Patch 34: Connecting the design dots
I was inspired by Patch Thirty-Four: Connecting the design dots; more specifically, on the author’s elaboration on design thinking.
Reflecting on my dot-to-dot professional path, I now realize that design thinking is the shape that all these dots form. The process was always the same—the ability to empathize with users or learners, guide them to identify the problem, then come up with a design that meets their needs. All of that is at the core of design thinking. Design thinking brings together what is desirable from a human point of view with what is technologically feasible. (IDEO) Design thinking as a human-centered iterative process for creative problem solving, is one of the most valuable strategies that I was able to add to my ID toolbox. It encompasses concept development, applied creativity, prototyping and experimentation. As a method, it loops back and forth across the following key modes: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test, share, as defined and popularized by Stanford’s d.school.
I am currently working as an instructional designer while still keeping one foot in teaching. The idea of empathy with users and learners really resonates with me in that we need to put ourselves in the shoes of the users and learners as a starting point. The more we understand the needs of the end-users, the better we are equipped to design something relevant and valuable. As an instructor, I think about how I acquired knowledge in the subject matter back in the days when I was a student. Now that I am taking on a new role as an instructional designer, I do the same: I think about what an instructor would need in order to acquire about pedagogy. From now on, I will always center my design thinking around empathy.
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