Overview

In this project, you’ll design a PRODUCT that supports or promotes sustainable behaviors and practices for INDIVIDUALS in day-to-day use.

For this first design project, focus your thinking on:

• a PRODUCT --  something physical that can be manufactured, distributed, purchased, and potentially held in your hand or carried with you.

Design Team

• For this first design project, you will be working solo — on your own.
• In future projects, you’ll be working as part of a small design team.

Design Thinking Steps

For this project, you’ll focus on these steps of the design thinking process:

• empathizing - interviewing and observing potential users to understand their needs
• defining -- identifying several potential problem / opportunity spaces and developing point of view statements for each space
• ideating - brainstorming and generating potential solutions for your selected point of view and minimal viable product definition
• prototyping -- creating your first, very rough prototypes of the essential product features to explore and illustrate the user experience and functionality of your proposed design
• testing - observing as other students test your design prototypes, then iterating and refining your design ideas
• sharing -- by presenting your prototypes, design thinking steps, and your evaluation of the effectiveness and impact of your proposed design

Sharing Your Proposed Design

You will share your proposed design ideas with classmates and reviewers at the beginning of the fourth week of the quarter.  We’ll all be evaluating your proposed designs based on these criteria:

• creativity / originality of concept -- Is this a new or exceptionally creative idea or approach?
• practicality / feasibility -- Can the product be manufactured? Is it feasible?
• impact -- Does the product have a measurable impact on sustainability or resilience?
• presentation -- Is the presentation of the proposed design clear, complete, and compelling?

Workflow / Steps in the Process

Here’s a high level overview of the steps that we’ll be following over the next few weeks…

• Identify Your Initial Area of Focus
• What aspect of sustainability would you like to focus on for this first project?