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Fatima comes from Morocco. He is 25 years old and does not know the language of the host country, as he has just arrived with his father and mother. Their main weaknesses are the lack of job opportunities, as well as the cultural and linguistic barriers encountered. In his favor, he has the support of his family network.
This phase is aimed at sharing and understanding Fatima’s feelings and needs in order to help her in her process of growth and social and labor inclusion. In addition, it is intended to evaluate the initial level of the competencies to be developed during the Design Thinking (DT) process.
In order to get to know Fatima, the educator uses the activity Memories. This allows them to learn more about her past and her reality from different photographs. The information obtained is organized by using the Concept of person.
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Once this first phase has been completed, the educator uses the Evaluation thermometers, indicating the openness shown by Fatima, if the time spent has been adequate, as well as the degree of satisfaction with the information obtained.
The measures obtained reflect a favorable evaluation (in the three thermometers the minimum score of 3 out of 5 to be able to pass to the next phase is equaled or exceeded), considering that, although Fatima could have shown greater openness (the educator takes into account that Fatima has just arrived in the host country and therefore everything is unknown to her, generating fear), the time spent has been adequate and she is satisfied.
Finally, given that Fatima and the educator have an adequate level of empathy, it is time to proceed with the initial competency evaluation. The evaluation instruments used are: the Test of Creative Imagination for Adults (PIC-A), the CREA test and an adaptation of the Development of Basic Employability Competencies situational test (DCBE). The information gathered will be useful to evaluate at the end of the process whether the DT methodology has promoted improvements that favor greater autonomy and empowerment in Fatima. The results of the initial evaluation indicate a low number of multiple and diverse responses by Fatima to a given situation, as well as difficulties in questioning different problems. Also noteworthy is a low score for task perseverance.
This phase is aimed at improving Fatima’s ability to identify her problems and needs, define them concretely and decide where to start.
In this second phase, the Needs roulette helps Fatima to express personal difficulties around different topics. In this way, with the guidance of the educator, she identifies different challenges, which from the Definition formula (Description of the person+ NEED +need +BECAUSE+ personal situation) are defined as follows:
Fatima NEEDS to learn the language of the host country BECAUSE she wants to increase her chances of employment.
Fatima NEEDS to improve her academic training BECAUSE she wants to increase her chances of finding a job.
Fatima NEEDS to increase her network of contacts BECAUSE they could help her in her job placement process.
In order to choose the resolution of one of the two stated needs, Fatima must evaluate different criteria: the time frame for its achievement (short, medium or long term), its level of difficulty (easy, medium or difficult), the degree to which she believes she will be able to meet the challenge (expectations of success) and the locus of control (if the resolution of the problem depends only on herself, depends on other people or is mixed). Two tools are used for the application of these criteria: the Axis of evaluations, to classify the ideas according to difficulty and temporality and the Analogical scales which evaluates her expectations of success and locus of control.
Fatima decides to solve in the first instance the Challenge 1. From her point of view, its difficulty is medium and it could be solved in the medium term. Moreover, despite her doubts about being able to achieve this challenge, she is aware that it depends largely on herself.
Once this phase has been completed, the Evaluation thermometers allow Fatima and the educator reflect on the improvement of her abilities to explore her needs, define them concretely and prioritize them in order to decide where to start. The educator explains to Fatima the self-evaluation process and the indicators used.
The results show that Fatima can move on to the next phase of the DT methodology by obtaining a final score equal to or higher than 3 out of 5 on all thermometers.
From the previously selected challenge (Fatima NEED to learn the language of the host country BECAUSE she wants to increase her chances of finding a job), Fatima uses Analogies
so that she can be inspired to come up with ideas that can solve the challenge posed. Since she has a family member who has gone through a similar situation, she is asked to come to offer her testimony and thus inspire Fatima to offer ideas for resolving her challenge. After listening to the detailed testimony from her family member, some of the ideas Fatima brings to solve her challenge are:
The next step is to use analysis and evaluation criteria for each proposed idea to help Fatima in the decision-making process. After an explanation by the educator, Fatima analyzes and evaluates each of the ideas using a Evaluation rubric which includes different criteria. To facilitate the process, she fills Analog scales which are then transformed into numerical scores using a scale of 1 to 5.
Idea 1 | Criteria | Score |
|---|---|---|
Final score | 5+3+3+4+4 = 19 | |
Ask your family member to help you learn the basics about the language of the host country. | Do I have the necessary resources to carry it out? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Do I have the time required for this solution? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
To what extent will this solution solve the challenge? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
Is it very difficult or complex? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
In general, this idea is appropriate | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Idea 2 | Criteria | Score |
|---|---|---|
Final score | 3+3+4+3+3 = 16 | |
Learning the language of the host country through the translation of texts of interest | Do I have the necessary resources to carry it out? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Do I have the time required for this solution? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
To what extent will this solution solve the challenge? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
Is it very difficult or complex? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
In general, this idea is appropriate | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Idea 3 | Criteria | Score |
|---|---|---|
Final score | 4+3+4+3+4 = 18 | |
Create an informal space in which to offer lessons in the language you know in exchange for acquiring vocabulary on specific topics. | Do I have the necessary resources to carry it out? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Do I have the time required for this solution? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
To what extent will this solution solve the challenge? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
Is it very difficult or complex? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
In general, this idea is appropriate | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
The procedure of analyzing each of the ideas and evaluating them based on defined criteria has allowed Fatima to understand and train a systematized procedure for making informed decisions, while at the same time favoring greater autonomy. In addition, it helps her become more aware of why you have made the decision she has made, which will have an impact on her motivation and expectations for long-term success.
Idea 1 (Ask for help from her family member to teach her the basics of the host country’s language) reaches the highest score (19 out of 25 points), and it is the one that Fatima decides to put into practice.
To finalize this phase and reflect on the appropriateness of promoting to the next phase, the educator, as well as Fatima, use the Evaluation thermometers. In this case, they evaluate: the number of ideas proposed (fluency of ideas), the variety or diversity of ideas (flexibility of categories) and, without the need to use a thermometer, the degree of personalization (originality).
In order to evaluate the fluency and flexibility indicators, the criteria established by the educator are applied to the thermometers: the number of ideas (rated from 1 to 5) and the different response categories proposed (rated from 1 to 5, so that if more than 5 alternatives are offered, the score of 5 is maintained). As for originality, Fatima and the educator comment on and take into account as a criterion the level of personalization of the proposal and the extent to which it reflects the personal idiosyncrasies of the protagonist of the process.
Based on the results obtained, it is possible to move on to the next phase of the DT process by obtaining a positive evaluation (score equal to or higher than 3 out of 5) in all thermometers, since Fatima has proposed 3 alternatives representing 3 different categories. In addition, the idea is considered to be original and adapted to its real context.
Before implementing the idea, Fatima must develop a prototype that represents the action plan. In order to prototype the chosen idea, she should think and then Dramatize the steps she will take with the family member who will be assisting her. When this dramatization takes place, Fatima is aware that her relative would not be able to give her all the help she would need to learn the language, since she does not have much time available.
Once this phase is evaluated, Fatima obtains negative scores (below 3 out of 5) in Evaluation Thermometers, both her and the educator’s evaluation of the following capabilities: identify all the significant elements that make it possible to solve the proposed challenge, plan an appropriate time sequence and precisely define the steps to be followed. Specifically, both Fatima and the educator feel that the steps to be followed have not been precisely defined, so they need to meet before moving on to the next phase of the process.
Before moving on to the next phase, Fatima recalls with the educator the Ideate phase, in order to solve the difficulties encountered in the proposed prototype. Therefore, she decides to choose the next highest scoring idea: idea 3 (Create an informal space in which you can offer classes in the language you know in exchange for acquiring vocabulary on specific topics of interest in the host country in order to access the labor market.). Once the new proposed solution is clear, she prototypes it again by means of the Dramatization.
Fatima now knows clearly how to put her idea into practice, so she can move on to the final phase of the DT process and implement the selected new idea in the real context.
In this last phase, the plan is implemented and the programmed actions are executed. The events unfold as follows:
Despite not being able to count fully on her relative’s support, she provided Fatima with the contact of a company she had attended that provides informal talks in different languages. Thus, despite her initial fears, Fatima decides to contact them and, encouraged by the institution that helps her, proposes to create groups with specific vocabulary that each member wishes to learn, either for their own pleasure or as a necessity for a job.
The company accepts Fatima’s proposal, asking her to act as coordinator of the Arabic language group, offering her in return a stipend and classes to learn the language of the host country.
Fatima begins by proposing a series of content blocks: introduction, the Arabic reading and writing system and specific vocabulary. Many people attend to learn the language, both from their own host country out of interest and taste and other migrants who can speak Arabic but not write it. Classes were held in informal spaces such as cafeterias or parks.
The evaluation of this last phase is carried out by submitting an online questionnaire in Arabic to Fatima, which allows her to reflect on the implementation of the prototype following the planned plan, taking into account criteria such as: persistence and resolution of difficulties during the process, autonomy and empowerment to carry out the plan and resolution of the challenge posed. Despite not following the exact guidelines previously prototyped, Fatima overcame the challenge she had decided to face. In addition, she achieved her inclusion in the labor market, which increased her empowerment and satisfaction with the process.
This last stage of the process is aimed at making Fatima’s improvement in the different competencies related to the problem-solving process visible through objective data. For this purpose, the evaluation instruments used in session 3 (CREA, PIC and DCBE). The data obtained provides Fatima with evidence to help her become aware of her improvement in exploring her needs, making decisions, seeking alternative solutions, planning and organizing. In relation to the initial evaluation, Fatima has improved her skills in the level of perseverance in the face of tasks, as well as in the generation of multiple responses to a situation.
The information obtained through objective tests is completed by means of a Final Interview. The following questions (a simultaneous translation system is used as a support): does Fatima feel more empowered?, did she have fun?, does she think the methodology can be useful in the long term?, what aspect of the DT process did she like the most/least?, what would she change?, which phase and which activity caused her the most/least difficulties?, is she aware that a problem can be solved in different ways?, will she face problems differently from now on? Fatima indicates that she is extremely satisfied with the use of the DT methodology, which has allowed her to find employment and to acquire a useful process in solving everyday problems. She considers that, although in the first phases she showed fear and insecurity, the process itself favored her empowerment, being the most interesting phase for her, Idear.
Finally, to be able to evaluate a correct acquisition, internalization and understanding of the DT methodology, Fatima is asked to carry out the DT process again autonomously based on another of the challenges set out in the Define phase. The educator, in this case, only records progress.
