While the article doesn’t specifically mention the design thinking process, I have some context on the project. First, the CTE programs in Hawaii’s public schools were already making a positive impact on the educational lives on student participants before they and their instructors were introduced to the design thinking process. That being said, you can never have too many tools in your skill sets.
In the first Stanford Design Thinking Hawaii bootcamp in 2010, the many of the leadership and teachers of the Hawaii Department of Education’s CTE program were in attendance. Empowered with a process to think out of the box, they in turn empowered their colleagues and students.
In 2012, the Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation — a major sponsor of the design thinking bootcamps were planning their annual awards banquet and the committee was tasked with the usual duty of finding vases as a centerpiece for the tables. Instead of making executive decisions, they turned to the students of both Campbell and Waipahu high schools.
The article mentions that the students were “charged with handling everything — from communicating with their customer and designing the centerpiece to figuring out what materials were needed and building it.” This is a brief description of the design thinking process:
- Communicating or empathy and define.
- Designing and figuring out or ideate.
- Building it or prototype.
- Back to communicating or testing.
Challenged with needed a vase for the flowers, the students clearly took the process and designed a creative and innovative solution — a centerpiece people not only wanted to take home with them, but also ordered after the banquet.
Source: Star Advertiser.
