Overview
IBM and AIGA partnered in 2015 with a national partnership to bring IBM Enterprise Design Thinking practices to the members of AIGA. As a board member for both Austin and Colorado I was asked to serve on the IBM committee focused on the strategic partnership. Members of the committee also supported the educational piece of delivering and empowering AIGA members with IBM Design Thinking skills. AIGA Seattle HIVE Conference was one of those events. Our friends in Seattle asked for us to deliver a workshop focused on the conference’s theme of diversity and inclusion.
Opportunity
As Antionette Carroll writes; through AIGA's 100 year history design has evolved and integrated into every facet of our lives. However, there are still two areas that are lacking: demographic diversity and a culture of inclusion. In line with HIVE 2017's theme of future forward thinking, we propose an IBM Design Thinking Workshop to educate and inspire conference participants to use Design Thinking as a technique in developing social advances in their community, and the design industry.
Within the parameters of the workshop we will be digging into what inclusion means, at the root, and address this new perspective towards potential scenarios people find themselves in every day. Our intention is to inspire, educate and walk away with big ideas that attendees can take back to their communities. All the while, building confidence in leading their own design thinking sessions on their own one day.
Workshop Prompt
Design a better way to measure the impact of inclusion in the [Seattle/PNW] design community. (Prompt under construction, reaching out to the AIGA Inclusion team for feedback).
Take Aways
Introductory Design Thinking Skills
Better understanding of Inclusion
Warm and fuzzies for thinking on how to design for good
Requirements
Previous Design Thinking experience
Delivery
Our small team put together a comprehensive workshop to walk the full conference through finding ways to bring inclusion into their every day work decisions. We spent time with the head of AIGA Diversity and Inclusion unit to play back our workshop to her and get feedback on the impact the workshop might have to the attendees. The weekend came and we brought all our stickies, pens and print outs. In Seattle we had board members who attended our previous IBM Design Thinking Facilitation program act as support facilitators. Prior to the workshop we convened, prepped, and set the expectations so our support facilitators would be prepared to answer any questions confidently. Attendees worked in groups to ideate and shared small group findings to the larger audience.
Outcome
Over 50 design leaders walked away with a toolset of activities to bring to their offices across the nation to help their teams think and act inclusively.