Design thinking project with practice partners
As part of Prof. Jenny Bergström’s Design Thinking course, our Master’s students (M.A. Communication Design and Creative Strategies) developed ideas for so-called FlexPoint containers in cooperation with the creative agency C4 Berlin and the companies Schindler and Inno2grid.
Overview
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Program
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Supervision
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Subject
DesignThinking, community-centered design, cooperation
Instead of driving around the city all day with their tools, the FlexPoints serve as a basis for traveling shorter distances with light electric vehicles (LEVs). The LEVs also make it easy for them to find parking spaces and reduce traffic in city centers.
When the FlexPoint containers are distributed across the city and take up a small piece of public space, Schindler, C4 Berlin and inno2grid want to ensure that they also bring something positive to the area in which they are installed and create added value for the people who live there. The target group for FlexPoint is not only Schindler and its maintenance workers, but also the Berliners who live or work in neighborhood or come to visit it.
During the course, the students got introduced to the Design Thinking methodology and learned how to apply it to their challenge. In a collaborative manner, they defined problems worth solving, generated plenty of ideas, and explored ideas using prototyping. Through storytelling, the students were able to bring their ideas to life and present them to the client.
Prof. Jenny Bergström
Applying a community-centered design approach, it was one of the students’ tasks to understand the target group and their specific needs, draw insights from the research, and develop ideas and concepts based on the learnings. The research included understanding what life quality means for the specific target group, involving them in the process by letting them actively contribute with ideas, and conducting on-site research to understand behaviors and usage of the space.
The quality of the students' work is impressive. I could send you directly to our HR department for a presentation.
Stefanie Meyer-Heindrich von Schindler Deutschland.
The project has been carried out in close collaboration with external partners with regular meetings and valuable feedback throughout the process.
Many thanks to Schindler, C4 Berlin, and Inno2grid for inviting our master students to this challenge and for taking the time to guide us on the way.
