Design thinking is a flexible model for approaching project design that focuses on creativity, testing concepts early and often and understanding the target audience.
Prototyping – testing an idea with basic materials – is a key element of the design thinking process.
Because of this, Harrell Health Sciences Library has developed its own design thinking toolkits, which are available for use in the Technology Sandbox. These toolkits are intended to promote creative thinking and collaboration and to help those who use them get started with iterative design.
The materials inside the toolkits, which include things like Play-Doh, aluminum foil and duct tape, can be used for designing prototypes, group study, wellness activities and more. Some examples of uses for the kits include:
- building a prototype of an object for 3D printing
- making art as stress relief
- creating models to review medical concepts
A further extension would be to use the model created to explain study concepts to a peer, which can be a helpful exercise for increasing understanding and memory retention.
To help introduce design thinking, the library will host a “Problem-solving with Prototyping: Design Thinking Workshop” featuring the use of the toolkits to perform a group problem-solving activity at noon Oct. 22, 2019, in the Technology Sandbox.