Discussing Design Thinking In A Personal Perspective - 2200 Words

Discussing Design Thinking In A Personal Perspective (Coursework Sample) Content: MGMT DESIGNExecutive SummaryIn the next sixth months, I plan to complete my journey in creative design thinking. This is the peak of my learning experience because it gives me a chance to apply what I have learnt over the past. At this stage, I bring my ideas to life through a professional journey. This includes the implimentation of personal changes that I have made as a person. One of the greatest benefits that I have reaped from the course if concept development. I have learnt that an idea does not become viable without this crucial thinking process. I believe in a value chain that adds benefits in the design process. In a world where profitability is more important my plan is to suppport the creation of solutions through value based approaches. This report identifies the design thinnking process as well as the techniques used to simpify the process. This method is effective in academic, professional and personal development.Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc495012314 \h 3Personal development PAGEREF _Toc495012315 \h 3Problem solving vs problem finding (Blog post #4 August 25 2017) PAGEREF _Toc495012316 \h 3Core Values PAGEREF _Toc495012317 \h 4Professional development PAGEREF _Toc495012318 \h 4Six Months Plan PAGEREF _Toc495012319 \h 5Visualization PAGEREF _Toc495012320 \h 5Journey Mapping and mind mapping PAGEREF _Toc495012321 \h 6Value Chain Analysis PAGEREF _Toc495012322 \h 7Brainstorming PAGEREF _Toc495012323 \h 7Concept development PAGEREF _Toc495012324 \h 7Assumption testing PAGEREF _Toc495012325 \h 7Rapid Prototyping PAGEREF _Toc495012326 \h 8Customer co-creation PAGEREF _Toc495012327 \h 8Launching PAGEREF _Toc495012328 \h 8Capturing Feedback PAGEREF _Toc495012329 \h 8Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc495012330 \h 9References PAGEREF _Toc495012331 \h 10IntroductionThe contemporary business world today is about creating solutions to problems. Taking a Design Thinking course is a unique learning experience for me bec ause it shows me how to develop ideas through creatity CITATION Bar16 \l 1033 (Barringer Ireland, 2016). Its practical approach is an opportunity for me to sharpen my personal and professional skills. Competence in design process starts with the ideation process. It is not enough to learn about DT because applied design thinking adds more value. However, the process of developing ideas is systematic and uses techniques. Through this process, I have learnt to approach creativity from a different angle of professionalism, team work and result oriented thinking. This report describes this learning process of reasoning and learning with suggestions for further professional development ( Blog post #3 August 16 2017).Personal developmentBefore this course, I used to think that creativity is an art subject that comprises of talented perfomances, artistic drawings, fashion, and sculpture. I had no idea that everyone has the ability to express creativity through the mind. In fact, I saw my self as a scientific person that was not really creative. However, DT has made me realize my inner strengths through thinking ( blog post # 1 30 July 2017). It is amazing how the world of thinking can give birth to numerous unique ideas. I feel motivated by the fact that innovation spearheads entrepreneurship because I have a business mind as a person CITATION Lie11 \l 1033 (Liedtka Ogilvie, 2011). The group workshops have unveiled this truths in an amazing way.Problem solving vs problem finding (Blog post #4 August 25 2017)I am a visual person and I often channel this creativity to my social media page. However, this course has taugt me how to use blogs for sharing serious ideas that other people can understand CITATION Shr17 \l 1033 (Shresta, 2017). I used to take photos and post on Instagram and Facebook just for fun. This has changed because now I develop images through visualization, brainstoring and spotting the obvious. Using design thinking tehcniques I can create a spira l of tens of ideas through one single thought. I find it amazing that finding one solution leads to the discovery of another. It is easier to create quality ideas now because of the visualization, journey mapping, mind mapping, and brainstorming processes. These define what the idea is made of and its alternatives.Core ValuesI am a principled person and it was a relief to learn that a designer is someone with values. My focused is to use my graphic design skills to create a product that is appealing to the customer. I have in mind a plan on how to do this through mind mapping ideas and consultations from my team and professionals in the field ( blog post #5 27 August 2017) . As I keep talkin about the idea, I receive new insights. I alighn myself with the right people in order to build the right mindset. Every day, I need a stimulus so I peruse through quotes for inspiration. This allows me to follow up on my idea and plan.Being analytical, creative and logical is important because people have different ideas. I realized that when sharing one idea with one individual, I often pick another idea from them. I am open minded so I brainstorm on new ideas for different perspectives. As a divergent thinker, I have ideas that flow freely. However, I need to channel them into a linear form through convergent thinking techniques.Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1: Design thinking process and its development stagesProfessional developmentWhile doing my research on design thinking, I realized that professionnal training programmes are now offering creative tinking as a continuing education for professional development CITATION Har17 \l 1033 (Harvard University, 2017). Such course benefit leaders, business strategiest andcreative thinkers in business. I used to marvel at other peoples ideas especially in the world of innovation. I would look at different car models and wonder how someone would come up with an idea like the BMW X6 series. It looks like an aeroplane, has great performance yet operates on road networks. Technological innovations like Facebook, the TV, and smartphones are just out of the ordinary. Now I know how these come about because creativity influences all industries in product and services CITATION Gle15 \l 1033 (Glen, Suciu, Baugh, Anson, 2015).Learning about concept development is important because it enables me to create a story that is different from others for a competitve edge. From personal research, I can confrim tha business organizations tackle their challenges through creativity CITATION Sek13 \l 1033 (Sekeran Bougie, 2013). Although I now know how to visualize and brains took torm, I also have to train myself on how to utilize design thinking principles such as prototypying, research and co-creation. This process teaches me to identify what works and what does not.Six Months PlanThe world today is solving business problems through creativity CITATION Hul13 \l 1033 (Hull, 2013). In order to fulfill my mission, I need a plan on how to get my idea into the market. The design thinking process facilitates for research, negotiation and value enhancement. It gives me a simple guide on how to get started and progress to the launch. Below is a plan on how I intend to do this. However, for a professionally proven approach, I choose to implement Liedtka Ogilvie (2011) formula of ten tools for designing growth in stages. I still have challenges settng exact timelines but the plan covers a six months period.Creative Thinking Technique Principle Task Visualization Concept development Definition of the idea Mindmapping Value Chain Analysis Drafting ideas using maps Story boarding Prototyping Sketching sequence ideas Brainstorming Co-creation Making consultations Research Assumption Testing Analyzing systematic ideas Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 2: Idea development through creative thinkingVisualizationTo start, I need to keep my ideas simple. I am aware that my success solely depends on my ability to break down information into simplified ideas. My favorite techniques for this process are storyboarding and the use of photographs as seen in my blogs (blog # 1 July 30 2017). This is the use of imagery or graphic experiences as representation of a product or service. Its focus is on the benefits to the end user. My idea is to carry out an assessment of the customer experience then generate an idea from that.Journey Mapping and mind mappingI will put into use the graphic presentation of ideas in posters with the customer in mind. This will take a systematic process of journey mapping that identifies a process for the work schedule. I learnt how to do this during workshops. At this stage, value creation is important because the customer is at the center of the idea generation. My idea of problem solving is to identify gaps and challenges in original ideas. This creates a simpler framework for journey mapping. Using my background in research, I intend to create colorful themes and intervie ws that describe the process CITATION Min17 \l 1033 (Mind Maps Unleashed, 2017).Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 3 : Example of mindmapping using colourful graphicsFigure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 4: Example of a handwritten mind map for idea generation CITATION Min17 \l 1033 (Mind Maps Unleashed, 2017)Value Chain AnalysisI view a value chain analysis as critical in the development of a business idea because the modern consumer finds motivation in value. If I am to succeed in business, my focus in design thinking should be on producing products that make a difference. One way of adding value is to cross check the cost and benefit factors for profit margins at every stage of the idea development CITATION Dav12 \l 1033 (Davila, Epstein, Shelton,...

Exploring Feminist Identities Empowerment Through Duality - Literature Essay Samples

Female writers constantly try to negotiate their identities in a society that exalts male opinion. That the protagonists of Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† and Chopin’s â€Å"A Pair of Silk Stockings† are married women places both discourses within a patriarchal, institutional framework. Immediately, a critique of marriage arises, and we are forced to examine how women are oppressed, either by patriarchy or by stereotypes placed on them as mothers and nurturers. It is evident that both stories serve to highlight the plight of women, though it remains arguable whether a solution is proposed. Gilman’s nameless protagonist goes mad, while Chopin’s â€Å"Little Mrs. Sommers† dreads going back to the boring routine of a housewife. The conclusions, as such, do not seem to empower women, but suggests a futility of fighting against patriarchy. Even if the madness of Gilman’s nameless protagonist is seen as a form of transcend ental sanity as suggested by some critics, how empowering is it for females to be represented as mad? Besides, her transcendence if it is interpreted as such – is temporary, for she might be placed in an asylum for further treatment. Consumerism too, is only a temporary relief for Mrs. Sommers’ mundane existence, for her money will run out eventually. The fact that both women are married is an important consideration in this analysis. Marriage inscribes patriarchy into the narrative, because it forces the identity of wife and husband onto the characters. Immediately, stereotypes of each label are being invoked: the wife is submissive, caring and sacrificial while the husband is aggressive, clinical and egocentric. In both stories, the women are silenced and powerless in their marriage. Gilman’s protagonist does not have a name, and is mollycoddled like an infant while it is clear that Mrs. Sommers’ life revolves around taking care of her childre n’s needs, with little regard for her own. By not giving her protagonist a name and emphasizing that her husband and brother were both physicians â€Å"of high standing† (115), Gilman locates the story within a patriarchal structure. As Karen Ford notes, â€Å"John is identified in relation to the patriarchy first and in relation to his wife only afterwards† (310), and the physician is the â€Å"quintessential man† (310), therefore â€Å"the epitome of male discourse† (310). For Mrs. Sommers, her desires are usually repressed, and the story describes what happens when she succumbs to her desire. Mrs. Sommers is the embodiment of the perfect wife, with her children as her source of pride and excitement. Her life also exemplifies the life of all women who become housewives and devote their lives to their family because that is expected of them. Both stories are not that different in the sense that they depict marriage in chronological order: Gi lman’s protagonist, should she â€Å"recover†, would end up living the life of Mrs. Sommers. Through marriage, both stories reveal the oppressive force of patriarchy that reduces them to what Paula Treichler terms, â€Å"domestic slavery† (64). In both stories, the protagonists devise their own ways of escaping patriarchy. For Gilman, we are immediately introduced to the protagonist’s private thoughts and become complicit with her writing in her â€Å"dead paper† (115) that she calls her journal. We are offered insight of her struggles to construct an identity that is not imposed by society. Elaine Showalter recognizes that writing is a powerful tool of expression for the feminists, even if they continue to do so within a patriarchal culture (Belsey and Moore 6), and this is exactly what Gilman tries to show in her short story. The language of patriarchy as epitomized by the language of medicine has, as Treichler observes, â€Å"considerabl e power over what [†¦] reality is now to be† (65). Once John has pronounced that she is suffering from â€Å"temporary nervous depression† (115), she is confined to imprisonment in the room with the yellow wallpaper. Through her writing, we are confronted with wallpaper that is hideous with â€Å"sparkling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin† (117). Through her journal, the wallpaper comes to life, and takes on human features – â€Å"broken neck and two bulbous eyes† (119). It slowly becomes clear to her that the pattern is â€Å"like a woman stooping down and creeping about† (122). At this point, it is crucial to note that as John’s voice becomes more absent when he leaves the protagonist alone, the woman behind the wallpaper takes on a more prominent form, and Treichler notes that at this junction â€Å"the figure grows clearer to her, to the point where she can join her from behind the paper and literally ac t within it† (67). The figure’s visibility is a measure of her empowerment through her writing. As the figure becomes clearer, she becomes quieter and her husband sees this reticence as an indication of her improved wellbeing. This suggests a fallacy of the privileged male, medical observation and potentially undermines it as the patriarchal voice is revealed as disempowering for females. Despite the revelational potential that writing has, Carol Neely warns that â€Å"when women’s language is reduced to the level of style alone, attempts to isolate or prescribe stylistic features which are or should be peculiar to women’s discourse fail [†¦]† (315). For Gilman’s protagonist, her writing is atypical of patriarchy. While John advocates â€Å"self-control† (116), she states that â€Å"it makes me very tired† (116). While John condemns â€Å"imaginative power† and â€Å"fancy† (118), she deciphers â€Å" great many women† (126) climbing through the wallpaper pattern. Identifying a specific women’s language has the danger of taking the women out of typical patriarchal discourse and placing them in the category of â€Å"Other†, thus reinforcing the binary opposition that is set up by patriarchy in the first place. Females are sentenced to a perpetual otherness (319) as males continue to be logical and level-headed, while females continue to be the opposite: illogical. For Mrs. Sommers, she experiences momentary respite as she indulges in consumerism. Whilst Chopin seems to exalt her as one who knew the value of bargains (153), she also mockingly implies that she is wasting her time by stand[ing] for hours making her way inch by inch toward the desired object that was selling below cost (153). When the story sees Mrs. Sommers pampering herself on soft, sheeny, luxurious things (153), and then further treating herself to a proper meal and a comedy before culminat ing with her in a cable car making her way home and experiencing a powerful longing (156) that the ride would go on and on with her forever (156), we immediately interpret Chopins consumerist approach as temporary reprieve. However, I opine that she is suggesting that financial independence is the key to freedom. The story starts by painting a picture of Mrs. Sommers financial prudence as the question of investment was one that occupied her greatly (152) and it was during the still hours of the night when she lay awake revolving plans in her mind that she seemed to see her way clearly toward a proper and judicious use of the money (152); the narrator then hints of better days that Mrs. Sommers had known before she had ever thought of being Mrs. Sommers (152). Unlike the females of Jane Austen who saw marriage as a solution to future stability and happiness, Gilman and Chopin foreground marriage as stifling and regressive. Neely offers reconciliation for Gilmans solution of an alternative womens discourse by quoting Virginia Woolf- In order to create this alternate discourse [†¦] they must have 500 pounds and a room of their own – that is, financial, social, and psychological independence (318). Her approach merges the solutions of Chopin and Gilman, and implies that women have to be sufficient, thus not depending on the patriarch, before their writing can be taken seriously as a collective female voice. Whilst Neelys approach echoes some contemporary feminists, it is too idealistic and parochial. Woolfs postulation places females in a one-dimensional construction that mirrors the males. Essentially, her underlying statement is that females have to appropriate the males definition of success in order to be seen as successful. Her suggestion reminds me of a quote by American writer Timothy Leary, who postulates that, Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition. The fact that Johns insistence that his wife should not write, an activ ity that promotes thought and intellect, suggests that he has to continually render his wife weak-minded so that he will remain unchallenged. Mary Jacobus further expounds that otherness is domesticated [and] made safe, through narcissism (69). John fainting in the end is evidence of the vulnerability of his ego. Treichler interprets this as the unflappable husband fainting because he is taken aback by the dramatic power of her own freedom (67). She expands further the protagonists triumph since she has followed her own logic, her own perceptions, [and] her own projects to this final scene in which madness is seen as a kind of transcendent sanity (67). I am inclined to agree with Treichlers reading of language as Gilmans protagonist changes the terms in which women are represented in language and extends the conditions under which women will speak (74). That both stories end inconclusively connotes the ability for women to embody contradictions and ambiguity. This, in my o pinion, is what makes women different from men. While the male identity is stable and fixed, the female identity can be negotiated and renegotiated, just like how Gilmans protagonist constantly tries to interpret the wallpaper, first as an artistic sin (117), then as a face with unblinking eyes (119), fungus (123) and finally as women trying to escape (126). Mrs. Sommers embodies contradictions too when she is a poor woman surrounded by wealthy people, yet creating no surprise (155) with her appearance. As Treichler astutely observes, Woman is both passive and active, subject and object, sane and mad (74). It is impractical to compete with males on their platform, because it only supports the binaries that patriarchy upholds. Instead, it will be more productive to engage in a discourse that accepts the females inherent duality, because by doing so, gender lines are blurred and patriarchy is displaced. The Yellow Wallpaper and A Pair of Silk Stockings essentially protest agains t male exclusivity. Both stories highlight the oppression of women through the male institution as epitomized by marriage. The inconclusive resolution of both stories hints at possibilities for change. Both stories criticize marriage, and portray it as oppressive and disempowering for the female. For the texts to be interpreted correctly as a critique of marriage and patriarchy, it is crucial to examine the seemingly arbitrary endings that hint at the futility of resistance. The central difference that celebrates women is her ability to embody the binaries that patriarchy asserts. By embodying it, not only does she appropriate it, she displaces patriarchy and exposes its vulnerability. Works CitedBelsey, Catharine, and Jane Moore, eds. Introduction: The Story So Far. The Feminist Reader. London: Macmillan Press Ltd, 1997. Ford, Karen. The Yellow Wallpaper and Womens Discourse. Tulsa Studies in Womens Literature. Vol. 4, No. 2, pp 309-314. JSTOR. 29 Oct. 2007. Jacobus, Mary. The Difference of View. The Feminist Reader. Eds. Catharine Belsey and Jane Moore. London: Macmillan Press Ltd, 1997. Neely, Carol Thomas. Alternative Womens Discourse. Tulsa Studies in Womens Literature. Vol. 4, No. 2, pp 315-322. JSTOR. 29 Oct. 2007. Treichler, Paula. Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in The Yellow Wallpaper'. Tulsa Studies in Womens Literature. Vol. 3, No. 1/2, pp 61-77. JSTOR. 29 Oct. 2007.