This document outlines a design thinking workshop focused on making graphic design curriculums more inclusive. It discusses creating personas of student populations to better understand them and identify insights. An example persona "WoPa" is given of a working parent student. Insights for WoPa include having limited time for study outside of activities and feeling easily discouraged. The document provides examples of how insights could lead to solutions at different levels, such as rewriting program learning outcomes to allow for more flexibility. The overall goal is to apply the design thinking process to better understand students and address problems in the curriculum.

1. Begin 1
Applying the design thinking
process to building a more
inclusive graphic design
curriculum
Are we teaching the wrong students?

2. What you won’t get from this workshop?

3. Intro 3
What will you (actually) get from this workshop?
1. Create a set of personas that are representative of a sample of
your student population.
2. Draw insights from student personas that can lead to solutions
for specified problems.

4. Intro 4
As a designer you need to know:
1. What is your problem?
2. Who is your audience?
Design Process: Discover, Develop, Design, Deploy

5. Exercise 1: 2–5min 5
What’s the problem?
Write down at least one problem related to student retention
and success.

6. Persona 6
Creating personas:
Pruitt (2003) argues that designers often have a “vague or
contradictory sense” (p.2) of the intended users, a persona
provides a focus for goal oriented design.
Personas are a technique that moves the designer away from
designing based on a scenario, to designing based on the user.
Pruitt & Grudin. “Personas: practice and theory.” Proceedings of the 2003 conference on Designing for user experiences.
ACM, 2003.

7. Exercise 2: 15min 7
Who is your audience?
Personas can be created using ethnographic style methods. Data
can be drawn from conversations, interviews, emails, meetings,
data, observations, etc.
Identify some characteristics and demographics of your student
such as: age, education, location, occupation, family, etc.
Write from their perspective about their experience. Be their voice
including language and quirks. Don’t be afraid to empathize.

8. Student Example 8
Example of a persona
The Working Parent (code name: WoPa)
35-50 years old
has at least 1 child
working part-time or full-time
lives in a suburb or remote town

9. Student Example 9
Example of a persona (cont.)
I have a finite amount of time in the day to accomplish things. My kids
are my priority, my work has to fit around them and my design degree has
to fit around my kids and my job. I make time for my school work, but it
is often late at nights and between activities. I am often burned out and
discouraged by my performance and inability to just “get it” quickly. I find
the projects and concepts to be difficult because I do not have a high level
design background although I have been practicing design for a long time.
I want to get better and I apply the ideas I get from the classes. I find it
hard sometimes to embrace the new.

10. Exercise 3: 10min 10
What are the insights?
Ideas, concepts and theory can be applied to data (persona) to
provide insights.
Break down data as it relates to your problem.
Identify insights about your student population as it relates to the
problem.

11. Student Example 11
Example of a persona writing
I have a finite amount of time in the day to accomplish things. My kids
are my priority, my work has to fit around them and my design degree has
to fit around my kids and my job. I make time for my school work, but it
is often late at nights and between activities. I am often burned out and
discouraged by my performance and inability to just “get it” quickly. I find
the projects and concepts to be difficult because I do not have a high level
design background although I have been practicing design for a long time.
I want to get better and I apply the ideas I get from the classes. I find it
hard sometimes to embrace the new.

12. Austerlitz Connection 12
“Superstudent” (Theory)
No family commitments or financial imperatives…Highly motivated and
as passionate about their subject as their tutors. They would be totally
dedicated to study, wanting to, and able to, spend every waking hour…
excelling at every aspect of the modern art and design curriculum, able to
write, argue, debate, articulate, present, negotiate, draw, create, invent,
and innovate, all within the context of the current politico-social global
environment and capable of adapting and changing as the fast changing
modern world throws technologies and problems their way. (p.16)
Austerlitz, N., Blythman, M., Grove-White, A., Jones, B.A., Jones, C.A., Morgan, S.J., et al. (2008). Mind the gap: Expectations,
ambiguity and pedagogy within art and design higher education. In L. Drew (Ed.), The student experience in art and design higher
education: Drivers for change (p 125–148). Cambridge: JRA Publishing.

13. Student Insights 13
Data from WoPa based on theory
I have a finite amount of time in the day to accomplish things. My kids
are my priority, my work has to fit around them and my design degree has
to fit around my kids and my job. I make time for my school work, but it
is often late at nights and between activities. I am often burned out and
discouraged by my performance and inability to just “get it” quickly. I find
the projects and concepts to be difficult because I do not have a high level
design background although I have been practicing design for a long time.
I want to get better and I apply the ideas I get from the classes. I find it
hard sometimes to embrace the new.

14. WoPa connection 14
Example Student (WoPa) Insights
Limited time, study time is between activities
Degree is not primary concern
Can be easily discouraged
Disconnect between actual level of design and perceived level
Sometimes fears the unknown

15. Exercise 4: 10min 15
Insights to solutions
Explore how the persona experiences your problem:
(macro) EX: Program Learning Outcomes
(things in the middle) EX: Class Learning Outcomes
(micro) EX: Assignment expectations

16. Application Example 16
Macro things like:
We rewrote the PLOs. This allowed for more room for “meets” students
while still allowing for students to “exceed”.
Example of Formal Skills PLO:
- Produce work demonstrating mature/competent aesthetics.
- Make effective typographic choices.
- Demonstrate command/competence of media, materials, and technique.

17. Application Example 17
Micro things like:
We audited each of our classes down to the assignments for each week.
We found that in many cases we were asking students to do things that
were unnecessary or excessive.
Example of assignment:
An assignment asked for 80 thumbnails as a minimum requirement in a
week. Requiring 20 and recommending 80 was a better solution.

18. End 18
Approach the problem by
knowing your audience.
Jeremy Stout:
emailstout@gmail.com http://thesisadvice.tumblr.com/
Anitra Nottingham:
anitra@anitraland.com twitter: @anitranot
What we hope you got from this workshop: