Presentation Feedback

Today we presented our final deliverable to Derek and Emma along with the rest of the design thinking class. We where fortunate enough to have some outside guest who seemed to really enjoy the project we have worked on throughout the quarter.

For our presentation we opened up with a brief background talking about Freshwise and Foodlinks goal and the task that we were asked to do by Freshwise. Today was the day we were able to showcase all the hard work with performed throughout the quarter parenting a video from our visits, our full sized prototype of the soil wall, and lastly tieing everything up with a walk-through of our 3d model of the classroom space we designed.

After completing our short presentation we opened it up to the floor for comments and feedback. I found it very interesting to see just how everyone supported the educational programs that Freshwise currently has. They provided use with ideas on how this type of environment might be extremely beneficial to youth today due the fact that the educational system have shifted away from trades to a more standard academia based teaching.

One comment talked about the need to advertise this idea so parents. Parents need to realize that these types of educational experiences are no longer seen at a young age because achademia has changed. Today their really is a decrease in vocational educational experiences avalible to students these days and Freshwise could possibly take advantage of this untapped opportunity.

The Golden Circle: Creating Reason to Your Actions

Simon Sinek talks about a very interesting concept called the golden circle in his ted talk. Basically Sinek challenges entrepreneurs/ designers to think differently and asks why they are doing what they are doing.

Traditionally we are trained to look at products/ ideas from an external to internal mind process.

What > How> Why

Sinek believes that this process is an ineffective process to communicate an idea to someone. He gave an example regarding dell computers.

Dell creates personal computers > that are simple to use > want to buy one?
(what) (how) (why)

The idea behind this method for communication which is used by the majority of companies today basically says, what we do, how we do it different, and we expect some sort of behavior maybe in the form of a purchase from consumers. This thinking from the outside in is how most people think and in many cases it can successfully communicate a message. However is that message truly meaningful, does it strike a nerve; does it invoke a response or behavior? Sinek say no.

Instead Sinek believe that thinking from the inside out, having a belief that you express first then apply to the how and what creates a message that is much more effective in creating a behavior response.

For this idea he uses apple as an example

Everything we do we believe in thinking differently, challenge the status quota> the way we challenge the status quota is we make our products beautifully designed, user friendly, and simple to use > we just happen to make great computers want to buy one?

(Why) > (How)> (What)

By thinking this way you express your beliefs throughout your products and ideas, which show that your ideas have an overall meaning or goal. Apple wants to challenge the status quota and think differently, they achieve this through their product designs, which show their mission in a sense. Their products showcase this reason and create a behavioral response in consumers that is more meaningful than a message that is focused from the outside in.

http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html

The Importance of Point of View

The importance of point of view is seeing the solution to a problem from different perspectives. The POV analysis that we performed in class was useful because it allowed us to think just how different people would view our projects. Our group created a few different madlibs representing a few different types of people that may visit the farm. It is important to see think of these different point of views because they can sometime uncover new needs for the project and allow you to ideate possibly expanding on ideas creating new concepts that could be applied to the project. After performing the POV exercise we identified some interesting perspectives about the project in terms of what types of goal we wanted to achieve with the classroom space and how our objective either fell within or without the needs of various POV’s. If we had all the time in the world I would have loved to be able to observe all type of clientele that the farm receives possibly seeing there POV of the educational process at Freshwise farms.

Critique Day

Today In class we held class presentations. After each group presented the class critiqued there presentation, and prototypes providing them with constructive criticism that the group could use to further develop there project. We learned in class that there were a series of rules associated with effective critiques. I found it very interesting because I had no idea how to provide this type of criticism. Some of the the rules associated with a successful critique included sharing your ideas to the presenting group in a positive, meaningful,and constructive way. Everyone needs to participate because each person thinks in a very different way and might see a solution to a problem differently than the group. Along with this these ideas and questions in a sense show the group what they should cover or explain better in terms of their boards or prototypes.

It was interesting to hear the feedback from our classmates as well as there recommendations to how we could better our goal to created an effective classroom space for Freshwise Farms that meets all there needs. We gained a lot of good feed back but perhaps two that stood out to us the most were people wanted to see the room incorporate a process or flow. They recommended incorporate activities that visitors at Freshwise might perform. They utilizing the space incorporate all aspects of agriculture, from the growing process, to preparation, to eating. Along with this we also received feedback about the designs we created. The class really liked the floor tile planters box and incorporating vegetation into the classroom. They provided us with questions to ask for these prototypes as well including how will you water the plants or provide them with sunlight if there in a classroom space? We will definitely have to further develop this idea so we don't have dead plants in our tiles. The class also recommended making things not only catered towards kids but to people of all ages

Prototyping

Today in class we started creating our first prototypes. Although these were rough prototypes of the final design we successfully created a few different items. The first prototype that we created was one of the overall design of the room. Although this prototype was not to scale or reflects the final floor plan it allowed us to brainstorm and actually see some of our ideas in physical form.

Here is our prototype of the room.

This prototype shows a few attributes that we would like to implement in our design including large windows, the roof pillars, the projector screen, a mock table, and bean bag chairs.

We also created a prototype of the planters box floor tiles we where thinking of having throughout the classroom.

This specific prototype shows how Freshwise might water or replace a plant in the box.

As we created the prototypes we also revised our idea board. Getting rid of ideas that we had identified as not relevant to the overall goal of the project. We also reorganized the board to incorporate our sketches and will be presenting it to the class tomorrow.

Design Phase

So last class we brainstormed and set up a schedule for the next two weeks. Our group is finally moving into the design phase and each group member has been assigned a section of the class room to design. Our assignment for the second class of week 5 was to start sketching designs for items that will eventually build into prototypes. Our group has also determined by week 6 we would like to have a 3d model of what the class room would look like. As we gather materials and designs for Thursday we look forward to finally building some of our ideas.

My task for the second class was to design the walls of the classroom. I came up with two different designs one that is a enclosed class room featuring large windows that look out into the green house and provide a room separate from the green house.

The second design I created was a completely open design that I feel really allows the classroom to feel as if it were a part of the greenhouse. This design has no physical windows just openings to the green house, it also features wooden mesh walls that should allow vegetation to grow along the was further immersing the classroom with the green house.

Another feature that I would like to possibly see in the class room design is a soil wall. This soil wall will act mainly as an education tool by allowing Freshwise to plant various vegetables and show to there visitors just how they grow by showing the routes,submerged vegetables etc.

Lastly the group has decided that the first prototype we are going to tackle will be the vegetation floor tiles which will essentially be placed in the floor of the class room. These tiles will allow Freshwise to grow herbs or lettuce via hydroponics within the classroom in the enclosed space and it will be fully functional in providing water and light to the plants. We though that this idea was interesting because it will entice the visitors as well as allowing Freshwise to show visitors how they use hydroponics.

RIT Local Food Potluck!

Today our design thinking class took part of a local food Potluck. Each team prepared two dishes that would be created using local ingredients allowing our group to gain the experience of buying local produce and preparing it to be presented to the other members of the potluck. Our group created two dishes the first was a organic salad made with NY state spinach, tomatoes, peppers, and carrots. The second dish was mash Collie flower with potatoes.

We started the morning by meeting with Derek from Freshwise at the Rochester Public Market. I really liked our group’s plan to get ingredients from the public market it was also my first time to the Rochester Public Market and I really had no idea what to expect. We arrived at the market in search for locally grown food as well as to just walk around and see how various vendors sell their products.

After we did some shopping we took our ingredients and made our dishes. The Freshwise team prepared a carrot and beat salad that was really good. When we got to the potluck there was an assortment of various foods that showcased locally grown NY products, created by people who prided eating locally. Along with the amazing food we had a networking table where people could meet and connect with one another as well as a section where we were able to showcase our brainstorming ideas with our clients. I liked the idea of having our projects displayed during the potluck because it allows those not associated with the group to see just what we are trying to do and possibly connect with any of our three clients. I wish however that there was some sort of formal presentation that allowed the groups to present there projects to general audience. I wonder if we were to do such a presentation might the groups gotten feedback from not only the other clients attending the potluck but feedback and ideas from the audience that could be used towards each groups project.

There were alot of great dishes. Two dishes that I found to be pretty cool were the apple salad made by RIT catering and the assortment of vegetables provided from the RIT community garden. It was pretty interesting to see that two of the dishes at the potluck were dishes created through the institute to promote locally grown foods. I also found it interesting to learn that RIT actually sources a good amount of there food and produce from local farms in NY. Overall I had a blast at the local food potluck. Preparing my dish really showed me just how to look for product and wonder "is that locally grown? is that organic?"This experience has also shown me just how cool the public market is and I will definitely be making more trips to the market in the future.

Second Trip to Freshwise

Today we made our second trip out to Freshwise farms and are meeting with them to talk about the various cool class room layouts that we found the prior week. We also planned to update Freshwise about the progress we have made in designing their class room space. During our brainstorming stage we came up with the idea that we should design this space around the activities that would be happening in the class room.
We also defined a objective that we wanted to reach through this space: " To educate New York state youth about local agriculture"

One of the ways we believed would be the most effective way to achieve this objective was to provide the kids with a fun way of learning about agriculture through various activities.We prepared a mock activity that we presented and perform with Freshwise. Since Freshwise farms predominantly grows lettuce, spinach, and various vegetables we decided that a possible good activity would be a Scavenger hunt that asks visitors to find ingredients to the salad.

Depending on the space; Derek was thinking about having a small edible garden just out side of the class room where visitors could actively plant and harvest produce when they visit. Our activity would most likely incorporate this garden. The activity was tested on Derek and some of our group members. The scavenger hunt activity included seeking ingredients in the garden, prepare them to go into a salad (food Prep),creating the salad, and then eating that salad. We hope that this activity might help show kids just where these ingredients come from, what goes into the preparation of the ingredients, as well as even comparing the final product ( the salad) to local store bought salads, explaining why the one they made is better for them. This is just one of the activities we though of and our group took away many more from brainstorming with Derek. We plan on using these activities ideas into design of the class room space.

Cool Class Room Layouts

A series of interesting class room designs

some cool layouts I found using green houses.

FreshWise Farms

Today we took a visit down to our client Freshwise Farms. The farm is striving to create a educational space or class room to teach the people about the process local farmers use when they grow there food, how its processed, and how its sold to the local community. The overall goal is to educate visitors on the importance of supporting local organize produce, which supports the local economy as well as provides a more healthy organic product to consumers.

We arrived at Freshwise to meet with Derek our contact at the farm and the educational coordinator that we will be working with throughout the design thinking process. Derek took us through the entire farm and taught us about how Freshwise grows there lettuce plants and herbs via hydroponics and soil beds. Being a greenhouse operation, hydroponics is just one of the ways Freshwise grows there produce. In many cases FreshWise grows many of it plants in hydroponic nurseries and once they are of a certain size they are transplanted into soil in the main greenhouse.

Fresh Wise is completely sustainable. The farm really strives on creating zero waste and it is something that they would like to incorporate in there educational presentation to visitors. But lets start talking about the main reason we are here. Fresh Wise came to our class asking us to create a class room space that could be used to teach visitors about NY state agriculture. What we have to work with is a 25'x60' space in the main green house. The physical attributes for the class room that Derek wanted us to implement included a non-sterile feel, like a typical classroom, and they want it to be interactive and filled with on hand activities catered to show visitors just what goes into the farming process.

After seeing how Freshwise operates and what they were looking at as far of design attributes and functionality we returned to the innovation center and started to brainstorm ideas on how to design a space.We placed all of our notes on a board and grouped them into different categories including, the overall design layout,floor design, walls design, roof design, as well as things that we wanted to see in the room based on the type of activities we thought might be fun to have ( farming and planting activities). As we started our design the group consulted with our professor and came up with the idea of actually designing the space not necessarily over physical attributes we received from Freshwise but around those activities Derek and Freshwise would do with the people who come visit the farm. Our next goal is get in contact with Derek and review the curriculum they plan on teaching which should allow us to design a space that is effective. We plan on also sharing some our the ideas that we came up with during our meeting on Tuesday.

Meeting Potential Clients

Last class we meet with four different potential clients. Small world bakery a bakery that is dedicated to showing the link between local food production involving wheat, honey, and milk,creating products from local farmers and providing the process to make bread and granola which they sell to markets.

Fresh Water farms that talked to us about there ambitions of educating people mainly children to farming.Fresh Water Farms operates from a greenhouse; growing various green vegetation and has plans of building an educational experience catering to schools to teach about agriculture. They came to us to see our opinion of the matter and how they may integrate a class room like set up to there greenhouse.

Mud Creek Farm talked to use about community supported agriculture (CSA) and how they conducted business. Basically they would sell shares of crop to customers prior to there seasons. This was a pretty awesome business model because they basically received payment for all the crops they grow and don't have to worry about finding buyers for crops before they go bad.

The last organization that came to speak was the Good Food Collective who talked to us about how there business is trying to help small farmers connect with the Rochester community. The good food collective worked in a pretty unique way. The company was a CSA like multiform CSA the company worked with 8-10 with local farmers, the farmers create a share of food that is split within the community. This company is really striving to have Rochester consumers of fruits and vegetables to buy from Rochester farmers. Placing money back into the local economy.

All of the presenters were striving to obtain the same goal. To increase the consumptions of local produce. One note that I found interesting from the day were the opinions these companies had about farmers markets. When asked about farmers markets each company stated that they were were not good places to generate revenue.

RIT FARMERS MARKET

This week for our second class we were given the opportunity to jump right into actual fieldwork to practice empathy in regards to design thinking. Our assignment was to attend the RIT farmers market and observe the market sellers, customers, and overall environment that made up the farmers market that day. We where asked to take down observations of the environment, ask sellers questions and ask potential customers why they had come to the market and what sparked there interest for attending the market.

When we got there an observation I made immediately was the fact that there seemed to be a lack of advertisements that actually told people there was a market happening. Location is very important for this market because it really doesn't get much advertising from RIT other than an email. The location that the market was held at this week was right behind the Gordon Field House.

As you can see the location of the market was directly to the side of the quarter mile, just as you walk into dorm side of the RIT campus. The location was directly down a hill and off to the side of the quarter mile almost hidden by trees as you walked along the path. Although this spot was preferred by the marketers because of its closer location to campus, its poor visibility and lack of advertisement might cause people to walk right past it without even knowing what was going on. One person I ask said that the only reason she came down to the market was because she saw all the tents and was curious.

Another observation that we noticed was the various different layouts that each vendor had. Many of the vendors for the most part displayed there items in a typical display layout where the vendor is on one side and the customer is on the other separated by there table that held product. We did notice that one vendor implored a different layout that seemed to be more effective in customer engagement.

Below is the layout that we believed to be a much more effective layout. This layout enticed customers to come into a store like environment where they were surrounded by merchandise. This layout also allowed the vendor to provide customers with a more personal experience. Creating greater customer engagement.

During our 30-minute observation we were able to ask various people that were attending the market various questions. Many of the customers where RIT students or faculty but there were also peopling who where not associated with the school. Many of the people attending the market were returning customers there were a few first time customers but almost everyone had heard about the RIT market in some manner.

The Last major observation that we notice was that there were people at the market other than food vendors. One of these vendors seemed to be some sort of student organization raffling off prizes and the other was Brick City Catering. Brick City Catering also had a tent and provided visitors with food samples. The cool thing we found out from RIT catering was that the recipes they were cooking and giving free samples out where made from materials that could be bought at the market that day.

After our observation the class headed back to the conference room and split up into teams and created posted notes of things we observed in related with design thinking. After brainstorming a bit our team grouped these various ideas into clusters of observations.

Observation Grouping:

Restrictions: Perishable Items, Utilities, Inventory, Non Perishable items, time of year.

Products: Ready to eat, product availability, fresh foods, farms from Bloomfield, Baked Goods, Product selection

Location: Weather, Tent Layout, Environment Location, And Poor Visibility

Accessibility: Customer accessibility, Prices, Time, Cash Market, Vendor accessibility

Campus Involvement: RIT dinning, Raffle?

Marketing: Better advertising, free samples, Self-promotions, Presentation, Product layout, Uniqueness to campus, Customer engagement.

My First Encounter with Design Thinking.

After our first session of class and after reading the information for the d.school text about Emphathy, design, ideate, prototype, and test I feel that many of the steps show in design thinking closley resemble the way we have been told to think here in many of my classes. There are however a few differences that I found interesting that really interest me. The whole Idea of focusing on Empathizing was interesting, putting yourself in the shoes of the customer or industry that you are designing a solution to would open such a better understanding of there needs and goals. Placing yourself in the shoes of someone that directly has to deal with the problem allows you to see first hand where the problem originates form and even allows you to start idaeting with your team towards solutions.

Another thing that I found interesting when reading into the 5 steps a little more was the whole idea of ideate. Which was basically the idea of creating ideas that were unique and not the typical solution to the problem. Ideate was interesting to me because in many cases constraints often limit the level of creativity to some limit but it may also force your team to look for solutions to the problem that fit within those constraints in the end creating an even more unique solution than you though was possible.

Im pretty excited to attend the farmers market tomorrow where we will practice empathy at the farmers market.