Design Thinking
In EDUC 767, we conducted a series of reflections and applied design thinking methods to solve tough problems unique to the course content. The following is an overview of the design thinking process we used to tackle the wicked problems posed by EDUC 767.
Empathy page
What is your problem?
The first step in design thinking is to think about a wicked problem, which is a group of people who are impacted by standardized tests, and I try to find some solutions to this problem.
My "wicked problem" is about the educational inequality brought about by standardized tests. High-stakes, large-scale standardized tests have caused inequality. Students in many regions cannot get fair educational resources. When unfair educational resources encounter more standardized tests, more students will not be able to get good grades in the exams. Many times, standardized tests cannot reflect students' abilities well. This is what I think is a very wicked problem, and I will try to solve it in the next steps.
Empathy Map
Create empathy! Think from the perspective of the target group. In order to be able to come up with a solution that will solve someone's problem, it is very important to understand their needs and think from their perspective. It is best to know what they want? What do they hear, see, and feel? As well as the pain points they need to face and what they gain, which will further help me solve the problem.
Define page-Persona
Three Personas for design thinking:
After identifying those who are affected by the wicked problem, use the persona generator to define representative personas of individuals affected by the problem. Three personas that work in different situations are shown here.
These three different character settings represent different contents. Mary represents students from poor areas. She does not have enough money to support her to have quality learning, so standardized tests are unfair to her. The second character is Milk. Unlike Mary, his superior family can give him a better private aristocratic education, which gives him a good advantage in standardized tests and excellent scores. The third character is a teacher, who represents many teachers who need to pay attention to standardized tests all the time. She has no way to help her students get more mental health and fairness. She needs to spend a lot of time to complete the courses required for standardized tests.
Ideate page
Mind Mapping
This step is used to actively brainstorm potential solutions. To help with this process, various ideation techniques can be used. Mind mapping can help me do this better.
This mind map shows a worth idea, a teach website, which has many problems, such as it can only be used at certain times, there are many ads that need to be watched, and it requires very complicated questions to log in. These problems are problems that a website should not have. When they are optimized, they can better show the functions of a teach website.
Prototype page
The next step is prototyping, which is the next stage of design thinking. This stage takes the ideas from the ideation stage and puts them into practice. I used this to design a website for finding jobs.
The entire website is a simple search system that allows users to log in and enter the location type they need, interests, etc., and then through AI data processing, get a result. Users can access this result and give feedback to plan their future career through this website.
Test page
Finally, after going through all the steps, I will implement a website to solve the final problem. My final presentation will be to use a personalized math test to allow students to get different levels of educational resources through the test, which can better develop personalized development and make educational resources more equal. This is my BMC canvas plan, which shows the basic ideas of my entire project and some achievable standards.
GEN AI--Tickets
Problem: Traditional education consulting services are expensive and out of reach for many students, and there is a lack of affordable data-driven guidance for international students applying to U.S. colleges. Admissions data on websites is limited for many international students, and generic online platforms have limited personalization or insights.
Solution: Get affordable guidance for only $50, with personalized, U.S. college admissions insights. Leverage real-world admissions data to provide accurate, actionable advice, and a user-friendly platform tailored specifically to the needs of international students.
Target customers:Users: High school students (9th-12th grade) who plan to study in the United States in the future
Beneficiaries: Parents of international students who value education investment and hope to give their children a better education.
GEN AI--Tickets
Problem: Traditional education consulting services are expensive and out of reach for many students, and there is a lack of affordable data-driven guidance for international students applying to U.S. colleges. Admissions data on websites is limited for many international students, and generic online platforms have limited personalization or insights.
Solution: Get affordable guidance for only $50, with personalized, U.S. college admissions insights. Leverage real-world admissions data to provide accurate, actionable advice, and a user-friendly platform tailored specifically to the needs of international students.
Target customers:Users: High school students (9th-12th grade) who plan to study in the United States in the future
Beneficiaries: Parents of international students who value education investment and hope to give their children a better education.
Unique Value Proposition：
Tickets is a data-driven, affordable school selection platform for international students applying to U.S. universities. It leverages real-world admissions data and provides science-based insights to help students make informed decisions. Unlike traditional educational consulting services that charge over $10,000 for comprehensive guidance, Tickets offers high-quality admissions guidance for just $50, giving students an affordable, low-cost introduction to college selection services while also providing access to other valuable offerings. Our platform empowers students with the tools they need to choose the right school and ensure their educational investment is worthwhile.
We finally completed a figma basic model, which helps students to better choose schools. Here is the figma link
https://www.figma.com/proto/kkNe4myu4KgiM5YPC9J6ZW/Untitled?node-id=0-1&t=6AuDupvZZwq4XkFP-1
Immersive Learning Environment
Abstract:
For my final project, I am designing a learning environment (option 2) that promotes creativity in young children through sensory rich play activities. This project will focus on how to stimulate creative thinking and cognitive development in early learners through unstructured play using tactile materials such as clay, sand or water, using unstructured and imaginative materials for better interaction.
Young Children through Sensory Play
The entire learning environment is clearly designed. First of all, it is a place for play, which is divided into two environments, indoor and outdoor. Different environmental settings can help children experiment better. The indoor location can be a classroom. There are two play areas in the classroom, two tables with different tactile objects on them, and various clays and sculpture tools in the clay area. Children can use their imagination to create. There are small basins in the pool with sponges, measuring cups and other tools. By playing with different tools, you can freely explore the properties of water and sponges. There is a plant natural area in the outdoor area, which contains some textured objects, such as trees, leaves, etc. Children can feel the texture by touching and feel the touch of objects of different materials.
