Day Two: Define
What is the define mode?
According to the d.school bootcamp bootleg, "the define mode is when you unpack and synthesize your empathy findings into compelling needs and insights, and scope a specific and meaningful challenge." It's a time to zoom in and focus rather than looking at everything at once. On this day, your students will work on two goals. The first is to of to get a thorough understanding of the users. The second is to figure out and write down their "point of view" based on that understanding of the users. This point of view will be a statement of purpose that focuses on a group of users. (It will sometimes focus on a specific fictional user that is a composite of many users.) The point of view will come from an examination of the needs and insights that your students uncovered on the first day. This statement is a critically important part of each group's design vision. Without a focused point of view, the bootleg warns that one runs the risk of trying to design "solution concepts that are all things to all people". |
Objective
- Students will define their design goals by writing a point-of-view statement that has the following format: [USER DESCRIPTION] needs to [VERB PHRASE] because [REASON/INSIGHT]
Materials
- Computer and video projector or large monitor.
- Rooms with whiteboards.
Lesson Plan
- Have students give presentations and share empathy maps that summarize their findings from the day one's empathize mode research. (15 minutes for each presentation). Allow time for Q&A.
- Have students read the introductory blurb in the "Our Story" page of the Embrace Global website. Then scroll down and show the "Embrace - Defining a Point of View" video.
- Ask the students what the point of view was for the Embrace team. (Answer: "A desperate parent in a remote village needs to give a dying baby a chance to survive.") Point out that a point of view in design thinking usually has a "because" after the verb phrase, but this POV statement doesn't due to the fact that you don't need to explain why a parent needs to save a child.
- Have the students talk in teams about what they found surprising or interesting about the video. Lead a discussion in which each team shares things they noticed about the video.
- Show these examples of POV statements to the students. Ask the students what they notice about the structure of the statements, and the amount of detail in the statements. Engage in a class discussion about how and why a POV statement should be created. (Refer to the bootleg if you need more information about this.)
- Wrap up this segment by making clear the students should work with the following "madlib" while they generating their POV: [USER DESCRIPTION] needs to [VERB PHRASE] because [REASON/INSIGHT]. Send each group to a room of their own. Explain that the groups will come together at lunch to report on their progress.
- After lunch gather the groups and have each of them share their progress and their challenges. Offer constructive criticism and remind them that they will have 5 minutes to present their POV the following morning.
Resources | Examples for students