After a long while, thoughts on design thinking

Today is the first day of Spring break, a time when I can relax a bit after what has been a very intense semester so far. I just realized I haven't posted anything in a long time (May 30, 2009 to be more precise). So much happened since then... over the summer I traveled to South Africa with Global Studio, and also to Kenya with UHartford, Brown University and U. of Rhode Island teams (and had a brief visit to Amsterdam!). Then for the Christmas holidays, I visited Argentina, reunited with family and long time friends. And after a short day of layover in CT, I packed my bag to go on my second implementation trip to India. And then classes began and I have barely had time to process all these experiences.

So, today I am relaxing. And what do I do to relax? Listen to music, watch TED videos and read articles (doesn't seem to be much different of what I regularly do! –except of course, not teaching). In any case, my mind is in a different synchrony now, as I'm trying to slow down.

But of course, the workaholic in me is always thinking about stuff, and as I watched videos on TED.com I found an inspiring talk by Tim Brown (the CEO of the "innovation and design" firm IDEO) urging designers to think big:

Tim Brown says the design profession is preoccupied with creating nifty, fashionable objects – even as pressing questions like clean water access show it has a bigger role to play. He calls for a shift to local, collaborative, participatory "design thinking.

Brown talks about engagement of everyone involved in the design process (participatory design). Also he explains how design thinking is related to learning by doing, and paying attention to users' needs.

Just yesterday I was finishing a grant application for an engaged learning fellowship. I tried my best to summarize how I see design, and how I envision to apply the outcome of the grant research to my course "Design Global Change." I wish I had watched Brown's talk earlier as it summarizes how I would hope my students will see design thinking after going through this DGC course.

At least I know I am in the right track!