Design Thinking

Processes that improve lives

Why Design Thinking?

This creative methodology represents a way to solve problems by reducing risks and increasing the chances of success.
It starts by focusing on human needs (empathize), from which a challenge must be identified (define), solutions for its resolution must be offered (ideate), prototypes must be created (prototype) and tested (realize). In addition, initial and final evaluation tools are presented to evaluate the progress achieved after the intervention, as well as at the end of each of the phases, so that progress will depend on the continuous favorable evaluation by the educator and the target person: a migrant woman.

AUTONOMY

SOCIALIZATION

TOOLS

PLANNING

Advantages of
Design Thinking

Phases of Design Thinking

Empathize

Empathy is the ability to put oneself in other people's shoes in order to interpret their needs, concerns and interests. In this first phase, the educator must understand the reality of the migrant women with whom they intervene, as well as their experiences, emotions and objectives. All this will allow them to obtain information about women's problems and needs by observing their behavior and interactions with the environment. This first phase is key, given that in any intervention the emotional aspect stands out, which will be activated from the knowledge of the circumstances and life history of the migrant women.
The main objective in this phase is to know the reality of the women in order to provide them with the most adapted guidance possible.
Some tools for empathizing are empathic interviewing and focus groups or dynamics such as Memories and Who am I?

Evaluation of the Empathize phase

Using the evaluation meters the educator evaluates the openness of the migrant woman in this phase, the time spent and their satisfaction.

Initial evaluation

It is used to determine the degree of INITIAL competence of creative skills of the migrant woman with whom the intervention is being carried out. Different instruments can be used to evaluate skills such as problem identification (CREA), multiple and diverse ideas proposal (PIC-A) and basic employability competencies such as decision making or teamwork (DCBE).

Define

Once the information about the migrant woman has been collected and organized, she must identify her own problems or needs, choosing the one that is a priority to solve, which will guide the rest of the process. The woman should identify and define their real needs with the guidance of the educator, who has the information obtained in the previous phase. The challenge to be met must be translated into a correct definition that is broad, specific, manageable and people-centered, with a clear, authentic and precise approach.
The main objective in this phase is to state one's own personal needs based on a concrete structure (the Definition Formula), thus selecting the priority challenge to be solved.
A tool for the detection of needs is the needs roulette, so that it can also be used other tools that facilitate the choice of the challenge to be faced.

Phase evaluation Define

Using the evaluation thermometers the educator and the migrant woman evaluate her capacity to identify and define her needs, as well as the decision of what challenge to face.

Ideate

From the previously selected challenge to be faced, the woman must generate multiple ideas and concepts that can be used to meet the challenge, and then select the most feasible and viable one. This phase is one of the busiest, as the migrant woman (again with the guidance of the educators) should provide as many ideas as possible without initially assessing them.
The main objective in this phase is to offer multiple, varied and original alternatives that serve to solve the challenge to be addressed, so that once all the ideas have been recorded, the most appropriate one is selected using instruments such as the Evaluation rubrics.
A tool such as The hats can facilitate the ideation process by allowing the analysis of a challenge from different perspectives.

Evaluation of the Ideate phase

Using the evaluation thermometers the educator and the migrant woman evaluate the fluency (number) and flexibility (number of themes or categories) of her answers. Originality is also valued, as well as the adaptation of the chosen idea to the woman's reality.

Prototyping

From the selected idea, you must think about how it will be carried out, representing it visually or graphically. A prototype is a learning tool intended to be imperfect, so that changes can be made to the final solution if deemed necessary.
The main objective in this phase is to create an action plan that represents the implementation of the selected idea.
Some tools that can be used to represent this action plan include Mind Maps or the Dramatization.

Evaluation of the Prototyping phase

Using the evaluation thermometers, the educator and the migrant woman evaluate her capabilities in order to identify the elements to solve the problem, propose an appropriate time sequence and precisely define the steps to be followed.

Perform

In the last phase, they find out whether the designed prototype meets women's expectations and which aspects of the proposed solution need to be improved. For this purpose, it is put into practice in the real context.
The main objective in this last phase is to apply the final prototype within the real context.

Phase evaluation Perform

In order to evaluate the implementation of the prototype according to the plan, questionnaires or meetings with the migrant woman can be used to discuss aspects such as the difficulties encountered or the autonomy to carry out her idea.

Final evaluation

Although it is not a specific phase within the Design Thinking methodology, a final evaluation is essential in any intervention, understood as the evaluation of the results obtained in order to identify the effectiveness of the process. In order to know the degree of FINAL competence of migrant women and to evaluate the progress achieved, the same tests that were applied during the initial evaluation should be used (CREA, PIC-A, DCBE).

The Whys and Wherefores of each phase and the importance of Evaluate

OBJECTIVE:
To know the reality of the people to be guided in order to provide them with the most adapted help possible.

WHY EMPATHIZE?
Putting yourself in other people’s shoes will allow us to get to know them better, which will be vital in the rest of the process and will allow you to offer more personalized guidance tailored to their needs.

HOW TO EMPATHIZE?
Applying the filter Empathize,you will find different tools to get to know the people with whom you are going to intervene. Some of them are the activityDay by dayor the Concept of person.

OBJECTIVE:
To state one’s own personal needs from a concrete structure, selecting the priority challenge to be solved.

WHY DEFINE?
From this phase, the methodology Design Thinking will focus exclusively on solving a difficulty expressed by the migrant woman, so it is essential that she learns to define her own problems or needs and choose the challenge to be solved. Being able to specify in measurable terms the challenge towards which we are moving is an indispensable aspect of the process.

HOW TO DEFINE?
As a proposal of topics to identify different problems or needs, the following is proposed Needs rouletteIn each spin, the person must identify at least one specific need related to that area and define it by following a given Formula.

OBJECTIVE:
To offer multiple, varied and original alternatives that serve to solve the proposed challenge, selecting the most appropriate one.

WHY IDEATE?
The problems that characterize the methodology Design Thinking are open, thus allowing for multiple solutions. It is important that migrant women have the resources to generate different ways of approaching a problem and then decide among a wide range of possibilities. This will help them to improve mental flexibility and the ability to adapt to diverse situations.

HOW TO IDEATE?
Multiple tools are proposed in the Idear filter, for example, the Chained ideas or activities such as Devil’s advocate.

OBJECTIVE:
Create an action plan that represents the implementation of the selected idea to address the chosen challenge.

WHY PROTOTYPE?
Anticipating the steps to be taken makes it possible to visualize the way forward and increase efficiency, taking stress and uncertainty out of the process and providing a greater chance of success.

HOW TO PROTOTYPE?
In order to carry out the selected idea, the steps to be followed will first be planned and temporarily organized with flexibility to be modified. Depending on the type of challenge and its characteristics, different tools can be used by applying the Prototype filter, such as Draw your idea o Dramatize your idea.

OBJECTIVE
To apply the final prototype within the real context.

WHY REALIZE?
To test the true usefulness and effectiveness of the prototype, the final step is to put it into practice in the real context.

HOW TO REALIZE?
In order to be able to analyze the practical application of the prototype in the real context, the process could be recorded on audio or video or a meeting could be arranged with the migrant woman with whom the intervention has been carried out after this phase has been completed. In this way, sensations and impressions can be shared.

Although it is not a specific phase within the Design Thinking methodology, it is essential to be able to evaluate the process in order to understand the degree of acquisition of the methodology by the participant, as well as the progress achieved.During the intervention, three evaluation moments are established:

– INITIAL: allows you to know the initial level of competence of the woman with whom you are going to intervene. For this purpose, different tests are proposed (CREA, PIC-A, DCBE).

– PROCESSUAL: the use of the Evaluation thermometers allows the control and promotion at the end of each phase.

– FINAL: by applying the same tests as in the initial evaluation, the progress achieved by the woman with whom the intervention has been carried out will be checked. In addition, a Final interview and the Design Thinking Games Games in digital format are proposed to check the degree of acquisition of the methodology.

Tool carousel

Evaluation dartboards

Objective

Analyzing the ideas put forward in order to select the one that best meets a series of criteria.

Put yourself in my ears

Objective

Understanding the difficulties related to the language of migrant women.

Design Thinking Games

Objective

Checking the acquisition of the Design Thinking methodology.

Final interviews

Objective

Evaluating the development of the Design Thinking methodology according to the process and the results obtained.

DCBE

Objective

Evaluating the development of basic employability skills of the migrant woman with whom the intervention is going to take place.

PIC-A

Objective

Assessing divergent thinking (verbal, graphic and general) of the migrant woman the educator intervenes with.

Design Thinking Experiences

Here you can access different experiences and documents about Design Thinking in the socio-educational field.

Other publications related to the Design Thinking methodology are:

• Castrillo, M. D., & Sedano, B. (2021). Joining forces toward social inclusión: Language MOOC design for refugees and migrants through the lens of maker culture. CALICO Journal, 38(1), 79–102. https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.40900

• Fisher, K. E., Bishop, A. P., Fawcett, P., & Magassa, L. (2013). InfoMe@ teen design days: a multi-disciplinary, design thinking approach to community development. In Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Information and Communications Technologies and Development. Notes-Volume 2 (pp. 25-28). https://doi.org/10.1145/2517899.2517914

Design Thinking

Processes that improve lives