SKevin Lewis describing prototyping at AK12DC.   He's explaining that you can prototype anything.  In design thinking there are different types of prototypes:

• physical prototypes
• storyboard prototypes
• experience  prototypes
• digital prototypes

The task of the design teams is to create a prototype of the "one idea" they selected from their ideation process.  Some teams are building physical prototypes, while others are building experiential prototypes.  Each team is trying to understand how to translate their idea into a prototype that makes sense and will illustrate the challenge their team is trying to solve for.  The process is messing but allows for their creative energy to emerge.

Here is a document from the d.school at Stanford that explains the different stages of design thinking (click here).   A comprehensive overview that details each part of the design cycle.

Design team prototypes starting to take shape.  They have about 60 minutes to work on their prototype.  Afterwards, they will test their prototypes on another design team.  Lots of activity as the creative ideas emerge through conversation.  The task is simple but requires some complex thinking as they stretch their imaginations and solve for their user.

Teams continue to develop their prototypes.  It is hard to remove the teacher, analytical hat and put on the playful and imaginative hat to design a prototype that plays with and illuminates the idea.  All the teams are engaged and invested in coming up with a meaningful prototype.  The work continues as they get more and more comfortable with the messiness of design thinking.

Woodward Academy working on their prototype. 

Teams will move into the next phase of testing their prototypes with their user.  After the test, they will give feedback in the form of I like, I wish, I wonder.

This year at AK12DC we are prototyping a model that includes more public schools in Track 1 and builds an advanced track (Track 2)  for schools ready to go deeper with design thinking. The schools in  Track 2 are Westminster Schools, The Lovett School, and Mountain Park Elementary.  Today, Track 2 teams are gathered together at Lovett to reflect on where they are, deepen their design thinking skills, and work on the portfolio of design challenges they've got underway. 

We have two 75 minute team-time sessions built into the day,a wonderful first hand account of how design can change lives, and a reflection on the work to date. Before we leave, teams will give one another feedback across schools and build their toolkit with more prototyping skills. Exciting day of learning and collaboration!

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Deacs84 12:30pm via HootsuiteBuilding #creativeconfidence. First hand account: #designmatters. #[email protected] #ak12dc #dtk12chat

Deacs84 12:14pm via HootsuiteGE Healthcare Adventure Series designer Doug Dietz: Orbiting the Giant Hairball.#ak12dc #designthinking #dtk12chatow.ly/UObDV

Deacs84 11:03am via HootsuiteTrack 2 teams engaged in debriefing whole school portfolios of #designthinkingprojects.

Deacs84 11:00am via HootsuitePersonal: A4 We are learning to put away our own biases. #ak12dc #designthinking#dtk12chat

Deacs84 10:55am via HootsuitePersonal: A3 "I wonder if..." language is powerful. #ak12dc #designthinking#dtk12chat

Deacs84 10:55am via HootsuitePersonal: A2 This is the opposite of the "get it done" model. Takes time. #ak12dc#designthinking #dtk12chat

Deacs84 10:54am via HootsuitePersonal: A1 Growth opportunity to listen without judgment. #ak12dc#designthinking #dtk12chat

Deacs84 10:54am via HootsuiteProject: A4 We jumped to problem too soon.After unpacking empathy, we needed to change direction. #ak12dc#designthinking #dtk12chat

Deacs84 10:52am via HootsuiteProject A3: Amazed to realize the number of different POV (point of view) statements we identified. #ak12dc #designthinking#dtk12chat

Deacs84 10:42am via HootsuiteProject: A3 A team w/new playground loved discovering how invested students were in the safety issues. #ak12dc#designthinking #dtk12chat

Deacs84 10:41am via HootsuiteProject: A2 We are so invested in the project we often fall in love with an idea--instead of the user. #ak12dc#designthinking #dtk12chat

Deacs84 10:23am via HootsuiteProject: A1 Amazed to realize how many different perspectives there are! #ak12dc#designthinking #dtk12chat

Deacs84 10:22am via HootsuiteProcess: A6 Prototyping for multiple grades hard. Focused on one grade- prototyped new program in a week!#ak12dc #designthinking #dtk12chat

Deacs84 10:20am via HootsuiteProcess: A5 Amazed to realize the powerful feedback that comes from asking open-ended questions, #ak12dc#designthinking #dtk12chat

Deacs84 10:19am via HootsuiteProcess: A4 Amazed to realize how big an idea empathy is. IMPACT! #ak12dc#designthinking #dtk12chat

Deacs84 10:18am via HootsuiteProcess: A3 Amazed to realize how well our team was able to delegate tasks and move forward effectively. #ak12dc#designthinking #dtk12chat

Deacs84 10:17am via HootsuiteProcess: A2 Amazed to realize how methodical #designthinking is and the amount of time invested. #ak12dc#designthinking #dtk12chat

Deacs84 10:16am via HootsuiteProcess: A1 Empathy gathering is more fluid and organic than expected. #ak12dc#designthinking #dtk12chat

Deacs84 10:14am via HootsuiteTrack 2 teams: What are you amazed to realize during this first phase of 2nd year work? Categories: Personal, Project, Process #ak12dc

​Our six design teams from Trinity School, Cliftondale Elementary, Woodward Academy, Drew Charter School, Summit Hill Elementary and Atlanta International School shared their learnings from their process thus far.   With regard to the process, they were amazed to realize that:

• the process of design thinking puts them in touch with their user in power ways;
• standard questions led to deeper conversations with users;
• the process gave our users a voice;
• students' voices can have a great impact on the work;
• it is powerful to listen our users and we learned so much from them; and
• there was such a diversity of responses from our user interviews.

With regard to their project they were amazed to realize:

• our users have similar needs;
• our project is still evolving over time;
• our project has fidelity for our school;
• the progress we are making;
• how inclusive this process is for the school; and
• how many teachers want a consistent way to communicate student achievement.

With regard to their team, they were amazed to realize that:

• they are looking for a deeper, lasting impact;
• they need to invest time to make this work happen;
• they have accomplish so much in such a short time;
• the experience has been so positive thus far;
• they have been so productive at their meetings using the design thinking process.

As you can see, each team is learning a great deal at Atlanta K12 Design Challenge.

Doug Dietz from GE Healthcare shared his story about using design thinking to change the way young children experience the MRI scanning experience in hospitals.   A process that induces fear in the hearts of young people has been dramatically changed through the efforts of Doug's team's efforts to gain empathy with children.  The result was the Adventure Series of MRI scanners produced by GE Healthcare.

We have Summit Hill Elementary, Trinity School, Drew Charter School, Woodward Academy, Cliftondale Elementary, and Atlanta International School working together to go deeper into their understanding design thinking.

At AK12DC we are learning how to use design thinking to address important school issues.  Each of the six schools at the Track 1 November Summit held at Atlanta International School has come with a design challenge they are working on.  The design teams have gained empathy with their user.  At the summit, they will look carefully at their empathy data and design point-of-view statements to guide the development of a prototype for their challenge.  

Kevin Lewis, a First Data colleague, takes the group through the design thinking wheel so they have a shared understanding of what the terms mean.