1. 2
Design
Thinking
For
Educators
A Radford University Methodology Workbook
Version 1.c

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© 2013 Radford University / Department of Interior Design and Fashion. All Rights Reserved
Design Thinking for Educators - Methodology Workbook
6

3. 7
“We could feel them releasing
their tension about problems,
because they were learning
how to overcome obstacles.
They could be part of the
problem solving process and
not have to look to someone
else to provide a solution.”
- Radford University—ID&F Advisory board.
8
Design Thinking for Education
There are a great many obstacles that educators face within the classroom
environment. With so many factors competing for their time, it is no wonder
educators are often stressed-out and their resources are stretched thin. All
teachers work toward providing the best education possible,. However, when
teachers spend much of their time trying to work around obstacles, they divert
efforts and energy away from their mission—teaching and improving the lives of
students.
It is an exciting moment when teachers see how the Design Thinking process of
problem solving can be applied to their own challenges. Everyone is, and can be,
a designer.
Design Thinking can help.

4. 9
Human
centered
problem
solving
10
Design Thinking:
What is Design Thinking?
Why we are doing this?
Who are we?
Where do we begin?
Process:
The Design Thinking process / getting started
Design and education
Problem based learning
Learning objectives and needs
Discover & Define:
Finding common themes
The 5 Whys/Whats
Generate Empathy:
Stakeholder diagrams
User Interviews
Role-play & storyboarding
Imagine, Explore, Create:
Generate ideas
Thorns, buds, & roses
Round robin
Implement & Evolve:
Prototyping
Fail early—fail often
Implement & Evolve

5. 11
“Design is an opportunity to
continue telling the story, not
just sum everything up.”
- Tate Linden, President, Stokefire
12
Design
Thinking

6. 13
Simply put, Design Thinking is the
application of the design process to
solve difficult challenges. Design
Thinking is a mindset, and the
willingness to explore many
possibilities in the pursuit of solving
complex problems.
The first step is to realize that as an
educator, you already possess the
necessary tools needed to solve these
challenges. You are already designing
every single day!
What is Design Thinking?
Good question! Ultimately the goal is to
find ways to empower teachers to
individually improve the way students
are taught.
We believe every teacher has a unique
role in impacting the lives of their
students. That role includes shaping
the learning environment .
Why are we doing this?
This exercise is a joint effort sponsored
by the Radford University Department
of Interior Design and Fashion, The
College of Education and Human
Development, and members of the
ID&F advisory board. Additional
partners and sponsors include the
commercial interior design firm KSA
Interiors, the Council for Certified
Virginia Interior Designers (CCVID),
and the consulting firm Motivate
Forward.
Utilizing tools and processes
developed by our multi-disciplinary
design team and inspired by the
industrial design firm IDEO and the
LUMA Institute, we are looking to gain
an insight into how collaboration can
lead to better educational
environments.
Who are we?
14
Our team of educators, certified design professionals and researchers apply the
methodologies of Design Thinking in their daily activities. Through their support
and guidance, we have developed this design manual and we ask that you join our
team as an active partner. By sharing your experiences, you can help us improve
this methodology.
Learn more about our research partners, volunteers and sponsors:
Radford University
Radford University Department of Interior Design & Fashion
Radford University MFA Design Thinking
Radford College of Education and Human Development
KSA Interiors
www.ksainteriors.com
Council for Certified Virginia Interior Designers (CCVID)
www.ccvid.org
Motivate Forward
www.motivateforward.com
Additional Resources:
IDEO
http://www.ideo.com/
LUMA Institute
http://www.luma-institute.com/
Research, guidance and inspiration

7. 15
Where do we begin?
The first task is to realize what it means to think like a designer.
Design thinking is:
Human Centered.
Well attuned solutions are derived by
forming a deep empathy with those
impacted by complex problems.
Teachers are some of the most caring
and attuned people we know.
Collaborative.
Bringing together various perspectives
is what Design Thinking is all about.
Non-linear challenges are rarely solved
by one viewpoint. Thinking like a
designer means engaging others with
different skills and experiences. The
first step is to realize, as an educator,
you already possess the tools to solve
complex challenges. You are already
designing every single day!
Optimistic.
Design Thinking lives in a world where
all challenges can be solved, and no
idea is too far fetched for consideration.
Experimental.
This process implores you to take risks.
In fact it’s a requirement. Thankfully we
also give you permission to fail. An
open willingness to try ideas and
explore why they work, (or do not), is
the most important aspect of Design
Thinking.
16
Design thinking is as much a mindset
as it is a process. It is a methodology
that asks you to explore new
perspectives and to apply critical
thinking, visualization, collaboration,
and empathy to better understand the
context of a problem. Design thinking
resides at the nexus of three
parameters—the Problem, the
Solution, and the Operational
Environment in which the problem and
solution co-exist. Using a Venn
diagram similar to the one shown
below, you can visualize how these
different parameters share overlapping
impacts.
Why are people looking to design as a
new way to solve problems? The world
is increasingly becoming a non-linear
place. Old structures, protocols,
practices, and procedures no longer
ensure the results we once could trust.
Predictions, models and projections
that used to be reliable are now failing.
Designers appear to have the mindset /
approach best suited to solve what
many people are now calling “wicked
problems”.
Add to this the challenge that many
people have replaced the old measures
of quality with new measures. We
increasingly seek purpose and
meaning over longevity or functionality;
a greater connection with the things we
associate ourselves with, buy, and use.
Design is the differentiator that
distinguishes successful services,
products and solutions from mediocre
attempts.
The key to the success of design
thinking is that it can be adopted by
anyone since it taps into the inherent
attributes that make us human—
intuition, empathy, and reason.
Designers naturally balance these
human attributes in the problem solving
process, consciously taking logical
leaps of faith and exploring “what might
be” with every turn or twist in the
lifespan of generating a solution.
Everyone has the capacity to think like
a designer. Design Thinking is a
process that makes it easier to see
how to hone that capacity—to repeat it,
improve it, share it, and learn from it.
Problem
Solution
Operational
Environment

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Origins
Many of the exercises that make up the
core of this workbook have been
developed by the Design Thinking MFA
Program at Radford University and the
commercial interior design firm KSA
Interiors. Additional exercises have
been adopted from other sources such
as IDEO, the LUMA Institute, and the
Stanford d. School.
Supported by a diverse advisory board
with professional and academic
members from across the country,
Radford University has developed this
toolkit for sharing the design thinking
methodology. Working with public
school systems in Virginia, this
methodology has been honed through
workshops where educators have been
engaged in activities and tools to
explore the Design Thinking process.
Over time this methodology will be
refined through future workshops and
will continue to evolve.
The root inspiration for this workshop
comes from IDEO – a leader in Design
Thinking.
Inspired by IDEO’s methodology,
Radford University undertook the
challenge of developing a Masters of
Fine Arts Degree in Design Thinking.
The new MFA program is the
centerpiece in an additional goal of the
University to engage the resources of
the College of Education and Human
Development and communities across
the state in expanding the role of
design in problem solving.
Early learning from this workbook and
associated workshops will culminate
when Radford University hosts their
first Design Thinking Conference in
Summer 2014. This conference will be
centered around using Design Thinking
to improve educational environments.
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The lessons learned through this workbook and associated workshops, will guide
the planning and development of future conference topics and activities, as well as
improve this workbook and future workshops.
We cordially invite you to join in this process and to share your experience using
this workbook.
Good luck and best wishes as you begin using design to open new worlds of
opportunity in solving complex challenges.
Sincerely,
Radford University
Department of Interior Design and Fashion, Advisory Board
Join us
The Design Thinking methodology can only improve with your help. Please contact
us with your thoughts, ideas, suggestions or critique and help us evolve and grow.
Contact:
Radford University Department of Interior Design and Fashion
Department Chair
Holly L. Cline, Ph.D., LEED AP, IDEC, NCIDQ #12833
hcline@radford.edu
Share your experience

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“Think, set the point of view,
plan to implement,
implement.”
- Jim Hackett, CEO, Steelcase
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Process

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The Design Thinking Process
Radford University’s Design Thinking MFA Program defines Design Thinking as a
non-linear four stage process. Each stage can be operationalized out of order due
to a continuous cycle of iteration.
Design Thinking is an iterative and
empathic process of synthesis and
experimentation. Each phase asks
designers to apply intuition in taking a
logical leap of faith in identifying
potential solutions. This workbook
explores each stage of the process by
identifying exercises, tools,
expectations, and opportunities for
reflection, self learning, and
improvement. It is best to think of this
methodology as a primer to get the
creative juices flowing and to feel free
to adapt or modify this tool to meet
your specific problems or needs.
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Getting Started
First things first, if you are looking to
utilize this tool, you have likely
identified a problem and found others
who share that problem. Before you get
ahead of yourself, we ask that you
begin by making a simple sounding
(but difficult to implement) pledge to
open your mind to all possibilities, to
take an optimistic approach, and not try
to solve the problem before you
understand it properly.
Once you make that pledge, your next
step is to identify a well-rounded team
of individuals impacted by this problem.
Limiting your team to individuals from
one or a small number of disciplines
runs the risk of self-reinforcing insular
ideas and decisions which may not
survive when exposed to the real
environment.
With a problem and a team in place all
you need now is a common place for
your group to collaborate. Try to find a
place that is comfortable yet varied
from your regular daily experience. A
fresh location will help promote new
ideas and discourage subconscious
sabotage—when worries of “what can’t
be done” seep into your thinking.

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Activity 1: Identify a Common Issue
Begin the design thinking process by outlining a very broad and generic issue that
you wish to explore. Avoid identifying very narrow and acute issues.
1. Identify a common issue
Write a broad description of an issue faced by your organization, group, or team.
…
…
...
Activity 2: Identify a Diverse Team
Select a diverse group of individuals to participate in a collaborative effort to
explore the common issue. Consider selecting as broad a coalition of impacted
individuals as possible. Design Thinking thrives when many divergent viewpoints
come together. Do not worry if early team discussions revise the definition of your
original issue. Design Thinking will continuously ask you to revise your position or
reevaluate your assumptions. If your team is large, consider dividing into “groups
within a group”. Each sub-group can tackle the same issue simultaneously but
separately—Make sure to take time to regularly catch-up or even frequently
redistribute team members.
2. Identify a diverse team
Identify a diverse team of collaborators.
…
…
…
…
…
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Activity 3: Identify a Location
Select a convenient location for your team to meet for discussion and exploration
of your issue. Depending on the scope of your problem, this space may be needed
for a few hours, or as many as several days. Any space will do so long as it can
accommodate the entire team when collaborating as a single unit. Consider a
location that is diverse from your typical daily experience as a tool for generating
fresh and new ideas.
3. Identify a Location
Identify a convenient location to host your collaboration.
…
…
…
…
…

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Design and Education
So, what does design have to do with education?
In short, everything. Education and Design Thinking share a common purpose.
They are both human centered and rely on engagement, collaboration, and
intrinsic motivation. A variety of pedagogies, including Problem Based Learning
(PBL), share similarities with Design Thinking, as do learning classification
systems such as Bloom’s Taxonomy, and psychological theories, including
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
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Problem Based Learning (PBL) and
other active learning pedagogies are a
perfect pairing for the Design Thinking
methodology. Human-Centered (or
Student-Centered) problem solving is
at the core of each school of thought.
Design Thinking resides at the nexus of
at least three interrelated parameters.
In the case of education, one logical
deduction is that opportunities exist at
the nexus of curriculum, student and
teacher needs, and physical space. At
any given time, any of these
parameters may present an avenue to
defining a problem, proposing a
solution, or identifying the operational
environment in which the problem and
solution co-exist.
Design Thinking represents a process
to solve challenges within active
learning environments as well as an
active learning tool to directly assist
students facilitate Self –Directed
Learning (SDL), stimulate the cognitive
process, and engage their peers.
Consider not only engaging your
students through Design Thinking, but
also sharing the Design Thinking
methodology with your students as a
tool for them to use.
Problem Based Learning

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Learning objectives and needs
Bloom’s Taxonomy
The various stages of the Design
Thinking process bear an uncanny
resemblance to the framework within
Bloom’s Taxonomy classification for
learning objectives within education.
Both learning and problem solving
share core foundations upon which
discovery and understanding lead to
exploration, application, evaluation,
and creative evolution.
Similarly, one can find relationships to
the Design Thinking process in
psychological theories, such as
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Design Thinking

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“The real voyage of discovery
is not in seeking new
landscapes, but in having new
eyes.”
- Marcel Proust, La Prisonnière'
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Discover
& Define

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Activity: Finding Common Themes
Overview:
 Finding Common Themes is an active group session intended to build initial
group self purpose and camaraderie, while generating broad topics for
discussion.
 Many brainstorming sessions result in narrow perspectives and ideas. This
exercise allows many smaller and narrow ideas to be generated and then
compiled into larger, more universal categories.
 Group discussions can often lead to unwanted side effects of “Group Think”:
fear of criticism, desire for acceptance, or reprisal for offering suggestions or
ideas. By removing critique from these sessions, a safe and accepting
environment is created where all ideas and participants can have room to
flourish.
Benefits:
Engages a wide variety of stakeholders
Establishes a common language for discussing a problem
Develops a divergent field of issues to address
Pools related issues into broad themes
Builds a sense of common purpose and camaraderie
Creates a safe atmosphere for collaboration
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Instructions:
1. Develop a team of varied stakeholders with unique perspectives.
2. Divide into small sub groups each with their own facilitator/group leader.
3. On Post-it Notes write down many different issues related to the problem.
4. Each team member presents their Post-its, giving a description of each issue.
- Only the presenter of each issue is allowed to speak.
- No external critique or comment is allowed from other team members.
5. Gather all groups together and ask the larger group to consolidate all issues into
specific themes.
6. Give each themed group a heading or title representing a broad issue to be
addressed.
Resources:
KSA Interiors Process Story
The KSA Way
http://www.slideshare.net/ksainteriors/ksa-the-ksa-way-process-story

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Activity: The 5 Whys/Whats
Overview:
 Sometimes the underlying reason for an issue is hiding in plain sight.
Consecutively asking “why?” or “what?” is at the root of a problem helps
uncover a better understanding of the problem.
 This can be especially true when trying to identify issues related to preferences,
emotions, or instinctual reactions as people can be notoriously bad about
explaining their own feelings.
 This exercise allows a safe and easy way to probe responses, to get past face-
value interpretations, and identify underlying issues.
 Example:
The vehicle will not start. (the problem).
1. Why? - The battery is dead. (first why)
2. Why? - The alternator is not functioning. (second why)
3. Why? - The alternator belt has broken. (third why)
4. Why? - The alternator belt was well beyond its useful service life and not
replaced. (fourth why)
5. Why? - The vehicle was not maintained according to the recommended
service schedule. (fifth why, a root cause)
Benefits:
Explores cause and effect relationships
Sees past face-value responses and issues
Provides a safe way to probe personal, or emotional responses to issues
Uncovers root causes behind problems
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Instructions:
1. Using an Ishikawa or “fishbone” diagram identify one broad theme to address.
2. On one end of the diagram indicate the problem.
3. Ask “Why?” or “What?” causes that particular issue.
4. Continue asking “Why?” or “What?” consecutively up to five times.
5. Ask open ended questions such as “What do you mean by?”, “Why is that a
problem?” or “Why does that occur?”
6. Determine root cause or issue.
Resources:
KSA Interiors “Best in the World”
“Best in the World, A Client-Centric Approach”
http://www.slideshare.net/ksainteriors/ksa-bestintheworld-ebook
“Customer Centered Growth” , by Richard Whiteley and Diane Hessan
The 5 Whys
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Whys

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Activity: Visual Discovery
Overview:
 a “Visual Discovery” exercise. Can assist your team in effectively building
consensus among team members and developing a common visual vocabulary
for the design process.
 Ask group members to individually select imagery from a variety of sources,
magazines, books, and the internet, which represent ideas, concepts, ideas, or
emotions they wish to express in identifying the problem.
 As a group, label, draw, and mark up all of the imagery. Define each visual with
describing words to categorize the imagery. Feel free to indicate contradictory
viewpoints or descriptions of each image. There is no wrong description.
Benefits:
Identifies a common visual language for team members
Allows all team members to see that different members may have opposing
perspectives of similar ideas
Provides a safe way to probe personal, or emotional responses to issues or ideas
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Instructions:
1. Ask the team to find imagery representing issues close to them
2. Post all imagery on a common wall with room to markup and annotate images
3. As a group ask the entire team to label all images with descriptions of how these
images make them feel
4. Engage in a group discussion focusing on images with the strongest responses.
- Pay close attention to images which garnered highly similar or significantly
contradictory responses.
5. Ask the team to describe why they feel so strongly about those issues.
6. Keep the most significant issues posted on a wall visible to all team members
and reference them often. Make note if perspectives change over the course of
future activities.
Resources:
KSA Interiors Process Story
The KSA Way
http://www.slideshare.net/ksainteriors/ksa-the-ksa-way-process-story

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“People ignore design that
ignores people.”
- Frank Chimero, Designer and Illustrator
38
Generate
Empathy

19. 39
Activity: Stakeholder Mapping
Overview:
 Used to understand who is impacted by the problem.
 Helps teams visualize and understand the relationship, hierarchies and
interactions between all of the people who have an interest (or stake) in the
system or product being designed.
 Typically teams work together to map all of the individuals who will potentially
touch the product from purchase decision through use, maintenance, repair, and
disposal.
 This activity typically reveals that the product or service has a lot more
stakeholders than the obvious end-user.
 With this information, the team can determine which of these people they should
consider as the primary audience and create a research plan for interviews and/
or contextual inquiry.
 Stakeholder maps can also be used to help new team members get up to speed
on a project.
 Finally, stakeholder maps are an excellent way to present the findings from
research, since they can be formatted to display a rich contextual picture of the
individuals associated with the product or system.
Benefits:
Generates shared ideas about all involved parties
User/human centered
Can be used as research documentation
Empathy is developed through identification and understanding
40
Instructions:
1.List all people and groups who might be impacted by the problem
2.Draw simple representations of the people and groups. Keep it simple (no
artistic abilities needed!!)
3.Draw clusters of icons to represent groups of people
4.Label each person/group
5.Use dialog bubbles to capture thoughts and feelings
6.Draw lines and arrows to illustrate relationships between people and groups
Resources:
From the LUMA Institute
The theory behind concept maps, and making and using them:
http://cmap.ihmc.us/Publications/ResearchPapers/TheoryCmaps/
TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.htm
Engaging the right people using stakeholder maps:
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_07.htm

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Activity: User Interview
Overview:
 Interviewing users of a space, process, or tool highlights key issues which may
need to be addressed.
 Users are often able to provide unique insight into why an issue exists, or at
least identify specific parameters which affect it.
 By understanding the role and mindset of a user, the need for specific design
improvements can be uncovered.
Benefits:
Engages a wide array of perspectives and mindsets
Values the opinions of users affected by an issue
Establishes “Buy-In” with those most impacted by the success or failure of new
solutions
Builds empathy for the needs of others impacted by the issue
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Instructions:
1. Identify individuals who are both extremely familiar or unfamiliar with the issue.
2. Put emphasis on selecting students as well as instructors or staff.
3. Conduct interviews and ask subjects to evaluate their experience with the issue.
Resources:
IDEO
IDEO Method Cards

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Activity: Role-Playing & Storyboarding
Overview:
 By enacting the activities within a real or imagined context, the team can trigger
empathy for actual users and raise other relevant issues.
 Putting yourself in the role of other stakeholders by way of character profiles is a
fun and useful way to bring a particular issue to life and to communicate the
value of different perspectives among different stakeholders.
 Using observations of real people, character profiles can uncover specific
archetypes and details of behavior of stakeholders.
 This process may also uncover unanticipated issues inherent in the
circumstances of a particular issue.
 Recording interactions and discussions using a storyboard is a quick and
expressive way to document information uncovered by the activity. Consider the
use of video and audio as an additional method for recording interactions.
Benefits:
Communicates the value of different concepts to various stakeholders
Brings issues or people impacted by issues to life
Builds empathy for those impacted by issues
Uncovers unanticipated issues
Uncovers specific behaviors and perspectives
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Instructions:
1. Based on observations of real people, imagine characters representing those
who are impacted by the issue.
2. Assign specific characters to different members of your team.
3. Establish a situation where the various characters face the issue.
4. Enact or act-out a scene involving the established situation with each team
member playing a specific character.
5. Draft a story-board recounting the interactions, perspective, or mindset, of the
characters in your scene.
6. Make sure to use captions and dialogue bubbles to capture important
interactions.
Resources:
IDEO
IDEO Method Cards

22. 45
“The creation of a thousand
forests is in one acorn.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
46
Imagine
Explore
Create

23. 47
Activity: Generating Ideas—Reverse Brainstorming
Overview:
 Reverse brainstorming helps you solve problems by allowing you to see all
possible causes of a problem in order to ensure effective solutions.
 This process frees up the group to think about a problem in a different way
making it easier to come to solutions.
 To use this technique, you start with one of two "reverse" questions:
- Instead of asking, "How do I solve or prevent this problem?" ask, "How could I
possibly cause the problem?"
- Instead of asking "How do I achieve these results?" ask, "How could I possibly
achieve the opposite effect?" in effect identifying a “Reverse Solution”
 Once the team has a long list of "reverse" solutions, now it is time to look at flip
each one to think about real potential solutions.
 Do not evaluate, criticize or critique ideas/solutions presented. It is important to
ensure participants do not pass judgment on even the most unlikely
suggestions.
Benefits:
Promotes creative problem solving
Leads to robust solutions
Opens dialogue and gets past “brain freeze”
Creates a safe atmosphere for collaboration
48
Instructions:
1. Reference previous exercises and engage in a work session to generate ideas.
2. Clearly identify one or more large themed issues to solve.
3. Reverse the problem or challenge by asking, "How could I possibly cause the
problem?" or "How could I possibly achieve the opposite effect?"
4. Brainstorm the reverse problem to generate reverse solution ideas. Allow the
brainstorm ideas to flow freely. Do not reject anything at this stage.
5. Once you have brainstormed all the ideas to solve the reverse problem,
reverse these into solution ideas for the original problem or challenge.
6. Evaluate these solution ideas. Can you see a potential solution? Can you see
attributes of a potential solution?
7. Do not spend time critiquing ideas/solutions presented. All ideas should be
given time and space to stand on their own. Evaluation of ideas will come later.
Resources:
Mindtools
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_96.htm

24. 49
Activity: Thorns, Buds, & Roses
Overview:
 This activity/process organizes, prioritizes, and synthesizes the group’s ideas
 This is a stepping stone in moving the problem toward solution.
Benefits:
Each team member has a say
Elicits constructive critique
Provides quick results
Team members develop a collective understanding
50
Instructions:
1. Bring together team members from various disciplines
2. Assign three colors of Post-It notes to represent:
Roses (positive)
Buds (potential)
Thorns (problems)
3. Cluster like ideas into groups with common themes
4. Have each team member tag an idea with a Rose, Bud, or Thorn Post-It
5. Review and discuss results
Resources:
From the LUMA Institute
The origins of rose, bud, and thorn:
http://www.longspeakbsa.org/resources/thronsroses.shtml

25. 51
Activity: Round Robin
Overview:
 This activity is an ideation protocol that promotes group authorship by passing
along ideas.
 Round Robin is a method teams can use to quickly build a collection of ideas
around a particular challenge. It works best with 2-3 small teams containing at
least 3 people.
 The power of this method lies in the fact that judgment is deferred in the interest
of generating a large number and variety of ideas.
 It also ensures that the whole team gets involved, since everyone takes a turn.
 During a round, each person inherits the idea of the last person and builds on it
– therefore, the solution emerges from collective input.
Benefits:
Generates creative ideas within given parameters
Brings together unlikely ideas
Creates group ideas through collective input
52
Instructions:
1. Assemble small multidisciplinary teams of 3-5 people.
2.On a blank sheet of paper each person first writes the challenge/problem state-
ment.
- each paper rotates to the team member to the right -
3. Next, each person illustrates an unconventional way to solve the problem
- teach paper rotates to the team member to the right -
4.Next, each team member critiques the proposal in front of them for potential
problems i.e. why it will fail
- the paper rotates one last time to the right -
5.Finally each team member reviews the previous team members critique and pre-
sents a resolution to the identified problems.
6. The full team then reviews all documentation.
Resources:
From the LUMA Institute
The Wisdom of Crowds, by James Surowiecki, Doubleday, US, (2004).

26. 53
“Ideas are easy.
Implementation is hard.”
- Guy Kawasaki, founder, Alltop
54
Implement
& Evolve

27. 55
Experience / Wizard of Oz Prototyping
Overview:
 Use Experience or Wizard-of-Oz prototyping to fake functionality that you want
to test with users, thus saving you the time and resources of actually creating
the functionality before you refine it through testing.
 Just like the small man behind the curtain faked the power of the Wizard of Oz,
your design team can fake features that you want to test.
 Use readily available materials and develop a prototype to experience using the
product, process, or service.
 Can be used for both objects and activities, products or processes.
Benefits:
Quickly simulates a user experience
Reveals unanticipated issues or needs
Evaluates ideas
Provides a safe place to fail
56
Instructions:
1. Determine an idea to explore.
2. Devoting minimal resources, and using human intervention behind the scenes,
act out scenarios related to your solution.
3. Write down issues or conflicts that arise which need to be addressed later.
4. Refine your solution and test again.
Resources:
The Stanford D.School
Bootcamp Bootleg
http://dschool.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/
BootcampBootleg2010v2SLIM.pdf
e Wisdom of Crowds, by James Surowiecki, Doubleday, US, (2004).
IDEO
IDEO Method Cards

28. 57
Fail Early—Fail Often
Failing early and often is a requirement.
By requiring yourself to take chances, go out on a limb, and make mistakes, you
create the opportunity to learn more about your issue than is possible by playing it
safe. Mistakes create the opportunity to revisit, refine, and reformulate solutions.
Failing early also eliminates the risk of catastrophic failure further down the line.
Make an effort to fail—intentionally—when failure is still inexpensive, and be
amazed by those solutions which manage to survive.
“There is no failure, only
feedback.”
- Robert G. Allen
“Fail often so you can succeed
sooner.”
- Tom Kelley, General Manager, IDEO
58

29. 59
Implement & Evolve
Implementing your ideas is the hardest part of any process. This is where action
replaces thinking—and where an idea is the most vulnerable. These ideas are
Vulnerable not due to their merit, but rather, vulnerable to fear and other outside
sources beyond your control. Here are a few tips to help you implement your
ideas—and bypass any vulnerability.
-Get widespread support
Build a large and diverse team to establish a built-in support structure for your
ideas.
-Start Small
Don’t overwhelm yourself or your idea. Start small and let the idea grow and
spread.
-Failure is feedback
Remember, evolution of your idea is a good thing. Let the idea find its own way,
don't force it, and if something doesn't work—fix it.
-Share the credit
If you did something right, you likely didn't do this alone. Share credit where
credit is due and continue building a wider support structure by sharing the love.
-Aggregate, multiply, and evolve
We live in an “Aggregation Age”. The resources of the networks surrounding us
allow you to aggregate influence and support from many sources. Give others
the power to share, expand, and modify your solution—and watch it multiply,
evolve, and succeed.
60

30. 61
About the workbook
This workbook is a collaborative educational effort that is designed to grow,
expand, and evolve. We are deeply appreciative of the many volunteers who
have participated in developing this tool academically and in practice. This
includes the many educators who have shared with us their stories, ideas,
challenges, and solutions.
A special thanks is given to the administration, staff, and faculty of the
Spotsylvania County school system, in particular the educators from Freedom
Middle School, for their initial efforts at helping to shape this methodology.
http://designthinkingforeducators.com
http://www.ideo.com/work/method-cards/
© 2012 IDEO LLC. All Rights Reserved
http://www.ksainteriors.com
© 2010-13 KSA Interiors. All Rights Reserved
http://www.luma-institute.com/
© 2010-13 LUMA Institute, LLC. All Rights Reserved
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_96.htm
© 1996-2013 Mind Tools Ltd. All Rights Reserved
http://dschool.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/BootcampBootleg2010v2SLIM.pdf
© 2010 Stanford University D. School. All Rights Reserved
“Change by design : how design thinking transforms organizations and inspires innovation.”
© 2009 Harper Business, Tim Brown, Barry Katz
“The design of business : why design thinking is the next competitive advantage.”
© 2009 Harvard Business Press, Roger Martin
“A whole new mind : Why right-brainers will rule the future.”
© 2008 Marshall Cavendish, Daniel Pink
Credits and acknowledgments
62
Sharing
This workbook is intended to grow and evolve. To do so, this workbook and its
ideas must be shared. Please feel free to take this effort to new places, and to
use it, share it, modify it, and improve it. All we ask in return is that you let us
know about your experience so we too can improve.
Let us know how this works by contacting:
Radford University Department of Interior Design and Fashion
Department Chair
Holly L. Cline, Ph.D., LEED AP, IDEC, NCIDQ #12833
hcline@radford.edu
License:
This workbook is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-Share-Alike 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
Under this license you are free:
To Share - to copy, distribute, and transmit the work
To Remix - to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
Attribution - You must attribute the work to Radford University, Department of
Interior Design and Fashion. You may not suggest that Radford University
endorses your work.
Non-Commercial - You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
Share Alike - If you alter, transform, or build upon this work you must distribute
the resulting work under the same Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-Share-Alike 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0).