Master Design Document: DFA ­ Design Process Goals Jessy Huang, Shelby Logan, Alex Stern, Kaitlyn Wallace, Zane Waxman

1. Focus Brief Organization: Design for America Client: Rob Calvey <rob@designforamerica.com> Coach: TBD

Organization Context

Organization: Design for America (http://designforamerica.com) ­ is an extracurricular network of university students who work on designing solutions to local­social problems. The DFA network includes 29 studios with 9000 supporters and over 800 active project members located at universities across the country. DFA students projects have lead to several startups that have raised millions of dollars of funding such as Luna Lights: a responsive lighting system that helps reduce falls by senior citizens and alerts caregivers of potential falls, SwipeSense: a portable, networked hand­sanitization device that saves lives by reducing hospital­acquired infections, and Jerry the Bear, an animatronic teddy bear that helps kids learn to cope with diabetes. Each DFA studio includes DFA members who attend events, DFA project team members who work on design projects, DFA project team leaders, and DFA studio leaders who serve officer roles and are responsible for scoping projects, recruiting clients, fundraising, training, and managing project teams. The DFA Northwestern studio also hosts “summer studio” where 3­4 project teams work full time for 6 weeks on a design project. DFA also includes a national office located at Northwestern responsible for managing the whole network consisting of an executive director and two staff and two “fellows” who former DFA members who work as full time staff and serve for at least 1 year. Staff and fellows design new training programs, help create new studios, coach existing studios, and market the organization. Once a year, DFA national also conducts a “leadership studio” which is a 3­day event during the summer in which they train 80+ studio leaders from around the country. DFA also offers sponsored projects where 5 teams from different schools work with a company to address a social issue together. The teams work with DFA national to go through the design process and receive feedback on their process from their peers and the sponsor. Needs assessment: One of the greatest pain points for DFA studio leads and DFA national fellows is being able to keep all the project teams on track in learning the design process. Project

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team’s progress isn’t tracked in any uniform way, so studio leads and fellows don’t know what project teams are doing, making it difficult to know who is making progress, who needs help, or how to help them.

Learning Context

Organizational change goals: All DFA teams completing design methods in each of the 6 phases Studio leads have real­time information about project team progress across the network

Learners: DFA project team members. Learning task: DFA project team learners need to learn how to plan their design project goals using the DFA design process using the Loft. DFA national staff need learn how to more effectively track team progress so they can better help teams and may also need to learn how to teach the project members how to communication about their projects. When: DFA sponsored project teams working throughout the fall semester. Where: DFA National is located in the Segal design building, this term there are sponsored project teams at ­ Case Western University, Northwestern University, Duke University, New York University, and Michigan State University.

Tentative scope of work

To teach project teams how to set mid­level design goals, you may want to create: 6 DFA Loft challenges 1 Loft studio lead lesson plan on how to run a workshop teaching teams to use challenges 1 DFA Loft guides on using challenges (accepting challenge and submitting challenge) email communication from studio leads to project teams to solicit participation email communication from fellows to network leads to solicit participation paper prototype for Loft leaderboard showing teams’ progress

Resources

Users: Your client Rob Calvey <rob@designforamerica.com> can connect you to DFA students at participating in the sponsored project. Rob Calvey and Catherine Chung are facilitating the sponsored project and will be your main “DFA National” users

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Domain information: Design for America’s design process is defined in the DFA process guide

(https://loft.io/guide/dfa/). It consists of a 6 phase design process like that used in DOLE but with methods geared more toward generic product and service design. In your learning environment, you want to teach teams how to set project goals from these 6 phases. You should also look at the DFA Challenges (2015) project team’s work, and ask Rob Calvey about DFA’s “1­pagers.”

You will also need to teach learners about project goal setting in general. Rasmussen (2010); Peace Corps (2003, session 7 & 6) ; and IBM DeveloperWorks (2002) all provide basic information about the importance and method for setting project milestones.

DFA is using Loft so you will also need to teach some procedural information about how to sign up for and submit challenges, which is currently described in the ForgeWorks (2015) Loft User Guide.

Existing solutions: DFA is currently iterating on Loft tools to support teams’ design process:

DFA Loft process guide

1­pagers

ForgeWorks (2015) Loft User Guide section on using challenges

Previous work on challenges by DFA Challenges Team

Loft User guide (which explains how to create challenges/use)

In addition to DFA’s material, you should also look at the Girl Scouts (2015) guides and Toastmaster’s Competent Communicator Manual on how to write challenges appropriate for an extracurricular club.

Tentative timeline

Week 1: Scoping meeting Week 2: Deliverable 1 Week 4: Deliverable 2 Week 5: Midpoint review meeting Week 6: Deliverable 3 Week 8: Deliverable 4 Week 9: Final review meeting

Client expectations Hold a leadership role within your organization.

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Set a meeting schedule with the design team to meet at least 3 times at the beginning of the quarter, midterm (~week 5) and end of term (~week 10).

Review design teams’ scope of work and send response to the instructor. Share information about your organization with the student consultant. Help design team contact learners within the organization who are willing to test designs. Review weekly “standup meeting” progress reports of students (online) and provide

guidance if team is not on track. Review deliverables prepared by the student and give the student immediate feedback. Complete a brief feedback form online after reviewing the deliverable. At midpoint and end, review the final design document and team performance. Give

feedback to the design team immediately. Send response form to the instructor.

Assumptions The quarter is short and the design team has a lot of work in a short amount of time. For

this reason, it is critical that you keep your scheduled appointments, do the work you agree to do, and maintain communication with the design team. The design team will need your feedback on reports quickly, often the next day.

The design team will use an “agile” design process in which the design priorities will be re­evaluated each week. This means that the scope of work may change in response to feedback about the client’s needs and testing with learners. Both the client and team may suggest changes or additions to the scope of work but this may entails cutting previously planned work that is of lower priority.

I am satisfied with the tentative scope of work.

__________________________________________ Name

__________________________________________ __________

Rob Calvey <rob@designforamerica.com>

7:45 AM (2 hours ago)

to me, Jessika, Kaitlynwallace., alexandrastern. Shelby and team, Can we meet tomorrow at 8:15? I typically do a google hangout video call. We can use my @designforamerica.com address and you @u.northwestern.edu addresses for the meeting. The brief looks good.

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Thank you, Rob 2. Understand Audience Profile:

1) Emma: Sophomore, Barnard/Columbia, second­year DFA team member Tasks:

Creating a meaningful design throughout the course of one semester (from phase 1 to prototyping)

Working together with other group members Presenting the prototype at the showcase at the end of the semester

Pains: Communicating with studio leads and other group members Going from prototyping to actual implementation

Many groups never do the last step after presenting their prototype at the showcase

Using Loft (Barnard/Columbia’s Studio switched to Google Docs) Feeling confused by the vague language of the design process

Gains: Making great friends and relationships within DFA Studio Networking through DFA to other amazing companies and organizations Learning the design process better → feels very well­equipped for many jobs, because

these 6 phases can be applied to nearly any profession 2) Mary: Freshman, Duke University, new member of DFA Tasks: She needs to create a prototype by the end of the semester that means something to each of the team members Pains: Our group's main challenge at the moment is to decide on a problem space and target a specific problem. Gains: New member, hasn’t achieved any gains so far. 3) Rob: Instructional Coordinator for DFA Tasks:

Meeting with teams Creating learning environments Teaching/ helping facilitate the design process

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Pains: Keeping motivation for the teams Rob may have trouble getting acquainted with and building relationships with new

members in DFA ­ in his words, most of them “have no idea” who he is Negotiating students’ busy schedules ­ midterms, classes, other extracurriculars, etc Setting realistic goals Task distribution: hard to make sure everyone has something engaging to do Students feel overburdened

Gains: Successful teams that learn the design process and design things that are helpful to

society. Create a supportive community that builds up new members and helps veteran members

invest in the new communities while still learning himself. 4) Nicholas Kavanau and Peter Haun: DFA members, Northwestern University Uses of LOFT:

­ Use it to keep track of their work ­ Loft allows users to say: what did we actually do today, what are we going to accomplish,

how are we going to accomplish it ­ Users use it to summarize what they’re doing

GAINS:

­ Helpful in regards that after a meeting, can pick up at any time and where you left off ­ Group members all have different jobs ­­ helps them keep track ­ Their group is especially on an accelerated timeline ­ Allows them to see where they are in the design process ­ Goals, responses, and updates are helpful ­ Allows members to do their own thing ­ Their group likes that you can extend the project on LOFT ­ hit the “continue” button ­ Very easy to pick back up a project ­ Loft integrated with Google drive­ great !!!

PAINS: Stands on Loft:

Questions are too specific Some groups are slower paced More of a two or three week scale rather than one week

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Users felt they couldn't see any tangible gains User almost feels like they're wasting their times

5) Hannah Wischnia: Sophomore, Second­year DFA member, Northwestern University JOBS:

Create a prototype every quarter (or extend into a multiple­quarter project) Design something that solves a problem in society Attend weekly DFA meetings and group meetings Work well with other members of the team Present prototype at the end of the quarter showcase

PAINS: Loft is extremely hard to navigate (ended up using Google Docs and email) DFA is meant more for learning the design process, rather than implementing that design

in society However, they market it as the latter

The team had different visions for the end­goal of the project. Some group members wanted to continue with the same project the next quarter and others wanted to start anew.

The timeline is difficult and unrealistic for one quarter, feels that it restricts rather than aids the design process

GAINS: Creates relationships and friendships with DFA peers Teaches members to address the real issue and continue to refine their ideas Learn about the design process and that you can’t go from brainstorming to prototyping

and you must create a feasible scope for your timeline Learn how to identify the user and conduct research/interviewers

KEY INSIGHTS:

Our struggles with Loft and with understanding the phases of the design process mirror the struggles that the actual DFA team members also experience. It would be extremely helpful to include concrete examples of successful design teams in our Design Guide­­the vague language of “immerse, “ideate,” etc. is daunting and somewhat unclear to team members (this could also help students feel more motivated and cross the bridge from prototyping to implementation, which would help out Rob and the Studio Leads).

3. Define Goals & Assessments Define: Goals

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Organizational need ∙ Why are people making mistakes and who cares?

They don’t understand the overall process that they’re supposed to be going through and how to implement the specific phases. The students, the leads, and DFA managers all care about the design process and the final outcome of the project. ∙ Why do people make mistakes? (e.g., something is complicated, counter­intuitive, abstract, stressful…)

The design process can sometimes be too vague or unclear for new members. The time frame of DFA itself requires a quick learning and implementation of the design process. Also, everyone has their own process when it comes to creative design, so it’s difficult for them to adapt to the more set DFA design process and work with other individuals with their own creative processes, as well. ∙ Why can’t they learn from failure?

The DFA members must understand that it’s a cyclical, not linear process. Some people might not understand that failure is a part of the process and you must constantly be revisiting previous steps of the design process. People do not often associate failure with learning. Design for America (DFA) wants to develop the next generation of designers who can address problems that have no clear solution. While DFA has been successful at incubating innovation and recruiting passionate members, they have struggled to create an environment that effectively teaches the design process in an efficient and effective way. Learning task

DFA members (ages 18­22) will learn how to set and meet reasonable goals to utilize the design steps within the set time frame of 10 weeks.

Skill hierarchy https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1z4GKqe4y2UP4FQAsUi6z4zlpfC0Vh8H­lsDARFdZ_8k/edit Implementing the design process

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Objective Taught

Problem­solving?

Rule­based

Automate

After following the training program, learners will be able to….

1 Evaluate needs X X

1.1 Conduct Interviews X X

1.2 Research the problem, stakeholders, and any other relevant information

X X

2 Evaluate tasks X X

2.1 Create a list of action steps X X

3 Analyze time restraints X X

3.1 Prioritize tasks X X

3.2 Set a time frame to reach goals X X

3.2.1 Break the time frame into chunks X X

3.2.2 Determine the max and min time for each step

X X

4 Analyze resources available and needed

X

4.1 Prioritize resources X

4.1.1 Gather needed resources X

Assessments

Standards in the performance objective Scale of values

1. Evaluate needs (non­recurrent)

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Criterion: Utilized research and interviews to clearly articulate and solidify the problem and goal. Value: Relevance of the determined need has been checked with the client before proceeding

1) Yes 2) No

1) Yes 2) No

1.1 Conduct Interviews (non­recurrent)

Criterion: Interview at least five people who are connected Value: Gain insight into the user to help determine goal

1) Yes 2) No

1.2 Research the problem, stakeholders, and any other relevant information (non­recurrent)

Criterion: Utilize different forms of documents, media, prototypes, competitors, to conduct thorough research. Value: Mapping a full picture of the client and problem

1) Extensive 2) Adequate 3) Inadequate 4) none

2. Evaluate tasks (non­recurrent)

Criterion: Determine what tasks need to be done and how they fit into the scope Value: To understand what needs done to reach the goal

1) Yes 2) No

2.1. Create a list of action steps (non­recurrent)

Criterion: Lists action for every step of design to reach goal Value: To organize steps so everything gets accomplished

1) Thorough 2) Mostly 3) Some of them 4) Barely 5) None

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3. Analyze time restraints (non­recurrent)

Criterion: Set reasonable time frames for each task phase Value: Accountability and keeping team members on task towards reaching goal.

1) All the time 2) Most of the time 3) Some of the time 4) Hardly ever 5) Never

3.1 Prioritize tasks (non­recurrent)

Criterion: Make a hierarchy of what task is most important, least important, etc. Value: To understand what tasks are crucial to success

1) Yes 2) No

3.2 Set a time frame to reach goals (non­recurrent)

Criterion: Place time limits on tasks within the ultimate goal time frame Value: To reach your goal by the end of the allotted time

1) Yes 2) No

3.2.1 Break the time frame into chunks (non­recurrent)

Criterion: Make reasonable small goals that can be met in 1­2 week time frame Value: To continually make concrete progress on the larger goal

3) Yes 4) No

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3.2.2 Determine the max and min time for each step (non­recurrent)

Criterion: Set time frame for each step of the process Value: To keep each step in check

5) Yes 6) No

4 Analyze available and needed resources (non­recurrent)

Criterion: Have a list of things, people, and knowledge you will need to reach your goal Value: To know what you need to do to find the resources you need to reach your goal

7) Yes 8) No

4.1 Prioritize resources (non­recurrent)

Criterion: order your list of resources into what you cannot live without, need, want, and bonus things Value: Able to focus energy on most important things first

9) Yes 10)No

4.1.1 Gather needed resources (non­recurrent)

Criterion: Be in contact and acquire all of the resources you determined you want or need. Value: To have access to all the information and help that will get you to your goal

11)Yes 12)No

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Value Proposition: Launchpad helps new DFA members who want to understand the design steps by clearly articulating the process through finite examples and teaching them to apply it to real­life examples unlike the current DFA learning manual 4CID Blueprint

BACKGROUND (a) learning goals ­

DFA members (ages 18­22) will learn how to set and meet reasonable goals to utilize the design steps within the set time frame of 6 weeks.

(b) assessment ­ DFA members being able to effectively utilize the goals and steps and create a successful product. (c) learners ­ DFA members (d) instructors ­ DFA Studio Leads (e) context ­ Timeframe of a few (2­3) 1 hour sessions and supportive Email communication, nonexistent budget, access to collaboration stations. Will be done with all DFA members at a given school in a classroom or collaborative space like in Ford. (f) instructional approach ­Six­steps of design, van Merriënboer, J. J. G., & Kirschner, P. A. (2007). Ten steps to complex learning: A systematic approach to four­component instructional design

Blueprint

Marketing: DFA National will send out Emails to DFA Studio Leads and or require them to implement the program.

Motivation: Using a story to explain how and why this will help them become better designers and create more successful DFA projects Task Class 1: DFA members (ages 18­22) are given a social problem to work on in groups of 3 for 6 weeks of the semester. The first 2 weeks are used to develop the How Can We statement.

Supportive Information: Presentation of cognitive strategies: Having an outline of the six design steps, and a goal setting template/ framework worksheet, and a specific topic around which they can craft a “How can we?” statement

Learning Task 1.1: Conventional: Learners will be given examples of social isolation cases and asked to analyze and discuss within the group.

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Supportive Information: Cognitive Feedback: Learners receive feedback on their understanding of their analysis of the case studies.

Assessment & Task Selection Dynamic assessment through feedback and discussion with team lead. Task Class 2: DFA members (18­22 years old) will be able to use their How Can We statement to create deliverables with the six steps of the design phase.

Supportive Information: Presentation of cognitive strategies Lesson plan with outline of six design steps and a goal setting template/ framework worksheet. Learners will also be able to use the feedback from the case studies.

Learning Task 2.1: Conventional: Learners follow the design process and build potential deliverables.

Supportive Information: Cognitive Feedback: Learners receive feedback on their deliverables and are assigned revisions. Assessment & Task Selection Dynamic assessment through feedback, interviews and conducted survey Deliverables Introduction After spending several weeks learning about DFA through interviews, document analysis, and group study, we believe that DFA should create a Launch Pad Program (LPP) catered to new DFA members. The LPP should focus on familiarizing new DFA recruits to the design process in a fun and casual learning environment that emphasizes community building, intuitive creative intelligence, and a fun­oriented culture in the organization. We believe that the LaunchPad will uniquely support new members as they begin to familiarize themselves with the design process and its many applications. The creation of the LPP will help DFA get new members hooked on the design process and bought­in to the overall vision of the DFA network. We believe that a student who truly understands the beauty of the design process after their first quarter in DFA will be much more likely to remain motivated, engaged,

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and inspired to do great work for the rest of their time in DFA than a student who is thrown into a design team that makes them feel overwhelmed and confused from day 1. Learning Objectives ­ We want new DFAers to gain the ability to apply the design process to challenges that they face in their everyday lives so that they can eventually apply the design process to tasks that are more challenging (such as the Chrysler Challenge) ­ Apply the design process to three collective challenges that the group faces (or has faced)

o Challenge 1 : We are Hungry ­ (build a healthy lunch with the design process)

o Challenge 2: We miss our families and friends from home o Challenge 3Social isolation/loneliness /lack of community for undergrads

­ Learners who come in without prior knowledge of the design process should gain the skills to engage in experiments with self­directed learning that continually re­apply the tools of design thinking to various challenges across their lifetimes – we want learns to buy in to the transcendental importance of design thinking so that they will have the motivation necessary to complete the course, and their adventure into the world of design, in a more balanced, thoughtful, and mature way. Lesson 1 ­ The first DFA LaunchPad Meeting Students come to first DFA Meeting, specifically it is a LaunchPad meeting that is marketed to new students ­ it is 75 minutes ­ from 6:00 PM ­ 7:15 PM Materials needed ­ food, sandwich/salad making materials , 6:00­6:10 ­ Student Intros ­ students sit down as they arrive, there are a list of questions projected on to the board and students are instructed to ask the person sitting next to them these questions (unless they know the person next to them, in that case, they should talk with someone they haven’t met before) ­ the list of questions could be

­ Basic Intro Stuff ­ Name, Year, Hometown, Movie/Book/Piece of Art that you like ­ Why did you decide to come to this meeting? ­ What’s something, someone, or somewhere that inspires you? ­ Some kind of goofy question ­ this is still not completely decided

6:10­6:15 ­ Group Intros Facilitator/studio lead asks group collective question of “Why did you come to this meeting?” and anyone who wants to answer publicly does so 6:15­6:25 ­ Design Thinking Intro/Q&A Studio Lead/LaunchPad facilitator introduces themselves and then shuts off the lights and plays a tutorial video off of youtube to describe the design process ­ here are a few possible videos

­ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05cDjJgZy1Y

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­ here is a list of youtube videos to choose from: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=design+thinking

Studio Lead fields any questions that the audience has about the video and also asks the new members to speak about any of your 6:25­6:45 : Crash Course in first three stages of Design Thinking Studio Lead introduces students to a challenge:/we are hungry. Says that collectively, as a group, they are going to go through different parts of the design process, starting with Understand since the challenge has already been focused and chosen by the studio Lead.

­ 6:45­7:00 ­ building phase students get their arts and crafts on for the Students are introduced to DFA by having to apply the design process to real world examples. At the first meeting, studio leads facilitate discussion amongst the new members about how to respond to the challenge, “I am hungry”. Students brainstorm in large and small groups what short­term and long­term solutions they could implement to solve this problem if the answer is “yes.” The DFA leads then handout a design document. Students have 10 minutes to go through the DFA design process, define their scope and build a deliverable. After this, the leads engage in discussion with the new members­­what were the challenges? how did you define and refine your scope? Leads then hand out a sheet that has a 10­day design process. Students have 10 minutes to discuss in groups how they would define their scope and what deliverable they could come up with in this amount of time. Leads facilitate discussion­­what was different about this process? how did that affect your scope? Finally, leads hand out a design document for 10 weeks. Students again discuss in groups and the leads facilitate discussion. At the next lesson, students build their healthy dinners together and bond as new DFA members

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10 Minute

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/16kn3G_KqybBopk83HCWWf3coIuy3­FRXZYws7DW1hE0/edit 10 Days

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https://docs.google.com/a/u.northwestern.edu/drawings/d/1nliDSSZ1nl3Tc1IzeK3FuKMRu06VnYSu_SWqg0x5K0A/edit?usp=sharing

10 Weeks

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https://docs.google.com/a/u.northwestern.edu/drawings/d/10LS8SgtvPhwM3_ZB3oqP37CFNsEGKlJNA4nx2DqyaOg/edit?usp=sharing

Lesson 2 (approximately 3 weeks) Students work in design groups to complete a mini­design sprint over the course of 3 weeks. They respond to the challenge: “School is boring.” The complete this process and end the 3­week sprint having tested a deliverable. Materials Needed ­ sticky notes, some butcher paper at each table, crayons/markers/colored pencils Lesson 3 (approximately 4 weeks) Students work in design groups to complete a mini­design sprint over the course of 4 weeks. They respond to the challenge: freshman feel socially isolated on campus. They complete this process and end the 4­week sprint with 2 tested deliverables.

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https://docs.google.com/a/u.northwestern.edu/drawings/d/1lqpkjubVYpjvSl38rYMd0w_Q8S­7yX4JMFkPQ_seIOE/edit?usp=sharing

Deliverable 2:

Deliverable 2 Blast­Off: The Launchpad Program

Our deliverable comes with two parts: the strategic recommendation to create a Launch

Pad Program for newcomers to DFA (introduced in our PowerPoint presentation to Rob), and outlines of the first two meetings of the LPP. These are meant to supplement any materials and strategies that DFA has already developed for how they run meetings, especially meetings early on in the process. In order to develop these recommendations further, our group will need to: ­ observe several DFA meetings ­ interview studio leads and new DFAers about their experience with the first few meetings specifically ­ get access to any supporting materials that are currently utilized by leads in the development of their meetings

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Meeting 1: Introducing DFA to New Designers

6:00­6:05 – General Intro Goal: Studio Leads get people seated, paying attention, and briefly introduce themselves and any other key DFA leaders that are also helping run the meetings. 6:05­6:15 – Group introductions Goal: Get new DFAers at each table to introduce themselves to each other by answering a series of questions. Students grouped in 4s at different tables around the room. Example questions are as follows: ­ What is your name/hometown/year/major? ­ What is an issue or a cause that you care about deeply? ­ What is something unexpected that you have learned during college? ­ Why did you choose to come to this meeting? 6:15­6:35 – Intro to the Design Process Goal: Introduce students to the general architecture of “Design Thinking” and the “Design Process” – specifically, emphasizing the applicability of the process across disciplines and different types of problem scenarios. ­ first 5 minutes: watch a YouTube video outlining the design process (DFA Studio leads can choose their favorite videos on the topic and choose a clip to play) ­ next 10­15 minutes: open up a conversation with the entire room based around a few questions for the newcomers o Any general reactions to the video? o What do people find inspiring or interesting about the design process? o How could design thinking have improved past projects that you have worked on? 6:35­7:00 – The “Wallet Exercise” Goal: Give new learners hands on experience with design thinking by having them re­approach the question of how to best design a wallet. Instructional materials available via Professor Easterday’s first lecture in DOLE 351 (possibility: precise instructions can be developed through an animated video). 7:00­7:10: Feedback on the “Wallet Exercise” Goal: stimulate discussion and reflection on the exercise across the whole room. Have a simple feedback session where the leaders of the meeting ask people to talk about their reactions to the wallet exercise. 7:10­7:15: Closing the Meeting Goal: conclude the meeting with an intriguing invitation to the next meeting. Meeting leads can tell the students that there will be

Meeting 2: Introducing the LPP and the Social Isolation Challenge

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6:00­6:10: Introduce The LaunchPad Project Goal: get new DFAers excited about the opportunity to take place in a program designed specifically to meet their needs. ­ This could include a discussion of a possible competition across the DFA network ­ The meeting lead could even ask students what kinds of prizes they might be interested in to get a sense of their motivations. Perhaps, to enhance creativity, the meeting leads could specifically ask about prizes aside from cash. 6:10­6:25: Introducing Social Isolation Goal: give students brief intro the topic of the challenge and then give them time to read the initial challenge article, an interesting story about a student at UMass Amherst who attempted to respond to social isolation on campus with unintended and surprising results: http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2012/02/01/umass­student­looking­to­make­new­friends­voices­his­opinion­gets­asked­to­leave­campus/ Ask students to discuss the article amongst themselves in their small groups once they have finished it. Request that they choose 3 salient points and observations about the story that they want to share with the group. 6:25­6:40: Group Discussion Goal: facilitate the first step of the “Understand” phase by soliciting group feedback. Meeting leader asks each group to share their “3 Key Observations” about the article and writes them all on the board. Then they ask people to speak up if any of the observations of other groups surprised them or elicited any other kind of reaction. 6:40–7:00: Speed Interviews Goal: have new DFAers team up and interview each other about the article. 3 Key Questions:

­ Do you think social isolation is a problem on campus and how have you experienced or witnessed it?

­ How do you think you would have responded to the students attempt at creating new social environments on campus? If you were that student, what would you have done differently?

Revised design structure for second deliverable:

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Appendix: Emma Ruskin– Barnard/Columbia DFA Interview

Studio switched from the Loft to Google Docs o Next semester they are switching to a service called ‘Slack’ o They put EVERYTHING on the google docs – proposals, emails, etc. o They did not like Loft and found it to be extremely confusing, hard to navigate,

etc. It would be extremely helpful if other groups can see what other groups are doing and

where they are in the process o Would help them to see how the other projects are going o The whole DFA club will be able to see, in addition to the e­board

Badges idea? Doesn’t like it because it encourages students to go through the steps quickly and not focus on quality or want to go back and revisit/revise/redo steps that didn’t work

Need more emphasis on going back through each step of the design process and refining

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The hardest part is getting from prototyping to implementation o A lot of groups fail at this part o It’s difficult for them to get through these steps and some more guidance would

be helpful Would be extremely helpful if the design process was presented in a more structured way

o A lot of the language is extremely vague (‘immerse,’ ‘ideate,’ etc.) o Teams need more concrete language to feel prepared to take on the challenge

Currently do one­month design sprints (do a design process) at the beginning of each semester to teach the new members the design process

o In this, they do Crazy 8’s – a brainstorming session where they come up with as many ideas as possible very quickly

Once they’ve narrowed these ideas down, each team creates its own “How can we” statement

There is a BIG BIG emphasis on the HCW statements at the Columbia/Barnard DFA studio

Could be helpful if there was a more detailed, succinct and accessible DFA guide on the website

o The most important and helpful things that should be included is EXAMPLES o Teams need concrete evidence of teams who’ve accomplished things rather than

vague language o They can see how their project falls and look at how other teams have achieved

success Barnard/Columbia’s DFA Studio does a showcase at the end of the semester

o A lot of projects will do well at the showcase and then, next semester, the team will bail on it because they say the community doesn’t need it and/or the community actually already has something

There should be more emphasis on the design process – it is applicable to so many areas of study!

o Although DFA usually recruits/sells people on their concept by showing these grand designs and their success in specific communities, this can be quite intimidating

o If there was more focus on learning the process and applying it well, teams would feel more inclined, perhaps, to cross that bridge from the prototyping phase to the implementation phase

o It doesn’t have to be life­changing! Can just be a solid project that a team worked very hard on

Gains o Made great friends and relationships within the groups

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o Barnard has great networking resources within DFA to other amazing companies and organizations

Rob Calvey­Interview #1 9­29­15

Rob’s DFA One pagers ­ https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.loft.io/attachments/Design_Procees_1­Pagers_v.1.pdf

­ communication is important** from team member to fellow lead DUke has 8 project teams this year with 8 different projects ­ the studio lead has to leave room for people who need more interviews

­ show the purpose (!!) and help make it more manageable through the semester ­ one pagers (activity you are doing, this is what you’re doing in the future, shows all

future steps, easier to go back if we make a mistake) vs. 3 steps process (turn in these things at a certain time, upload to loft, a very structured version, more similar to a class structure)

­ Project timeline: https://drive.google.com/a/u.northwestern.edu/file/d/0B_YLvMGeu_SjZGQyVUpjRjZaZVU/view (measure our pace off of this)

­ Pains and gains: ­ Main guidelines ­ Information on how to use the existing tool ­ Challenges we can build off of (like a set of instructions) ­ Network emails (2nd email): decent open rate but a poor click rate, Loft serves to

be very frustrating, people not reading the background content to help people make effective design choices, people not being able to review the work that is happening (not being able to see insights on completed projects), managing time

Rob Calvey­Interview #2 9­30­15

Sent me a list of people we can contact for interviews: keep in mind that this is a list of folks who registered with DFA this quarter ­17 on there

most of them have no idea who Rob is. Know what DFA network so we should describe what we are doing and make sure to say we are partnering with DFA national and that it does not affect their standing with the studio if they are too busy to speak with us.

Semester schools are in first round of midterms this week and last week… should be wrapping up. The timing is sort of a problem.We don’t want to overburden folks

I asked him if DFA teams often feel like they are overwhelmed with everything they need to do. Answer was a resounding yes.

DFA often feel overburdened…Huge issue Team leads were talking about teaching design process to new members and role two was

keeping energy and motivation up.

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Keep motivation up : Google Doc with answers from interviews: free food, make sure everyone has something to do, standard meeting times, friends, things with teams not project related

He added to set realistic goals for the week/ few weeks­ good sprint goals. Biggest motivator is user contact and having user interviews early on, see how they can

impact and then testing is important. **Thinks that if we use challenges to be those weekly goals it would help people to know

what they do as part of the team and have definable goals every week.** Eric Lam interview about what he likes about the Emails (In Google Doc) At bottom talks about what he would make to help with process. Kind of designing a challenge dashboard... a tree with branches off with specific goal and

things that you do for each thing – kind of like HTA (link in doc) , but much more like the specific problem he was trying to solve.

Implementation deck: Come to office early next week­ FAQ that says 40 potential roadblocks ppl have faced in the back( reactionary not proactive)

Mary­Freshman DFA Member at Duke Duke at DFA has had success recruiting new team members through an engineering open house in the beginning of the year ∙ Teams seem to have equal roles and collaborate well ∙ Finding a challenge to tackle/brainstorming process takes time and doesn’t always come right away ∙ Has high goals that could seem a little out of reach Nicholas Kavanau and Peter Haun Suggestions:

have Stands questions become more open and more thought­provoking ** look at successful projects to see how they used LOFT figuring out a way to help lay out a project ** project scoping: include their research on a Loft page and work through their steps as

well so not starting on your own blank slate— include a successful model patience is very important lack of understanding of design process: design process you need to do research because

a lot of people want to skip over it design process it not linear new members tend to think they have a solution and thats all they can focus on how would this research help every possible solution we can make?

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compare it to an essay high level understanding more of a cyclical process “iterative design”: move through process then start iterating a repetitive process

Hannah Wischnia: Northwestern University, Sophomore 10­9­15

No projects ever finish Not built for implementation – can’t built

Should be systems set in place Do it for a quarter and your prototype – do 3 prototypes a year

Fall quarter team prototyped Changed projects winter quarter Continued winter and spring

Alzheimer’s care for winter and spring that was the problem Wanted to make an organization to help with that The prototype – making a program that people would go to before med­school Take a year before a med school helps with people skills

Northwestern once a week DFA meetings on Sundays go through (2 hours) 1130­130 Spring quarter they’d gone past the design process Meet with team and do their own thing

Attracts two different types of people Cool community service opportunity, implement actual change Consulting, project design

During first meeting they gave them the design process Doesn’t like that it’s super set in stone No timeline that’s dumb because it restricts Keeps goals in mind

Doesn’t use Loft – easier to communicate via email and Google Docs DFA is very obsessed with using Loft, focused on the details of it

Team leads – experience in DFA They should have meetings to go over the specifics of the design process

It’s a cool idea for an organization Brainstorming à didn’t think about user interviews Trying to define scope is good, need to address the real issue Is pre­med, likes people in the group

Team Charter for DFA Design Process Goals

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Team Member Names Strengths related to teamwork and the team’s assigned task.

Weaknesses related to teamwork and the team’s assigned task.

Shelby Logan Communication Schedule Alex Stern Writing Procrastination Kaitlyn Wallace Team Player Schedule Jessy Huang Organization Procrastination Zane Waxman Organization Communication Member 6 Strength 6 Weakness 6 DFA Design Process Goals Team Member Names

Contact Information (e­mail, cell, Facebook, etc.)

Preferred Contact Method / Limitations (ex. no calls after…)

Shelby Logan Shelbylogan2016@u.northwestern.edu, 330­265­4350

Phone

Alex Stern Alexandrastern2018@u.northwestern.edu, 818­433­1132

Phone

Kaitlyn Wallace KaitlynWallace2016@u.northwestern.edu 973­970­0324

Phone

Jessy Huang JessikaHuang2018@u.northwestern.edu 224­456­6555

Phone

Zane Waxman Zanewaxman2011@u.northwestern.edu N/A Member 6 Contact 6 Pref 6 1. What are your team’s goals for the collaboration? These should relate to the team’s performance on the project as well as the processes that the team will follow to complete the project. What are your team’s expectations regarding the quality and timeliness of the team’s work? Goals

Specific prototype of high quality (Quality over Quantity) Respect each others time by responding quickly to communication Finish all tasks in timely manner Satisfy the client Create something easily implemented

2. Who is responsible for each activity? What roles will each member have?

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Don’t forget to include logistical tasks, such as arranging meetings, preparing agendas and meeting minutes, and team process roles, such as questioning (devil’s advocate), ensuring that everyone’s opinion is heard, etc. Alex: Writer/ note taker Kaitlyn: Devil’s Advocate Jessy: Prepare Agenda Shelby: Communication/ meetings Zane: Makes sure everyone’s opinion is heard 3. What is your timetable for activities? (Due dates, meetings, milestones, deliverables from individuals, if appropriate) Regular Friday Meetings 12:30 ­2:30 We will be communicating via text and Email regularly 4. What are your team’s expectations regarding meeting attendance (being on time,

leaving early, missing meetings, etc.)? All members will make their best effort to be at all meetings. If running late or need to leave early will contact the group. If this becomes a constant issue we will talk to them and all members understand they need to be an active participant. 5. What constitutes an acceptable excuse for missing a meeting or a deadline? What types

of excuses will not be considered acceptable? Acceptable: Work, practice, sickness, out of town, family emergencies Unacceptable: other classwork, social events, tired 6. What process will team members follow if they have an emergency and cannot attend a

team meeting or complete their individual work promised to the team (deliverable)? Contact members as soon as possible. If it will affect team performance explain to professors. The rest of the team members will pull together to complete the missing members work. 7. What are your team’s expectations regarding the quality of team members’

preparation for team meetings and the quality of the deliverables that members bring to the team?

­Do all relevant readings ­Come with ideas and aware of the tasks needing to be completed. ­Deliverables should be to highest quality possible 8. What are your team’s expectations regarding team members’ ideas, interactions with

the team, cooperation, attitudes, and anything else regarding team­member contributions?

­everyone will treat each other’s ideas with respect ­respectful opposition is encouraged

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­active participation in group activity (not working on other work or email etc.) 9. What methods will be used to keep the team on track? How will your team ensure that members contribute as expected to the team and that the team performs as expected? How will your team reward members who do well and manage members whose performance is below expectations? ­Constant communication ­updates in every meeting ­reward with gratitude and encouragement ­when not doing things we will ask about it and reiterate expectations

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