INNOVATE 100G Individual Assignment 2

Only after completing your week 5 prototyping workshops and watching the week 6 lecture recording on Panopto, will you be able to start this assignment.

Overview of Your Individual Innovation Challenge Assignment

In this assignment, you’re tasked with applying what you’ve learned in the Innovate 100G course. Focus particularly on the concepts of Ideation Prototyping discussed in our Week 4 and Week 6 workshops and lectures, and also in our online lecture recording of Week 6.

To succeed in this assignment, you should:

Watch all relevant Pannopto lecture recordings, especially weeks 5  and week 6.

Reflect and apply course learnings to a practical challenge.

Utilise templates and examples for guidance on specific sections; some sections will require your own development based on the provided descriptions.

Review the detailed grading rubric (at the end of this page) for insights into how your work will be evaluated. Please note this is a very specific marking rubric, with many details indicating the grade distribution across multiple task elements.

The Detailed Assignment Instructions are laid out in the five headings below:

1. Problem Space Exploration and Problem Statement, including POV and HMW question

(6 marks)

You can choose from the following two options:

Option A) One of the Problem Spaces identified in preparation for the Week 4 workshop. Choose one from the following:

Combatting Urban Congestion and/or Promoting Sustainable Transportation

Improving Waste Management and/or Enhancing Recycling Programs

Improving Public Health Systems and/or Promoting Wellness

Addressing the Housing Crisis in Urban Centers (e.g., affordability, quality, availability, location)

Tip: As you progress in this assignment and in your final group assignment too, you will have to develop a deeper understanding of the problem space and the specific problem you will be tackling. A good way to start developing this deeper understanding is to try to find out how these problem spaces relate to one or more of the United nation’s 17sustainable development goals.

Please note: It is highly recommended that you and your teammates work on the same theme problem space and the specific problems you worked on as a team during the Ideation workshop (in week 4) and in the prototype workshop (in week 6). If you do that, you may already be working on prototypes and testing these prototypes that can be used in your final (group)  assignment. However, because this is an individual assignment, you do have the freedom to decide if you want or don’t want to stick to the same problem space you worked on during the workshops 4 and 6. In other words, you could start from scratch, but be aware that this is probably not the best option for your group’s progress.

Now that you have already been through the workshops in weeks 4 and 5, you could also decide to stick to the same problem space you and your team have been working on, but perhaps you would like to conduct a new ideation session and produce brand new prototypes for these new ideas. Of course you can do that! Usually, students who do that are not satisfied with their original ideas and prototypes.

OR

Option B) The specific problem that you have worked on in preparation for the Week 6 workshop (i.e., self-empathy problem or a problem that a family member or a friend has)

Then, based on any of these options listed above (A or B), you will formulate a Problem Statement (POV) and a “How Might We” (HMW) question. Remember, the “How Might We” question should not be too narrow or too broad. Tip: if you are in doubt, please review the W3 and W4 course material and lecture.

Please note: You will realise, after attending the week 4 and 5 workshops, that you now have a better understanding that some problem spaces (and specific problems) may be better than others, for example, in giving you room to develop really exciting or novel ideas. Along the same lines, after attending the week 6 workshops, you will also have a better understanding that some ideas may be better than others when trying to translate that idea into a sketch and then into a rough (low-fidelity) prototype that will evolve into a higher-fidelity prototype. It is your job, as a team and as individuals,  to evaluate what problem space (and specific problem) you should be working on.

Think about what problem space, out of the options we gave you above, will entice you to be creative and develop a cool/interesting idea that can be clearly communicated through a prototype and testing.

Tip: If you choose option B above, we would like to draw your attention to the fact that most of the time, problems that are mundane or overly simplistic, such as missing the bus and/or missing lectures because a person didn’t wake up on time or finding out that person is too tired/lacking energy because they were not able to switch off their mobile phone until 2 am…or any other similar problem along these lines…very likely any of these problems would require very mundane, and simplistic solutions. Possibly, they also can be easily solved either with tools/ideas that already exist (such as setting up an alarm on your phone or having a little bit of discipline to switch off the mobile at night)!

The point is: try to avoid mundane or overly simplistic problems that will give you little room to develop an interesting idea.

If the problem is relevant ( i.e., not mundane or overly simplistic), then it will allow you to develop an interesting and relevant idea, and thus, interesting prototypes should follow.

2_. Concept Sheet

Develop a concept that emerged from ideating around your chosen problem. This concept should be a refined idea considering practicalities and user appeal.

(8 marks)

Complete a Concept Sheet with the following details:

Name of Idea: Provide a concise title. This can be descriptive and/or sometimes have a marketingoriented name

Simple Description: Summarise your concept in one or two sentences.

For: Describe the ideal user, aligning with your HMW/Problem Statement. Sometimes, you may narrow the user in this step, focusing on a subset of those you identified in your define steps.

Similar To: Use analogies if helpful (e.g., Uber for lawnmowers, the Airbnb of caravan storage, Tinder for dog walkers, etc.). Leave blank if not applicable.

Who Needs: Outline the user needs your concept addresses, ensuring alignment with your

HMW/Problem Statement. Think about the needs you are meeting for your user or person identified in the “For” section above.  Remember again that this should be consistent with the POV Problem Statement and HMW question, as you should be meeting or improving needs identified within that starting point.  It is sometimes tempting to identify needs you’ve thought of here that are outside of the Define statement you have developed. This should be avoided, or if that happens, you may want to go back and modify your POV/HMW to fit better.

We provide: List the functional features of your concept. For instance, things such as “captures a number of steps walked each day”, and “measures the number of Kiwis moving to Australia for jobs.”

That: This section captures the benefits of the Concept.  For instance, how does this address the problem of creating value for the users or system?  A benefit might be something like “allows students to attend Uni with greater flexibility”, “reduces carbon emissions from transportation by 22%”, or “reduces anxiety for first-year university students.”

Concept Sketch: This section should ideally be an actual sketch, ideally hand-drawn, or using a sketching software that allows you to capture sketches from a stylus, etc. Sketching is an important method of rough prototyping, thinking, feeling, and creating simultaneously.  Concept sketches should be placed on the template for submission, but can also be used separately to gain insight from others and users regarding their reactions to the concept or suggestions for changes. This semester, we will, for the third time, allow students to submit an AI-generated sketch instead of a manually drawn sketch.

3_. Rapid Prototypes (x2)

After you’ve received initial feedback on the sketch from your Concept Sheet, your next step is to create, at a minimum, two more versions of a Rapid Prototype (one with more details and resolution than the other).

These prototypes are directly/clearly related to your initial sketch. They would show (not tell) more details than your original sketch (the earliest representation of your idea). In essence, these prototypes are a way to start bringing your concept to life, whether you are creating a physical solution, a digital solution (or a combination of both), or a service.

You must test the first version of the prototype, collect feedback on specific areas you want to learn, and then improve the prototype by incorporating the feedback and improving the resolution of the prototype (i.e., its overall quality, appearance and features)… In this assignment, you must demonstrate that your prototype is evolving… shifting from a lower resolution to a higher resolution.

(9 marks)

Tools and Resources:

Utilise the Unleash Space for physical prototypes or digital tools for virtual ones. You are also more than welcome to use the computers at the maker space to use Adobe Firefly to generate images that can be used as sketches, and also to give you ideas on what to prototype.

Feel free to use any prototyping methods discussed in class (during the Week 5 workshop) or any other techniques you discover through your research. This includes creative methods like role-playing, Wizard of Oz simulations, or concierge models for more abstract concepts.

But make sure you are improving its resolution and level of detail from prototype 1 to prototype 2. Some students may choose to have more than two prototypes, as this could indicate a particular feedback or simply because they are willing to improve their prototype further

Goals and Feedback:

The primary aim of these prototypes is to test the attractiveness and practicality of your concept. Think about what aspects of your idea you want to test with your audience. What are the most important features you need to communicate to your user, and how is this represented/materialised in your prototype?

Collect feedback on your first prototype, noting what users liked and what could be improved. Use this feedback to refine your idea and develop at least one more prototype – improved AND at a higher resolution than the first one. You must test and collect feedback on your second prototype, too, so you know what could be improved from the user’s perspective.

Iterating Your Prototype:

Based on the feedback, small or significant changes might occur between your first and second prototypes. Reflect on these adjustments in your submission, explaining why changes were made and how they improved your concept.

Documentation can be in the form of photos or a brief written summary outlining the revisions made from the first to the second iteration.

Important Reminders:

Don’t wait until the last minute to further develop the prototype you created in Week 5. Developing a good prototype takes (feedback -through testing) – time to think, design, and iterate.

To achieve a good grade, ensure you begin working on your prototypes early, allowing enough time to incorporate feedback and make necessary adjustments.

Details about submission:

Make sure to document your prototyping process and the iterations you make based on feedback. This process is essential for understanding how your concept evolves and improves over time.

4_. Prototyping Report Card

After completing your first iteration of a Rapid Prototype, follow the instructions and template to create a Prototyping Report Card for the questions you are hoping to answer or learn more about in gathering feedback on your first Rapid Prototype.  You’ll complete the relevant sections of the Prototyping Report Card before you get feedback and then record what you learned after you get the feedback for use in considering changes to your next Rapid Prototype or a return to the Define step or revision of your Concept if necessary.

(8 marks)

5_. Summary and Next Steps

Provide a brief summary of the steps you’ve taken and propose the next two steps to further iterate on your concept using the Design Thinking process. Highlight the value and potential gaps or problems of your proposed innovation.

4 marks