Innovation Showcase
Designing a Design Thinking Challenge: Lessons Learned
Innovation Showcase Amy Zidulka, Michael Pardy
Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC, Canada, runs an annual Design Thinking Challenge, which invites business undergraduate students to tackle an issue of societal concern using principles of design thinking. The Design Thinking Challenge differs from case competitions, in which business students are accustomed to competing, because it focuses on conducting empathic research, iterating based on feedback, and combining competition with collaboration. In this Innovation Showcase, we will share lessons learned around how to design and run a challenge of this type, focusing on issues like how to scope the challenge that is presented to students; how to balance collaboration, education, and competition; and how to design judging rubrics that enable the provision of formative feedback.
The WaterBoys: Redesigning
Innovation Showcase Nicholas Barnette
This session reviews the WaterBoys who have introduced the first-ever reusable water bottle rental service to a world that combines mindful sustainability with convenience. The WaterBoys are a fresh group of young creatives with a passion for design and developing urban solutions in the New York City/Brooklyn community. They believe they can shape the future of water and create simple, human solutions for everyday people. In an environment that is shifting its focus to more sustainable living, but where the most sustainable choices aren’t’ always the most convenient, The WaterBoys use their background in design and development to fill the gap. The WaterBoys service is a scan in/scan out, pick up/drop off, reusable water bottle rental service aimed at minimizing the number of plastic water bottles consumed daily by New Yorkers, and replace them with a circular system of reusable bottles. Competitively priced with current consumer water options, the service aims to offer a third option for urban water.
Truth or Consequences
Innovation Showcase In-sook Ahn
Climate change, air and water pollution, and toxic waste dumps have emerged due to our mass consumption culture. To address these issues, 195 governments have decided to sign the Paris Agreement. However, the United States withdrew from the Agreement on grounds of potential job loss and instead increased the production of nonrenewable fuels such as coal and natural gas. Climate change is a threat to the financial and environmental stability of the world, disproportionally affecting lower income communities, and exasperating the socioeconomic differences between the rich and the poor. To raise concerns on the effects of global mass consumption, my design uses recycled denim jeans and shower curtains with contrasting design elements to express the global struggle for environmental conservation. Due to France’s leading role in leading the Paris Agreement and fighting against climate change, my design draws inspiration from clothes worn during WWII French resistance, which adopted existing items including ding patterns for dresses made of various shades and length of denim fabrics – not intrinsically beautiful but fashionable. With my study, “Truth or Consequences,” I hope to raise awareness on the negative effects of mass consumption and to promote sustainability. As one of the top consumed clothing, used denim was selected as one of the major design materials to represent wasteful mass consumption. Vinyl from used shower curtains was used to contrast against the parts of the jacket and pants to show the conflicting balance between environmental concerns and the unyielding need for fashionable products.
