Change

The final year’s project of the DMI studies, allows students to specialize in a topic of their choice and demonstrate their profound understanding of Design Management.

As a graduate student, I was responsible for the entire Design Process. Translating primary & secondary research into findings, defining the solution criteria, conceptualizing and delivering an MVP.

Jorge Hirter, who was assigned as my mentor, accompanied me throughout this process.

His analytical coaching sessions and philosophical receptiveness were of inestimable value for this project.

The proposed solution is a conceptual filtering algorithm.

Users can manipulate a set of preferences upon which the solution suggests the user a ranked selection of reflection methods.

The solution is delivered using the format of an app. This allows users to get easy access to a personalized recommendation, and also give them the possibility to exchange their opinions about the methods in a growing community.

Additional value is delivered since a growing community (and the addition of methods and feedbacks on them) consequently enhances the algorithm’s accuracy.

Design and experience

The main concern here is the creation of holistic customer experiences through human-centered solutions and the design of all touch points.

A viable topic must:

• deal with an existing problem or opportunity to create an applied solution.

• address a general or universal problem, thus creating value.

• explore a problem or opportunity (research and innovation) to generate options for solutions.

• permit the application of the design process

The responsibility for going through the process, as well as for writing the thesis document, lies solely with the student. The school provides the necessary information (regulations, requirements, dates, etc.) and organizes the tutors and examiners involved. Each student is assigned a mentor for this work.

The complex and abstract nature of the problem required a systematic and unbiased approach from different angles throughout the entire design process, which can be studied in the paper.

Gathering relevant research required extensive qualitative interviews. The topic required people to open up about profound examples & impactful experiences in a their life. Enabling a trustworthy setting was key.

Furthermore, the insights had to be distilled from various perspectives, in order to define the solution criteria.

Maintaining a read thread was only possible through various iterations and focusing on the initial purpose of the project.

• The act of reflecting requires a deep confrontation with our Self.
  This sometimes reveals aspects which we don’t like, reject or simply ignore.

• Self-reflection is a process which few scholarly institutions teach (correctly), or encourage young people to engage in.
  It requires time, openness and commitment to undergo this alternative path.

• More and more (especially young) people struggle with disillusionment in today’s world and feel somewhat “lost”. There is a great need for guidance when asking the question “Who am I and what drives me?”

• Even though Design Management is often applied in a business-driven setting, it can also address organizational and societal challenges.

• Generating a strong sense of empathy towards the people who we design with/ for, is perhaps the most fundamental competency to develop a success story which has a positive impact on somebody’s life.

• How to apply Design Management for a Thesis project.

The tricky part is the realization of the complex nature of reflection. Every person has his/ her own way of expressing things.

Finding a common denominator to define a user type is difficult enough, let alone one for quantifying reflection methods.

A critical success criterion is gaining enough (lead)-users from whom data can be attained in order to feed the algorithm with relevant insights.

Especially, as soon as the first 1000 users have joined, larger adjustments (e.g. wording, adding parameters, online storage space etc.) will be required.

It is estimated that the overall development for the app will take anywhere between six and eights month, a small team of developers and a budget of CHF 40-100k.

If you are seriously considering making this concept become reality, I’d be very excited to have an exchange.