This workshop took place in a formal classroom setting in collaboration with Syracuse University’s DES 324 ‘Creative Problem Solving’ taught by Dr. Jody Nyboer.
Wicked Problems are defined by the Interaction Design Foundation as “problems with many interdependent factors making them seem impossible to solve.” These problems could be as specific as a particularly dangerous stretch of highway to as general as fast fashion and over consumption. Wicked Problems are issues that have a seemingly endless amount of interconnected stakeholders. Philosophies such as Design Thinking were developed in order to think critically about these problems and possible interventions.
Workshop Method:
‘Wicked Problem Solving’ was an opportunity to observe collaboration in a formal classroom setting so that it could be compared with the previous three workshops, which occured in informal classroom settings.
Students were already put into groups for this project, and had already decided on which issues they were interested in pursuing.
Learn: Brief presentation explaining Mikebrain.xyz and the importance of collaboration and community.
Meet: Each group was given an opportunity to share with the class the wicked problem they’re hoping to tackle and some of the thoughts they have had while working through the problem.
Share and Exchange: There were 9 groups in the class with sizes varying from 2 to 6. Each participant in each group was given a document to write down their brainstorming. This document was collected. The groups were also encouraged to discuss their interventions with other groups and gain new perspectives.
Conclusions: This workshop highlighted how the informal aspects of mikebrain.xyz workshops and installations were what made the outcomes so unique. Working with a group that had a graded assignment in their heads generated a very different atmosphere compared with the informal workshops.
Wicked Problems are defined by the Interaction Design Foundation as “problems with many interdependent factors making them seem impossible to solve.” These problems could be as specific as a particularly dangerous stretch of highway to as general as fast fashion and over consumption. Wicked Problems are issues that have a seemingly endless amount of interconnected stakeholders. Philosophies such as Design Thinking were developed in order to think critically about these problems and possible interventions.
Workshop Method:
‘Wicked Problem Solving’ was an opportunity to observe collaboration in a formal classroom setting so that it could be compared with the previous three workshops, which occured in informal classroom settings.
Students were already put into groups for this project, and had already decided on which issues they were interested in pursuing.
Learn: Brief presentation explaining Mikebrain.xyz and the importance of collaboration and community.
Meet: Each group was given an opportunity to share with the class the wicked problem they’re hoping to tackle and some of the thoughts they have had while working through the problem.
Examples of Group Topics:
Share and Exchange: There were 9 groups in the class with sizes varying from 2 to 6. Each participant in each group was given a document to write down their brainstorming. This document was collected. The groups were also encouraged to discuss their interventions with other groups and gain new perspectives.
Examples of documents from S&E:
Conclusions: This workshop highlighted how the informal aspects of mikebrain.xyz workshops and installations were what made the outcomes so unique. Working with a group that had a graded assignment in their heads generated a very different atmosphere compared with the informal workshops.