Class 1: Workshop Guide
Let’s Get Started!
We know from experience that the only way to learn human-centered design is by
applying it. So throughout this course you will be learning through doing: learning
about research by researching, figuring out how to prototype by prototyping. To do
this, however, you first need a design challenge.
So with that in mind, there are two ways you can approach this course: through an
already crafted IDEO.org challenge, or through your own personal design challenge.
While you have the choice, we strongly recommend you begin by learning through
one of our pre-crafted IDEO.org challenges—especially if this is your first time
learning human-centered design. These challenges have been vetted as great for
group collaboration and as challenges that can be completed in the time allotted for
the course.
Like any new skill, learning human-centered design requires practice, practice,
and more practice. These pre-vetted challenges give you the space to explore the
process in a more prescriptive way alongside an online community of others who
are learning the process at the same time and who are in the same stage as you. So
by following one of these pre-crafted challenges, the support is extensive and the
outcome is simply to learn—without the pressure of a real deliverable. The benefit of choosing
your own design challenge, however, is that you can push
your own work to new places and see it from new perspectives. Please take into account that if
you do choose to apply human-centered design to a personal project, you will need to spend
substantially more time with the course.
Because we don’t know the variables within a personal project, it’s not possible to
give the same guidance around a prescribed time for each activity. To work around
this, we will suggest activity durations based on a standardized project timeline of
three months. Then it’s up to you to decide if you will need more or less time for a
particular part, based on the scope of your project.
Good luck and have fun!
Class Leader’s Guide
Before the Class 1 Workshop
Confirm That You Have a Meeting Space
This should be a dedicated room, table, or even just a wall where the group can post ideas and
inspiration. The design process involves a lot of talking and group collaboration, so you will
want to choose a location where your group can talk and not disturb others around you too much.
Confirm That Everyone Can Make the Workshop
If some members of the team will be missing, consider rescheduling or have a plan in place to go
forward with a smaller number of team members for the class.
Print Out Class 1 Workshop Guide
Though it is not required to print the Class 1 Readings, please check with your team members
and encourage them to print the Class 1 Workshop Guide.
Coordinate with Your Team to Bring Supplies
A notebook for blank paper, pens, felt markers or Sharpies, Post-it notes (or their equivalent),
and printed Class 1 Workshop Guide should be sufficient.
Lead the Workshop
This guide will walk you through facilitating the activities, discussions, and assignments for
Class 1. Make sure to review the readings thoroughly so that you can can effectively lead your
team.
1. Introductions & Beginner’s Mind
20 minutes
As human-centered designers, it’s important to embrace your “beginner’s mind,” to approach
problems as a novice even if you already know a lot about them. Your beginner’s mind is eager
to learn and willing to experiment. Take a few minutes to answer the questions below and then
discuss your answers with your team. Be sure to tap into your beginner’s mind for the last
question in particular.
1) What’s your name?
2) Where do you work?
3) Why are you taking this course?
4) What would you like to learn during the course?
5) What would you like to be doing in five years?
6) Tell a story about the last activity that you tried for the first time. Was it exciting or
scary? How did being a novice help you?
2. Icebreaker: Visual Telephone
20 minutes
It’s important to be visual as a human-centered designer. Thinking visually can also help you get
“unstuck” at key points in the creative process. In addition to getting more familiar with your
teammates, this icebreaker will help
you get visual quickly.
Note: You will need at least three team members for this activity. Each team member will need a
blank piece of paper and a pen.
Exercise 1:
Everyone in the group should write one sentence (silly or serious) on the top of your
piece of paper
Fold over the top of the paper to hide the sentence
Pass your paper to the person on your right
Exercise 2:
Unfold the paper you just received to reveal the sentence
Draw a picture of what you see
Fold your paper to hide the sentence at the top, then fold it again to hide the
picture below it
Pass the piece of paper to the right
Exercise 3:
Unfold the paper you just received to reveal only the picture (not the sentence)
Write a new sentence below the picture, describing what you see
Fold the paper three times to hide the first sentence, then the picture, then the last
sentence
Pass it to the right
Exercise 4:
Unfold the paper you just received to reveal only the last sentence
Draw a picture based on what you see.
Fold the paper four times
Pass it to the right
Repeat until your original paper returns to you.
Unfold it and see how much the story has changed.
3. Logistics
10 minutes
The Class Leader should guide this discussion. This course has a group-guided learning structure
and will be most successful if you follow the guidelines below as closely as possible. Discuss
each guideline, determine if there will be any problems, and map out potential solutions.
Discuss
Time
Each workshop should be scheduled to last around two to three hours. You’ll have about one to
two hours of readings in advance of each meeting. For certain classes, you’ll also have
homework assignments to submit to the online platform. As noted previously, those teams
embarking on their own personal design challenge should anticipate longer workshops.
Calendar
Plot the workshop sessions on a calendar. Mark dates that members might miss and plan
accordingly or reschedule. You will be conducting research out in the community for the second
week of both Class 2 and Class 4 so weekend meetings might be best for these sessions. Space
Try to secure a meeting space for the full duration of the workshop. Can you hold workshops at
someone’s house, your school, office, church?
Leadership
Each class, a member of your team will serve as the “Class Leader.” This person will lead the
discussion and facilitate the various activities. They are also responsible for coordinating with
team members to bring required supplies.
Set ground rules
We recommend that your group take a moment to set a few rules or norms for how you would
like workshops to function. Here are some questions to get you going:•How can you structure the
workshop to ensure that an environment of mutual trust and respect is created?•How should
feedback (both positive and negative) be communicated so that each individual and the group
gets the most out of it?•Are there other rules that you can think of that will make the workshops
run more smoothly?
Supplies
Each team member should print out the Workshop Guide and bring it to each meeting. (It isn’t
required to print out the Class Readings.)The Class Leader will be responsible for organizing
with the team to provide:
Pens, pencils, markers, blank paper
Post-it notes if they’re available; if not, cut scrap paper into squares and bring tape to
stick them on the wall.
During Class 4, your team will need to gather and bring prototyping supplies to the meeting.
You’ll get more details on this later.
Sharing
We encourage you to use the online NovoEd community as much as possible. Here, your team
will post updates, ask questions, submit assignments, and learn from other groups around the
world
Write Your Team Name
Your team should select a name. Have fun with the name and choose something that is
distinctive and represents your team. You’ll use this team name to post updates to the online
NovoEd community
4. Human-Centered Design Discussion
25 minutes
The Class 1 Readings provided an overview of human-centered design. The Design Thinking for
Social Innovation article discussed the human-centered design process and its application to
social challenges, and the Clean Team case study provided you with a concrete example of how
the human-centered design process has been used to create an innovative solution to a real world
challenge. The questions below are based upon these Class 1 Readings. Discussion should be
facilitated by the Class Leader, but feel free to refer back to the readings or prompt the group to
reference them, if necessary.
Discuss
1. Your learnings from the Class 1 Readings will likely be slightly different from
the other members of your group. Each person is coming to this course with a slightly different
background, previous experience, and prior level of knowledge of human-centered design and
the social sector. Take a few minutes each to briefly share your three most interesting
takeaways from the Class 1 Readings and pose any questions that you’re grappling with to the
rest of the group.
2. As a group, think about and discuss what makes the “human-centered design” approach
unique from other problem-solving approaches. What other approaches have you heard about or
used in the past? What aspects are similar to those other problem-solving approaches? What
aspects are different? Consider your first impressions of human-centered design and its strengths
or weaknesses. This may be something interesting to readdress and reflect on at the end of your
seven weeks.
3. Share ideas on various social challenges that you think could benefit from the application of
human-centered design. Are there certain types of challenges you think would benefit
particularly from the human-centered design process? Why so? Or are there some that you’re
having trouble seeing how human-centered design could play a role? How come?
5. Mini Design Challenge: Design a Better Commute
1 hour
Step 1: Inspiration
Human-centered design begins with in-depth interviews and qualitative research. This helps us
get a better sense for the
people we’re designing for. For this activity, divide into groups of two (or three, if your
workshop team has an odd number of
people). Interview your partner and then switch. Keep track of the time alloted for each portion
of the activity.
Interview: 15 minutes
Interview your partner. Begin by understanding their morning commute. Ask not just about
logistics, though: find out how things make them feel, what they wish could be different, what
they enjoy, what gets in their way. Your job is to listen and learn, so don’t be afraid to ask
“Why?” At the seven minute mark, start transitioning—if you were interviewed first, now take a
hand at being the interviewer, and vice versa.
A few techniques you might try
Try asking “Why?” in response to five consecutive answers from your partner.
Ask your partner to visualize their morning commute with a drawing or a diagram
Step 2: Ideation
Interpreting needs: 5 minutes
Take five minutes to read over your notes from the interview with your partner. Write down
answers to the questions below.
What are three unique aspects of your partner’s commute?
What are three needs that your partner faces each morning?
Step 3: Ideation
Brainstorm: 15 minutes
Now’s your chance to imagine some new solutions that might address your partner’s needs.
Work with your partner and sketch four to six radical new ways to improve the commute. You
should focus on ideas for your partner and your partner should focus on ideas for you. However,
work collaboratively and try to come up with a few ideas that might improve the commute for
both of you. Don’t worry about being perfect, draw your ideas quickly to capture them. Use
more paper if you need it!
Step 4: Ideation
Prototype: 15 minutes
Okay, time to get tangible. Making something visual or physical will help you better imagine the
possibilities and the pitfalls of your solution, as well as explain it more easily to others. Your
prototype can be a model, a diagram, or a more detailed drawing. It’s great to grab some scissors,
construction paper, tape, and markers (or anything else around you) and make that idea visual.
Step 5: Ideation
Feedback: 10 minutes
Share your favorite ideas with another team. Get feedback from them. Don’t sell your ideas;
explain them simply, and find out what they really think. What excites them about your ideas?
How would they change or improve them?
6. Reflect & Share
15 minutes
Congratulations on completing your first foray into human-centered design! Usually, you would
repeat the prototyping and feedback steps of the Ideation phase as you continue to integrate
feedback and iterate on your idea. But because time is growing short for this Class 1 Workshop,
let’s just take a few minutes to reflect on what you’ve learned about the human-centered design
process.
Reflect
Take five minutes to individually reflect on the following questions. Write your responses down
quickly in your notebook or on some Post-its:
What did you learn through the experience of prototyping during this mini design
challenge?
Were there certain parts of the process that were particularly surprising or helpful, or
struck you as an “aha moment”? “Ahas” can be key takeaways, new perspectives on an
issue, memorable comments or questions, surprises, challenges, or parting thoughts from
this workshop.
What are parts of the human-centered design process that you think are particularly
useful or insightful for tackling larger social sector challenges?
Share
Now come together with your full workshop group:
Share your prototype with the group. Do you have ideas for further refining your idea
based upon the feedback you received?
Share and discuss your “Ahas” with the group. Were there similar or different
takeaways?
OPTIONAL
Take pictures of your prototypes from this design activity to share online later. Feel free to also
share your “Aha” moments or other key takeaways from your reflections.
