1.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
1. Don’t get stuck waiting until you believe your idea will work before testing it out! Wastes time and resources,
and could lead to a less desirable outcome.
2. Use quick and easy low-tech materials to prototype, share and test ideas.
3. Think way way outside the box for totally crazy ideas, instead of limiting yourself to practical options. This way,
you may stumble on things that you wouldn’t otherwise think of at all – will stretch the thinking, identify where
you may have preconceived beliefs that are limiting, and burst way out of the box.
Design thinking process as I experienced it 
It was like this tattoo and then some – how can I get into
my head to make sure I’m letting out more creative ideas!?!?
How can I get the light bulbs to flash repeatedly in
unexpected ways? Highs were those moments, and when
I discovered limitations I didn’t know I had, and pushed
past those. Lows were when I waited a bit too long to do
my homework and wanted to put more care and thought
into it. Wishing I was still in college and could take many
design thinking courses, both online and in person, and
blended. Really excited about new ways of thinking,
solving problems, and improving the human problem solving
skill set around the world!
Reflect – Final Assignment – Step 1

2.
a. Start small: Brainstorm ways in which you could start experimenting with any of the design thinking
skills/mindsets right away in your context (could be at your work, school, community, or at home). It doesn’t
have to be the whole process. If possible, put some of your ideas in practice. Start really small, something you
could easily do.
AT WORK: my marketing team at work is striving to drive excellence in our work product as a
team, going for extraordinary results through greater attention to detail and personal ownership
of final output. I can share some of the learning from this course with my team as part of our
overall professional development efforts each quarter. Then as we move forward, we can share
the vocabulary of design thinking, work together to generate fresher ideas and become more
aware of our self-imposed limitations.
b. Build on the first ideas: Think more broadly about how design thinking skills and mindsets could be applied to
problems you care about (at your work, school, community or at home). Zoom out and think about how they
could be applied more broadly to your field or industry.
AT WORK - MORE: work with my team to discover ways we can stretch our goals and make an
even bigger impact for our extended team – and how we can think beyond our own region
(US/Canada) to our global peer teams, and engage with them for more creative problem solving,
understanding our target audiences care abouts, developing new and more effective tools, and
more. Think more creatively, outside the box, to generate bigger, newer ideas so that our team
efforts (and individual contributions) can be broader, richer and create better outcomes that
align with our goals and initiatives, as a department and for the company.
Ideate/Prototype – Final Assignment – Step 2