Our SAP Design Thinking Journey with Science World
As a junior Design Thinking coach, I’m glad that SAP in Vancouver and Science World have established a strong community partnership. This relationship is what brought Bryan Tisdall, CEO of Science World in Vancouver, and SAP’s Design Thinkers together to solve a very interesting challenge.
Over a 3-day period, our small group of Design Thinking coaches went about applying Design Thinking techniques in attempt to solve the challenge . Here’s my photo ‘scrapbook’ of our journey:
What’s obviously important in the Design Thinking process are things like taking the time to understand our clients, testing the prototypes, and then continuously improving on the concepts and ideas.
Here are a few others things that aren’t as obvious, and I think just as important:
- Possibilities instead of perfectionism – the Design Thinking process is messy, dynamic and reflects this ever-changing world we live in. Freeing ourselves from the unrealistic expectation to create the perfect solution is liberating and opens up a new world of possibilities for us (and most importantly, our clients).
- Diversity leads to creativity – It’s amazing how creative a group of people can be when they have different backgrounds, areas of expertise, and especially, different opinions and ways of doing things. Look no further than this community as a great example of how we have benefited from such diversity.
- Space to reflect and focus – As important as it was for us to take time to engage with our clients and prospective end users and understand their needs and wants, I think we also needed to then shut ourselves in a room for while. This is the chance for reflection, brainstorming, convergence, and rapid-prototyping. (See Enjoy the Silence about the positive effects of silence.)
The Design Thinking journey with Science World is only beginning. Other Design Thinking teams within SAP’s Development team continue to work with Bryan and the Science World leadership team to create an innovative and relevant solution, and bring science to the city.
I invite you to share below what you think makes Design Thinking effective.
Please follow me Twitter (@JayChaos) for more updates on SAP and Design Thinking.
Great job on this Jason. I like the captions.
Thanks Stephanie! I had fun adding these captions, while playing with one of my favourite photo editing apps - Halftone! 🙂
Cheers,
Jason
I'm kinda missing a Marvel Hero 🙂
Hi Tom, same here! When I read Kathleen Dewan's Blog It Forward-Kathleen Dewan post, and her mention of Iron Man, old memories of time spent reading about super heros filled my head. Glad to hear your a Marvel fan as well! 🙂
Hi Jason,
I really like the comic book theme!!
The thing I love about Design Thinking is that it facilitates collaborative thinking - leveraging the wisdom of crowds - "we are more intelligent than I"
Cheers,
Matt
Hi Matt, I really like the collaborative aspect of Design Thinking as well!
One thing that's always on my mind is how we might increase collaboration in our life, and gain some of the great benefits - like wisdom as you mentioned.
Thanks,
Jason
Lovely of you to create a more visually enhanced scrapbook. Appreciate your contributions here to the Design Thinking Space. You wrote: "This is the chance for reflection, brainstorming, convergence, and rapid-prototyping". That chance for reflection might be just the topic Petra Meyer is writing about in her blog http://scn.sap.com/community/design-thinking/blog/2013/05/27/how-leading-from-the-future-plays-into-the-design-thinking-game
Thanks for your feedback, Marilyn! I enjoyed reading Petra's blog. Like her, I am seeing many parallels and opportunities to apply coaching concepts and techniques in a Design Thinking environment.
Regards,
Jason
Hi Jason,
Fabulous post! The scrapbook was a creative way to share. Your three points at the end hit the nail on the head.
Regards,
Katie
Hi Katie, thanks for your feedback, and for your inspiration with Iron Man (see, something good does come out of super heros 😉 )!
Cheers,
Jason
Great approach to Design Thinking! The use of a comic strip really captures the action and simplicity around DT. Awesome!
Thanks Jake! My goal was to capture the dynamic and creative proces went through in Design Thinking. Glad to hear this shows.
Hi Jason,
Your post on DT and your choice of comic strip theme is really excellent. I was very cloudy about the Design thinking but after your three pointers from this post I really got some perspective to look at DT.
I am yet to post my first post in SCN and it is sure going to be of comic theme 🙂 Searched for Halftone like app in Android but could only find a pretty close app called Comics Camera!
Cheers,
Kannan
Hi Kannan,
Thanks very much for your positive feedback.I'm glad to hear I was able to incease your understanding of Design Thinking a bit more. Composing and publishing this blog was very educational for me as well.
Looking forward to your first blog post, and seeing some of your Comic photos as well. Any hint what your blog will be about? If you're stuck, let me know and I will add you to the Blog It Forward challenge! 🙂
Cheers,
Jason
Hi Jason,
Thanks for your courteous reply. I am learning BW and had difficult times with InfoProviders in the initial stages. I have a hint about what I am going to blog. Like every marvel super heroes characterization, I am trying to make a series and characterize each InfoProvider in a comical way.
I am trying to get a team and go through the phase of Design Thinking to brainstorm more wild ideas for this series and make it a beginners delight. But English is not my first language so it will be a bumpy ride.
Please add me to the Blog it Forward challenge, I will post my first blog "Blog It Forward - Kannan Ramaswamy" 😉
Thanks,
Kannan
Hi Kannan,
I just added you to my Blog It Forward - Jason Cao post.
Thanks for sharing a bit more about your upcoming blog with me and the community. I'm not familiar with InfoProvider, so I'm looking forward to learning more, especially in the way you will present this. 🙂 You're doing just fine with your English posts, and I admire your effort.
Please feel free to post your Design Thinking questions in the Discussion area on this space - our Design Thinking practioners in this community will surely have input.
Regards,
Jason