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Conclusion and Feelings and Thoughts on DESN2002

Overall, as much as I do not enjoy working on assignments with a team, I have had a greatly positive experience studying DESN2002. The topic of the subject seemed pretty cruisy to begin with, however, as the weeks went on and I got further into developing the festival, I realised how in depth a passionate person may explore design thinking and employ it into their work.

I got to develop a prototype in much detail and got it to an advanced stage, with the help of my team of course. I became invested in the wicked problem we picked- food waste, and in coming up with a solution for it. In the end the final product we realised became so legitimate I wish we could actually host it.

I have a newfound admiration for design thinkers and their work.

Even though I had a pretty smooth experience working on these group assessments, I usually do not enjoy it. So, I found this funny relatable video, both animated and owned by Jaiden Animations, which describes her own struggles with group projects. Feel free to watch for a laugh.

https://youtu.be/6bQWxtoCav4

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Diagram Sarah Gibbons on July 31, 2016

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Podcast

"How do we know this will work?"

References:

(2 references to weekly readings on BB)

Hambeukers, D (2019), Design Thinking and Learning, Design Leadership Notebook, https://medium.com/design-leadership-notebook/design-thinking-and-learning-fefd64f9bd1c

Wesp, L., Stolzoff, S., (2021), How Would You Reimagine Learning? 5 Visions for Our Post-COVID Future, IDEO, https://www.ideo.com/blog/how-would-you-reimagine-learning-5-visions-for-our-post-covid-future

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References to Blackboard Weekly Readings

A 1000 word essay describing the festival in regards to the importance of design thinking and including 8 references to the weekly BB readings.

Why is Design Thinking Important and Effective with Eliminating ‘Wicked Problems’?

How do we know Waste Warriors will be successful?

Design thinking is a contemporary, avant-garde process, described by many as the future of thinking. “Defining problems in obvious, conventional ways, not surprisingly, often leads to obvious, conventional solutions.” (Leidtka, 2018) To come up with new solutions and methods of dealing with ‘wicked problems’ designers must think outside the box. That is why Waste Warriors takes the non-conventional route of a festival accompanied by a mobile app to promote sustainable food consumption and waste. By starting a conversation and a social event, Waste Warriors will be successful in raising awareness and encouraging action. Helling mentions in a study that “while the terms “sustainability” and “circularity” immediately give the impression that we are doing good things, we are missing the structural changes required to really do things differently” (Helling, 2020). The festival will use design thinking to create an advanced strategy in reducing food waste, by attacking it locally and realizing that “Some food system challenges are too large for any one organization to solve alone.” (CoLab, 2021) and by understanding that “Collaboration is critical to building new solutions to our most urgent challenges and designing the future of food is a matter of utmost urgency for the world.” (CoLab, 2021).

Design thinking is the only solution to complicated and layered world issues, such as reducing the abundance of edible food wasted every year, while many communities battle starvation. Yet, “Design thinking has truly come of age. And yet we should not rush to congratulate ourselves, for we are rightly asked what it takes for such thinking to truly have significant impact.” (Brown, Katz, 2019) Questioning the unexplored is a natural process, and it raises questions of limitations and dangers and ironically the answer to those questions lay within design thinking itself, as contemporary thinking brings on contemporary issues, which are then counteracted by more contemporary thinking. Waste Warriors takes the traditional gathering and formal meetings of biased business individuals and morphs it into an informal space created to start local discussions. The slight change to an old practice reassures sceptics and provides a somewhat familiar process, however, greatly improved. “To be successful, an innovation process must deliver three things: superior solutions, lower risks and costs of change, and employee buy-in.” (Leidtka, 2018) The festival brings the solution of reaching an impossible goal by tackling it bit by bit, eliminates the risk of decisions being made based on profit and any other form of bias or toxicity, as other “issues we have to confront when considering transformer models for our prototypes”(Syverson, 2021), and rewards engagement with success, thus proving the effectiveness of design thinking. “Who would have thought, when the first industrial designers hung out their shingles, when the first graphic designers laid out a printed page, when the first generation of digital designers grappled with the mysteries of the Internet, that by virtue of their unorthodox training and their frequently anti-establishment practices, they would also one day have a major role to play in addressing challenges so urgent and complex?” (Brown, Katz, 2019)

The Waste Warriors will take the form of a festival, which aims to educate children and adults on food waste in the world in a positive and encouraging manner, what the options are, the alternatives to throwing food away, and on the importance of reducing food waste. The question of “How might we create viable infrastructure and business models to ensure food grown for people doesn’t go to waste?” rises. To answer it, the festival will collaborate with local food businesses with sustainable practices to prove that food can be fair. “So by training teachers, by having kids come through, by us going into the classroom and teaching them design thinking and just using design thinking methodology to solve some of their problems we've had great luck and we're very proud of what's going on there.” (Kelley, 2012). David Kelley believes that teaching the public design thinking can have overwhelming success rate and so the festival aims to teach and allow for opinions to be heard. He also mentions the humorous irony that “You don't usually think of engineers as people, so to speak, but my experience has been that when engineers really feel that something would be important to people, would have meaning in people's lives, that's highly motivating and it makes them work really hard.” (David, 2012), further developing the idea that passion leads to action.

On the one hand, this new approach is questionable, and the success of the Waste Warriors is technically unpredictable, however, on the other hand, there are many other greatly effective organizations that employ design thinking within their beliefs. For example, “Launched in July 2015, the d.light A1 (since rebranded to A2) is bringing solar light to hundreds of millions of people living without access to electricity.” (IDEO 2021) Their programme predicted that “tens of millions of families will gain extra hours of light to work, study, and play, while simultaneously reducing the harmful health effects and slow-burn cost of kerosene lamps. Not only does the dim light of kerosene come at a persistent financial cost—as much as 25 cents per day for families who live on $1.25—but it also causes serious respiratory problems and is a significant fire risk due to gas lamp exposure.” (IDEO 2021) and in 2021 “90% of d.light customers rate their product as a good value for money and would recommend d.light to a friend” (d.light website), which indicated an unbelievable success. Following the footsteps of similar actions, Waste Warriors aims to achieve similar results. By empowering the local Newcastle community to make a change, the team behind the festival believes in the effectiveness it will have in making a dent in the waste of food produced in the world.

In conclusion, design thinking is the future of sustainability and environmental awareness, as well as change. The Waste Warriors festival will be a great success and an event to be remembered, and the encouragement of an entire community of people will bring the action needed to create a difference in this flawed world. Collaboration between the event, the people and businesses will allow for a common language and a passion big enough to create an ever-growing web of influence.

References

Leidtka, J. (2018), Why Design Thinking Works, Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2018/09/why-design-thinking-works

Brown, T., Katz, B. (2019), How Great Design Could Fix the World’s ‘Wicked Problems’, Fortune, https://fortune.com/2019/02/15/change-by-design-new-excerpt-tim-brown/

CoLab, (2021), The Circular Economy of Food CoLab: Designing the Future of Food, Together, IDEO, https://www.ideo.com/post/designing-the-future-of-food-together#:~:text=The%20Circular%20Economy%20of%20Food%20CoLab%20is%20a%20membership%2Dbased,prototype%20new%20solutions%20at%20speed.

Helling, D. (2020), The Doughnut Model for a Fairer, Greener Amsterdam, Green European Journal, https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/the-doughnut-model-for-a-fairer-greener-amsterdam/

IDEO, (2021), Channeling Solar Energy for Over 4M People Around the World, IDEO.org, https://www.ideo.org/project/the-only-solar-lantern-youll-ever-need

Leidtka, J. (2018), Why Design Thinking Works, Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2018/09/why-design-thinking-works

Solomon, A. (2012), Design Thinking for Social Good: An Interview with David Kelley, bointboint, https://boingboing.net/2012/09/22/design-thinking-for-social-goo.html

Syverson, B. (2021), The Rules of Brainstorming Change When Artificial Intelligence Gets Involved. Here’s How., IDEO, https://www.ideo.com/blog/the-rules-of-brainstorming-change-when-ai-gets-involved-heres-how

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User Journey Presentation Art- Final Variation

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First Attempt at User Journey Presentation Art

I decided to discard this version as I did not like the way the markers looked on top of the pencil, and I chose to go in a more minimalistic style.

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"AND THE ONE THING WE CAN ALL DO IS TO STOP WASTE. DON’T WASTE FOOD. DON’T WASTE POWER. THEY ARE PRECIOUS, AND WE CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT THEM."

-Sir David Attenborough

Artwork by:

NOVEMBER 10 2018 Leslie Hook

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Festival Introduction Animation v5

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Festival Introduction Animation v4

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Festival Introduction Animation v3

After a group vote this variation was chosen by the team members to be the introductory video for the Waste Warriors Festival 2021.

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Festival Introduction Animation v2

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Festival Introduction Animation v1

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Descriptions of Each Section of the Event (plan)

Reception/Front Desk

Covid sign in with phones. Link to informational app. Brochure with map and the information on each station.

Food Stalls and Other Businesses’ Stalls

Opportunity to enjoy Aussie and sustainably made food and buy other souvenirs and goods from local Australian businesses supporting the cause of the event and trying to decrease food waste in the community.

Food Production Education Centre

Showing videos on how food is produced and the process it goes through to get on people’s plates.

There will be educational material (in the forms of film, readings and from guest speakers) on farming food, harvesting food, processing it, exporting it, selling it, and purchasing it.

Food Consumption Education Centre

Showing videos on how food is consumed and the process it goes through when consumed.

There will be educational material (in the forms of film, readings and from guest speakers) on the different food types, the food pyramid, different food cultures and meal preparation methods from around the world, ways to prepare food with minimal waste, and organisations which have the goal to end hunger.

Food Waste Education Centre

Showing videos on the amount of food wasted each year and what happens to said food.

There will be educational material (in the forms of film, readings and from guest speakers) on different methods of food disposal, the most environmentally friendly alternatives, and sustainable options, and what happens with food when disposed of.

Social/Activity Centre

Contains exercises and other interactive and entertainment content and experiences, such as drawing and other creative activities, a children’s activity of upcycling plastic bottles into bird feeders and beehives, a questionnaire with prizes, and a food plant growing exercise for the younger children. Volunteers will be monitoring the area to keep interactions friendly and covid safe, and clean surfaces regularly.

Donation Booths

Allow people to donate to causes related to the event

1. OzHarvest

2. Clean Up Australia

Volunteers will be working at those booths

Tables

The tables are always available for people who need to rest or would like to enjoy their meal at a table. Spaced for Covid safety.

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Diagram by Yana Kaneva (2021)

User Journey Map Presentation

Another project I am working on to legitimise the festival is a presentation with illustrations and descriptions for all the different stations in the festival in the Social Distancing and Covid Safe Order (as shown above):

1. Front Desk

2. Food Stalls

3. Food Production Education Centre

4. Food Consumption Education Centre

5. Food Waste Education Centre

6. Social/Activity Centre

7. Donation Booths

8. Tables

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If you would like to learn more about the Waste Warriors, here is a presentation with a lot of generated information on the topic.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S262LXX9og37du5xZKRkCt-klD4NleNs/view?usp=sharing

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First Render

For this variation I have taken a floral approach and have used the theme colours for the event, which the group agreed on.

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What am I working on?

As a prototype for the Waste Warriors Festival (2021) I have decided to animate a short introduction video.

It can be played at any marketing destination, including social media, web pages, and the event.

How am I going to animate it?

I have decided that the easiest software for me to use for this task is Photoshop (screenshot above). I draw it on different layers as frames and the create a timeline so it runs as a video.

I will create multiple different variations and have my group help me decide which animation best suits the event.