Design Thinking Assignment

What is Design Thinking?

Design Thinking is a process for creating a solution to a problem. It’s similar to what you might
do in a science class, math class or social studies class. Design thinking tends to work really
well for creating solutions to problems that impact humans, like creating a new type of food that
can be distributed to areas stricken with famine, a new type of transportation for people in big
cities or a YouTube channel that inspires others to be their best self.

There are many models for the design thinking process and each one highlights different
aspects of the design process. In this thing, you’ll be using design thinking to guide and track
your progress to a solution to a real-world problem.

You’ll notice that this Assignment follows the Design Thinking Model created by Easyhomz
Academy that looks like the image below. We’ll be using this model as our guide and add some
important bits to it as we explore design thinking together. A design thinking process can help
you solve some of the hardest problems or some of the silliest. It’s up to you!
Work 1: What’s your problem?
In this task you will begin the design thinking process by looking for problems to solve. To
discover real-world problems you’ll need to listen and observe to develop empathy with all sides
of the problem. Ultimately, you’ll define the problem you are going to solve and how solving this
problem will make a difference.

Identify a Problem
Generate at least three problems in your community that affect you, someone you know or your
entire community. Look for problems in your daily life that could be solved by creating an object
or a process. Record your problems in the table below.

Not sure where to start? Ask your friends, teachers or family members about problems in their
lives. Still stuck? Check out 80,000 hours to find some social issues affecting people globally.

Accessibility of crockery unit for short height people

1

Limitation of Space in Flat system- Optimization of space with 2 or more function of furniture
2

People getting locked outside of balcony or outside of flat by mistake, due to auto lock system
3

Choose your favorite problem that you want to design a solution to.

I’m going to solve

Crockery unit Design
Dig Deeper with Research
Use your skills to research the problem you chose. Identify things that help you understand the
problem better like who it affects and how it affects them. Make sure to cite the website or
places you visit in the table below.

Notes Site/website
Avg Height of kitchen platform from Ground is 30 inch, from platform to kitchen https://www.housepl
cabinet or crockery unit is 24-30 inch, again height of crockery unit is 24-36 inch anshelper.com/kitche
n-dimensions.html

Avg Indian male height is 5’5”, and female Height is 5’2”, which makes difficult to
access Things placed on upper shelf of crockery unit, in some case lower rack as https://en.wikipedia
well .org/wiki/Average_
human_height_by_
country
Wt of Things placed on these racks are not much, but to access them people need https://gharpedia.co
ladders in many cases m/blog/optimum-
size-kitchen-
furniture-with-
respect-human-
dimensions/#:~:text=
Standard%20height
%20for%20working
%20table,1'%2D0%
E2%80%9D).
 Empathize
Understanding the problem from the eyes of the person who is affected is an important part of
designing something to solve a problem. Watch the following video about empathizing in Design
Thinking.

Who is affected by your problem? How are they affected? How might they feel about this
problem? Describe their emotions.

is/are feeling time consuming & not functional design

Kitchen user

About accessability of upper rack of kitchen cabinet

Define
Describe your problem. How will solving this problem make a difference?

Solving this problem will provide more comfort and functionality to user
Task 3: Big Ideas
The next stage of the design thinking process is ideation, where you’ll generate lots of ideas that
might help to solve the problem you selected in Task #1. At the end of this Task, you’ll select
your most promising ideas, highlight the best parts of other ideas and ultimately choose an idea
to start pursuing.To brainstorm effectively, here’s a few ground rules adapted Don’t judge. There
are no bad ideas.

1. Encourage wild ideas. Focus on possibilities, not constraints.

2. Build upon the ideas of your teammates or other’s who’ve tried to solve the same
problem..
3. Stay focused on solving your problem. Don’t get distracted by ideas that don’t
solve your problem.
4. One conversation at a time.
5. Be visual. Put your ideas in a place where others can see them.
6. Go for tons of ideas. There are no bad ideas.

Brainstorm
Set a 10 minute timer. When you press start, generate as many ideas as you can possibly think
of. Record them in the space below.

Ideas

Idea is to design a shelf that can be pull downward

to access things on and push backward when not in
use by using mechanism or hardware
More Ideas
Develop
Put a star next to three of your most promising ideas. Develop them a little bit further. Sketch or
describe a quick rough draft of each idea in the table below. You can sketch on paper then take
a picture and put it in the space below if you’re doing this digitally without a drawing option.

Consider
Which idea do you feel is the best for solving your problem? Put a star next to it in the table
above.

What are the best features of your other ideas? Can you incorporate them into your best idea?

I am creating a mechaniasm to pull and push upper rack For kitchen cabinet

So that short height user can access it without difficulty

Task 4: Prototypes
Next you’ll be creating something physical (an object, a visual, a presentation) to test your idea
and convey it to others. It should be something that can be held or seen. Remember that a
prototype does not need to be pretty or functional to convey your idea.

Research
Use your research skills to draw inspiration for your design. You may consider the types of
materials, similar designs, the environmental impact of your solution and other considerations
for your idea. Record your notes in the table below.

Notes Site
We can have Hydraulic mechanism to push rack
downward, it will be self locked once it comes down, and
will go to same position when released

We can use Steel rack below wooden rack to support, we

can provide a handle to push the rack, handle will be
easily accesable for user

We can use spring mechanism instead of hydraulic

Rough Draft
Create a rough draft of your idea in the space below. This can be done by drawing or outlining
your idea. Remember that this is intended to be very quick; don’t spend a lot of time on it.
Select and Gather Materials
Choose a medium that will best help you test and demonstrate your idea. Is your idea best seen
digitally or on paper? Does it need to be held in someone’s hand?

Physical Digital

● Play Doh ● TinkerCAD

● Legos ● Minecraft EE
● Craft supplies (popsicle sticks, ● Google Sites
construction paper, glue, scissors, ● Google Slides
pipe cleaners, yarn, etc.) ● Google Drawings
● Poster board ● Adobe Spark
● Photos ● Microsoft Sway
● Sketching and Paper Prototyping (for ● Bubbl.us
apps and websites)
Build
Create your prototype. Take a screenshot or picture of your prototype and paste it into the
space below. If your design is easier to link to, attach a hyperlink to your prototype in the space
below.
Task 5: Test and Improve
Now it’s time to test out your prototype to see if it solves your problem. Your goal during testing
is to gather feedback to improve your design. Listen to others who are testing your prototype
and take notes of the things they say and do that you could improve upon. Gather data for how
well your prototype solved your problem and use it to improve your design.

Alpha Testing
Partner up and describe your problem you are trying to solve. It is ideal to test your prototype on
someone who might actually use it, if possible. Then share your idea and prototype. Let your
partner(s) interact with your design. Listen and observe them interacting with your design.
Encourage them to share at least one thing they like, one Things they have and one thing to
improve on and take notes in the table below.

Things they like Things they have Things to improve

Task 6: Reflect and Share
Reflecting upon your learning and the design thinking process is an important step in any design
thinking process. You can think of learning as a way to improve your creativity and innovation
skills. Lastly, the ability to communicate your problem and sell your solution is an important skill
in any profession. In this Task, you’ll be creating a pitch to help you share your ideas.

Reflect
1. How does your final prototype solve your initial problem?

- Helping short height people to access upper rack

2. What are the most important features of your design? What makes your solution unique?
- Easy to operate

3. How might the people affected by your problem feel about your solution?
- They will really love to have this solution for upper rack in their kitchen cabinet

4. If you could start again at the beginning, what would you do differently?
- I may add sliding mechanism to whole cabinet at wall
5. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a design thinking process?
Advantages Disadvantages
Give Step by Step guidance for solving practical Time consuming
problems of designing