Thursday, June 15, was our only daylong design thinking workshop of the summer! We met at Niles District Library to use the design thinking method to redesign dashboards, do customer research to make a better bag, and practice design thinking to solve problems.

You can view the slides and resources here.

Here are some photos from the day …

Our opening activity: the design thinking game. The prompt: make something for a dinosaur to wear on its feet. A solution: create these strap-on accessories that allow dinosaurs to disguise their footprints (aren’t they always just plodding through all that mud that gets fossilized? Talk about evidence!). Think they’re not smart enough to remember to strap them on? That’s why there’s a supplemental brain that can be implanted (bottom left).

Doesn’t every workshop send you out to the parking lot to gather data about your dashboard so you can design a better one? Here’s someone’s notes …

Here’s a design thinking solution: a LEGO prototype of a USB drive that you can insert into the car so it can recognize you and auto-adjust the wheel, seat, and other items.

Use junk box materials to design the perfect bag (with a few LEGO wheels thrown in for good measure). Check out the telescoping handle!

This prototype includes a padded pocket, a water bottle holder, and a flap that can lower to reveal specialized pockets.

Not everyone needs a perfect bag … some people need a travel jacket instead, with pockets in all the right places.

Design the perfect bag? How about this one that stores a jacket and a zip-on sleeping bag.

Tomorrow is out last Niles workshop of the day … design challenges in the morning and grantwriting* in the afternoon!

*Note: Our funding precludes us from assisting on any official grant application, but we can give general advice!