.

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Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015

Students // Reflections on the learning experience Here are the main learnings related to the students experience during the project 3.3 Relevance. Questioning the role of architects and designers We need to be teaching students who will become the leaders of a future that doesn’t exist yet. And we need to help them understand how to be relevant to the changing national and international context of design and architecture.

Programmes like Semestre i invite us to teach in the new paradigm. And in doing so, invite the students to find their own meaning for their education and competencies. Our students started talking politically about the role of designers and architects in the contemporary world. Questioning their power and authority to make world altering decisions, and their responsibility to understand more about the social realities of the contexts in which they are working. They created a manifesto for themselves, which they shared with the teachers team. One point was “We will not be the sole protagonists of this work”. They were learning about their own practice within an unavoidable social realities. And this gave them a new confidence and new vocabulary in which to talk about the future of their creative practice.

“We are taught how to make buildings, but this Semestre helped us understand there is another responsibility that architects have, to question themselves, involve people, and understand the implications of their work in others” Quote from a Play Lab student

3.4 Trust During interviews with students and teachers after this project, there is a recurring theme of trust. The programme was based on innovation, exploration and openness. With this of course comes risk. And inherently connected to this is trust. It was vital within this project that we started to demolish the traditional power dynamics between teacher and students, it was after all a project that no one had embarked on before, so we were all in some way equals in the journey.

The teacher’s role became more that of leaders and mentors and supporters, helping the students find their own voice and their own path through the fog of uncertainty.

The students ended up creating their own knowledge throughout this programme, building on the academic support of the programme, but carving out their own learning experience. They started to passionately defend their work and find ways to explain and justify their decisions, based on genuine understanding of the context they were working within. They were the experts, superior in many ways to the experiences of their teachers. The teachers themselves also had to face issues of trust and openness. With this project pushing everyone outside the boundaries of their practice. We needed to learn quickly from each other, and be ready to put what we know behind what was actually happening.

An important learning for this project was that experience-based education has to be ready to challenge traditional academic content, and it has to be ready to accept their are new paths. If we can’t trust the students and each other at the start, perhaps it’s not the right thing to be doing.

“I feel like university is creating these paths for us, in front of us, and we are expected to follow them… but what if there is another way, another direction, somewhere my teachers haven’t been yet?... Should the teacher’s path of experience the dominant path for the students to follow?”. Quote from a Semestre i student.

3.5 The power of the collective Within this project there were 23 students and over 11 teachers. A culture of collaboration was paramount to its success, but collaboration is it not always cultural within our traditional system. We often teach within a paradigm of competition, even in group work there is still a drive to beat the other group, get the highest marks, show everyone you’re the best.

Semestre i deliberately challenged this dynamic with the belief that to collaborate was a more important competency for the student than to compete.

There was one project, one vision, one mission, one community, one goal. And a big team working together in the same direction. We gave the students their own studio space, permission to create a mess inside it. They gave themselves a name and visual identity and started to understand their own strengths and weakness as a team. They self-organised and created different leadership positions at different stages of the project to provide effective decision making structure.

The collaborative success of this project was in part down to the attitude of the students, but also down to the enabling and supportive role that the teachers played within the group. While talking to the students after this work they all talked about the power of the group.

“I think we were modelling what society needs, people who can work together, people who put their own ego aside and listen to others, people who build on each other ideas and made stuff better through collectivism” Quote from a Play Lab student.

3.6 The motivation to make a difference The people in the community were the driving motivation for the success of this project. This project was based in the real world. It had the expectations of a client and a community of people behind it, and while the students were mentored and supported throughout, they all felt the responsibility of this. And it motivated them. When asked about the driving force of this project, most students responded: “it was the people in the community, we were doing it for them”.

Much more so than their grades. “We didn’t think about the grades at all, the proof of our success was in our interactions and collaborations with La Loma... it was refreshing to understand how the grades don’t have to be the defining goal of our education”.

The students were encouraged to take the participatory element of this project seriously, develop the empathy required to really listen to and understand the lives of all the people in La Loma. This exercise in empathy building and relationship building drove their and ambition to sustain the project, without force placed on them by the teachers. The students themselves were the engine. Powered by their desire to make a difference. ”We all in different ways learnt how to listen. And this is probably one of the most powerful lessons the project taught us.” Quote from a Play Lab student.

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Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015

Society // Reflections on the value to society

Here are the main learnings regarding the connection to the social, political and economic context of Mexico 3.7 Learning how to learn and learning how to fail The value to the students personal and professional development can far exceed our academic expectations. They were learning about citizenship, their own leadership styles, responsive problem solving, creative confidence, and dealing with failure.

3.8 Getting the relationship right There are risks related to participatory work and projects that focus on community engagement.

Sometimes it is better to do nothing, than to start a project off in the wrong way with the wrong values and systems.

“I might not have learn exactly what Tec wanted me to, but I learnt how to think, challenge, collaborate, listen…

I am a better person” Quote from a Play Lab student.

• Raising expectations. What are we promising people, and how do we ensure that the communication is always clear and honest about the expectations on both sides of the relationship • Motivation. Are you doing this project because you think it’ll look good in your portfolio, or are you doing it because you believe you can really make a positive contribution.

• Testing on people. Don’t treat communities like places where we can experiment and play, regardless of the people who live there. Always start a project because it is wanted and desired by the people who live their. Don’t assume people will engage just because you ask them to. Treat them like partners and clients. Don’t experiment with people’s lives.

• “Testing need this”. We need to work hard to change the power dynamic that exists in social projects. Us and then. We give they take. Change the narrative, stop treating people like they are in a position is disadvantage, stop assuming you have something they need. Find equality. Start from there.

The experience working as a self-managed collective with real people in the real world, with real challenges to solve, can give the students a confidence and maturity that should prove invaluable for their future.

The student are traditionally afraid of getting things wrong, and not doing the right thing. Students are often asking for more specific and detailed requirements from their professors, almost to iron-out any possible room for interpretation or imagination.

This semestre metaphorically took the ‘arm bands’ off, and threw them into the ocean. There was a life boat there, but they were in charge of their journey. They needed to figure out what ‘good’ was, and what ‘good’ wasn’t. They needed to find ways of understanding and learning from their own mistakes and failures and finding answers to their own problems. Which is exactly what is required of us in the real world.

“I will never be the same again… something has been switched on in me” Quote from a Play Lab student.

Seek advice and training on this before you start to make sure you are doing everything you can to avoid negative impact when working with people. Also work closely with the students to ensure they understand the values of this work, and need for equality.

3.9 Evaluation We can say we made a positive impact, but how do we know. Evaluating impact is a very specialist topic, expert advice should be gained at the start of your project to see what you can do to really understand any change you have made. Don’t talk about making a positive social impact unless you have the rigour to back it up honestly.

3.10 Making it last We need to develop better models of sustainability, and a stronger accountability for projects that are working on social change. It is not enough to do something once and tell the story about it. You need to tell the story of ongoing change. And programmes like this need to develop their own business models or change theories to ensure they are giving careful thought to their long-term impact. In academia, it is often not possible to keep working on something once a semestre or a year has finished. Therefore we need to help the students understand the responsibility to legacy plan.

• Give away the tools and training. Making sure the whole time you were building the capabilities of the community to keep the momentum of the work alive in some way.

• Fading out. Making sure there is a strategy after the semestre of fading out. Maybe weekly meetings to check in and mentor the community to keep the work going.

• Set-up an enterprise. The community or the students can use the opportunity to set up a lasting enterprise which keeps the values and the desired social impact alive beyond the academic timetable.

• The change is less tangible. Temporary moments, events, festivals, activities, workshops. Don’t need to last forever to have a long term effect. Think about you relationship to temporary vs permanent interventions. And make sure you are clear on this from the start to ensure you do everything you can to ensure their is a long term positive effect from your work.

Our students want to turn Barrio Chulo into a sustainable social enterprise. So they are working on this as a smaller collective, with the mentoring support of the professors.

Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015

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Semestre i Reflection report, March 2015