Grand Valley Magazine Summer 2015 - (Page 30)

Q&A Q&A John Berry Design Thinking Initiative director by Matthew Makowski | photo by Amanda Pitts There's a relatively new buzzword appearing in the worlds of business, nonprofit, design and academia known as "design thinking." Academic institutions are striving to incorporate design thinking into their curriculums to provide students with experience in interdisciplinary problem solving, while businesses and nonprofits are seeking graduates with skills that include working on diverse teams to meet realworld needs. With 40 years of professional design experience working with global manufacturers, international architectural and design firms, art and design colleges and professional associations, John Berry joined Grand Valley last year as director of the Design Thinking Initiative to bring the concepts of design thinking to students, faculty, staff and the West Michigan community. He was the founder and executive director of Design West Michigan, a design advocacy group that brings together diverse design professionals to advance the recognition of design as a key component of economic growth. Berry also developed 30 Summer '15 the bachelor of fine arts in collaborative design program at Kendall College of Art and Design and spent 16 years as vice president of Corporate Communications at Herman Miller. GVM: How do you define design thinking? JB: There's confusion broadly on what design thinking is because the word "design" gets in the way. People hear the word "design" and they assume automatically it's about making or building something. The application of design thinking is really a human-centered approach to solving problems and meeting needs using an organized method of defining, observing and considering those impacted. Design thinking is a process and not a formula, and it's messy. It is comprised of five elements: empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping and testing. It starts with understanding what the needs are of those you are trying to help. The key is empathy and understanding from the very beginning that you need to listen to, get input from, and be open to realizing what you might think is an answer isn't really the answer. From there it goes into defining the context within which the problem fits and then into wild brainstorming. Ideation is gathering all of these wonderful thoughts that may be just the right answer. Prototyping does not mean necessarily building something, but it might. It also can be prototyping an organizational structure, a process or a storyboard. From there quick ideation occurs so everyone has a shared understanding of what the solution is and then testing ultimately striving toward implementation. GVM: It sounds like the concepts within design thinking aren't new, but the actual term "design thinking" seems to have only recently appeared. Where did it originate? JB: The term "design thinking" didn't really come about until the mid-2000s. It was and continues to be promoted by the design and innovation consulting firm IDEO, and then more of an acceleration of that as the IDEO founders got involved with Stanford University. Together they developed a program called the "d.School," which provides the experience of the design thinking process to graduate level students. Businesses are lining up to hire people coming out of that program because they realize that's the kind of flexibility and creative thinking they need. Innovation, entrepreneurship and collaboration have become the modes that organizations operate in. GVM: Why is design thinking being implemented at Grand Valley and what is the end game of the university's Design Thinking Initiative? JB: The end game is to enhance the employability of students by finding ways to provide that design thinking experience. Additionally, faculty and community partners can benefit. One of the goals of our Design Thinking Initiative task force is to make sure the experience is thorough enough so that employers see the value of our students' design thinking experiences Key Components of Design Thinking + EMPATHIZE Understanding the real human needs. + PROTOTYPE Either a rough physical approximation of an idea or a quick + DEFINE storyboard, diagram, Using empathetic insights chart, or other visual to frame a problem, representation of putting the issue in a an idea. broader context. + TEST + IDEATE Extending an idea into Brainstorming while an environment that encouraging wild ideas solicits feedback about without fear of judgment. the prototypes created.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Grand Valley Magazine Summer 2015

Campus News
Athletics
Donor Impact
Fall Arts Celebration
Evolving as a professional
Finding fellowships
Mastering a subject
Research
Focal Point
Q&A John Berry
Off the Path
Museum School
Alumni

Grand Valley Magazine Summer 2015