Knowledge Development

Personal reflective writing involves writing assignments and exercises that are self-referential or self-reflective in nature (Lawrence, 2013). The articles involve the writer writing about their own experience in different activities. Tembrioti and Tsangaridou (2014) emphasized that reflective practice is very significant for the professional competency. The ability to reflect on what one has done is important than practicing a routine.  In this paper, I was able to write about some of my achievement, weaknesses and strengths from what I have learnt in the design thinking class. It is based on a personal assessment of the different activities that have occurred in class. The ability to reflect on one’s learning enhances the critical thinking skills.

In the first week of my studies, I learnt about design thinking foundation, where the whole unit was explained in details, what to expect at the end of the unit, and the objectives and goals of the unit were also established. I got to understand the meaning of design thinking. Which is the method used to provide a solution-based approach to solving problems? Before this class, I never thought there are criteria for finding solutions to problems. Also from the activity, we did in class where, in groups of 3 we wrote three points of business and converted it into a diagram. I got to learn share writing from the group members. At first, I was skeptical on how whole group discussion was going to turn out. I was afraid my group members would be judgmental and not consider all the ideas. But as it turned out, they’re very cooperative, and all the ideas were considered as we brainstormed together. What amazed me most was how quick were able to accommodate one another and think abstractly in coming up with the ideas. The experience was really helpful as we all learnt from one another. The discussion made the process much quicker and was able to come up with ideas as first as possible. When the diagrams were interchanged in the class, other students came up with different ways of interpreting the diagram which was amazing as we had not thought of all the possibilities the diagram could represent. I noticed how people think out of context in different situations. The lecture was able to gain the attention of the whole class through the group activity as everyone was involved.

Week 2 of the class, was discuss the design thinking process. According to Chen and Venkatesh (2013), design thinking refers to the physical and mental process that helps organizations creative design outcomes. It entails the problem identification, idea generation, development of concepts and its implementation (Best, 2015). I was able to determine that the unit aims at improving the creativeness and originality of student’s creative outcome.  We watched a video of a company empathize work environment.  The theme of the company was innovation and the owner invested in the employees. The employees helped to design their work place. An empathy map was created to determine the needs of the employees and the workplace.

Critical Analysis

Schiele and Chen, (2018) noted that in empathize stage, it is important to create and establish an empathy map. The employees were able to gain an empathic understanding of the needs of the workplace. Ferreira, Silva, Oliveira, and Conte (2015) denote that, collaboration tool is important in the identification of the real needs. This was evident as the team sought to understand the problems of the workplace. Observations, engaging other people and empathizing with other people to understand what motivated them were some of the ways used to gain information about the ideal physical work environment (Glen, Suciu, & Baughn, 2014). I noticed it is important first to understand the problem being solved. This helps reduce assumptions. From the video, the company investing in the employees helped them become more creative and promotes the teams’ collaborativeness and innovation.

The activities in week 3 helped shaped my mindset, have always had a fixed mindset, but with the several questions we participated in, I was able to learn new ideas from the questions presented. I have been motivated to challenge my learning abilities and improve on my mindset. According to Yeager, Romero, Paunesku, Hulleman, Schneider, Hinojosa, and Dweck (2016), leading students to construe learning environment where they have the capability to develop their learning ability provides grounds for motivation. Not being able to provide solutions in different situations in the discussions motivated me to learn more. It also challenged me to get materials to learn more and experience different things. It will enable me to challenge my fixed mindset and embrace new paths and personal growth. Cohen & Sherman, (2014) explained that the different changing the different psychological interventions can motivate the students to do better in the future.

During week four, we learnt about the different design thinking processes. Dorst, (2011) indicated the importance of understanding the application of design thinking process. Therefore, we also learn on the application of design thinking process.  I managed to learn how to solve real-world problems from this class using the design thinking process.  Below is some of the process we learnt. The first stage was empathized stage. It involves the empathetic understanding of the problems one is trying to solve. It involves consulting experts, engaging affected people and observing to get a clear understanding of the problem (Shively, Stith, & Rubenstein, 2018). The next stage is the defining stage, where the workers put together the information they have gathered. The ideas are synthesized towards solving the core problems. Reframing the challenges at hand is also practice. I managed to learn to consider the challenges experienced before rushing into possible solutions. The next stage ideates this where the teams come up with ideas and think out of the box for solutions. Brainstorming together helps create and evaluate different ideas needed. This is where creativity is key, as people brainstorm creative and unique ideas to try to solve the problem (Liedtka, 2015). There is more to just idea generation, but we have to think more than the ideas. One got to think of all the possible outcomes and the different impacts of the ideas.

Personal Development

The prototype and testing stage involved the experimentation of the solutions (Stickdorn & Schneider, 2011). The main purpose of the prototype stage is to receive different feedbacks of the ideas generated. Then make the additional revisions and get to learn how the idea is perceived by the intended audience (Cross, 2011). They’re able to investigate the different ideas generated and improve or reject an idea. It is the stage where the most preferred idea based on the user’s experiences is improved and developed as they have an idea of the developing problems, and how the users interact with the idea (Kim & Ryu, 2014). From this stage, I have learnt to always share the ideas with other people in order to gain feedback. The feedbacks help understand the perception of the intended audience (Adams & Nash, 2016). This class provided the useful process of solving problems using design thinking and also showed the importance of companies being committed to their themes. They support the employees and involve them by providing opportunities where they can be creative and innovative to the company.

We were able to work as a team which made the whole process interesting. We followed the steps of design thinking and came up with recommendations for solving the problems. Working in the team is very helpful in learning as it helps with concentration and I also get to learn from my classmates.

In week five, we learnt about solving problems and the characteristics of data and how important it is to the area of use. Understanding the process was very insightful. Mintrom and Luetjens (2016), emphasized how people used different techniques to get through problems and advocated for the inclusion of design thinking process in policy making for solve problems.  I got to learn about the importance of considering the interest of everyone in problem-solving. Satisfying everyone’s interest is very critical as the solutions might be rejected. I never viewed it to be important as I only focused on the problem itself. Another important process learnt in solving the problem is the importance of documentation, evaluation and evaluation of the agreements (Vande, 2011). This helps with the implementation of the solution as it acts as a point of reference and also the evaluation of the progress. The characteristics of data were also very important to all the problem solving as the information has to be reliable, accurate, legitimate, accessible and valid (Watson, 2015). The decisions are not made based on assumptions but facts. The activities we did in class helped us come with valid data as we strived to understand the ideas and problems in the paper. This helped with brainstorming and interactions in the classroom proved to be helpful.

In week six of my studies, we learnt the fundamental of business. It was clear that research is critical to the development of any businesses. The success of a business depends on the customer. Therefore, research on the customer needs and satisfaction is key to the success of the business (Liedtka, 2015). Learning the customer needs helps the organisation provide the right products and services to meet their needs. The business is formed in order to generate revenue, and the revenues are acquired through the sales of the products or services. Therefore, the customer retention is important for all businesses (García-Gallego, Manuel, & Antonio 2017). The business has to provide good customer service to all prospects, existing and new customers as their satisfaction determines the repeat of transactions (Devezer, Sprott, Spangenberg, & Czellar, 2014).  The customers also a point of marketing as they talk to others about their experience and it will drive more customers to your business or lose them. Research helps determine the gaps in the market and businesses tend to fill the gaps by providing the right services and products. Therefore, research is helpful to the business in order to determine the inadequacy in the market.

In week seven, I got to learn the importance of teamwork in problem-solving. Kelley and Kelley, (2013) illustrated that effective design aims at solving problems for specific groups.  From the video presented in class, I was unable to identify the problems alone, but when we started working as a team, and we brainstormed together, I was able to identify some of the problems alongside my classmates. Participatory design technique enhances collaboration in teams (Leinonen, Teemu & Durall, 2014). Brainstorming provides an opportunity for team members to come up with new ideas and the team develops them. The teamwork helps expand one’s way of thinking and identify different problems (Grant & Berry, 2011). Self-knowledge might not be sufficient in some cases, and the help of teamwork is important. I also noticed that the collaborativeness of a group is significant in solving problems. Most of us were unable to identify the problem on our own, but when we started working together, we identified the prevailing problems and possible solutions. The team I was part of was also very supportive, at some point I was unable to understand the point one of the members was describing, and they noticed and explained the problem. The discussions only continued ones all the team members understood what was going on. This helped build my moral and confidence in the team. I was able to learn from my teammates and appreciated the importance of teamwork. This acted as a point of motivation to myself and to strive to learn more.

In week eleven, we had the opportunity to present our business ideas in class. The students who presented ahead of us gave us new ideas on how to improve our presentations. We’re not confident enough with our presentations, but the seeing other fellow students doing the presentation helped build our confidence. The presentations acted as a point of interactions for us and developed my communication skills. Before I could not present in front of people but presenting in class enabled me to gain confidence and shared our group views with the class. We’re also able to plan our presentation by forming short notes on the topic. We noticed this with other students presenting, and we borrowed the idea. It helped with providing precise points to the audience. It helped develop my self-confidence. After the class, I had the opportunity to study more on presentation and learn how it is beneficial to my life. The communication skills proved to be required in most activities such as at workplace when providing presentations.  

Conclusion

In conclusion, the paper shows the importance of an individual and organizations utilizing design thinking to create innovative experiences in their workplace. The method of teaching used in the course has created memorable experiences and different methods of learning such as group discussion and use questionnaires. Working in groups with other students to solve problems has enabled active participation and collaboration within the group. It has fostered teamwork and has been beneficial to me. It has enabled active participation in class and learning in general. The design thinking process has helped develop my skills as I was able to reflect on different activities in my life and in the classroom.

Learning methods of approaching situations are important, and design thinking has enabled me to develop knowledge and problem-solving skills. The knowledge is not only important to the school environment but also applicable to the workplace as it will enhance my creativity and innovativeness. Design thinking processes are also important as one is able to be observant, notice and brainstorm on the possible solution. I will seek feedback from others who are affected by the situation. This will enable the development of the significant and appropriate solutions.

References

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