ADA5111 Design thinking for Business (DT4B) - Presentation (Stage 2 Presentation - Sustainable Startup - customer needs Persona, design ideas etc. )
Design thinking for Business (DT4B)
Sustainable Startup
Value: 40% of unit (20% in Week 8 & 20% in Week 12)
Due by: in-class presentations in weeks 8 & 12.
INTRODUCTION
Many of today's innovative startups recognise the value in establishing a strong focus on sustainability as a core value of business. From affordable flooring for developing countries that helps to improve domestic hygiene to urban farms in mega-cities that produce organic fresh vegetables, young entrepreneurial startups are leading the way in demonstrating how sustainable businesses should be conducted and the kind of positive change they can make. Sustainability in this sense recognises that a business’s financial future is closely tied to the broader environmental and societal implications of what they are proposing. For a new business to be truly sustainable today, its founders must take a broad, long-term vision to ensure that it can continuously be supported by the planet’s resources and the people who are affected by it.
This project is your chance to creatively explore the possibilities of how a business can make positive changes in the world. By engaging with activities and applying Design Thinking methods that you learn along the way, you will develop and refine a Sustainable Startup proposal designed around a unique product or service (or a combination of both) that addresses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) 12: Responsible Consumption and Production.
Keep it local: Although the UNSDGs have a broad global focus, your project should only focus on contexts that your team has a strong connection to and lived experience with. Do not try to design for a country or city that you have never been to, know no one from and do not intend on visiting this semester. Focusing locally (e.g. Melbourne, Australia) will make it easier to gather feedback on your ideas and refine your design.
This project will be completed in teams of 4 and will be assessed in 2 stages (Week 8 and Week 12) through in-class presentations. It is worth a total of 40% of the semester, which will be broken up into 20% in Week 8 and 20% in Week 12.
Over the weeks you will work as a team to analyse and collaboratively synthesise survey information to recognise patterns, challenges and opportunities for creative intervention; collect further information relating to production and consumption; design, prototype, test, critique, and refine unique solutions for products and services that form the basis of a Sustainable Startup; and finally communicate your proposal by pitching it to the class.
See the Process section of this document and the Week 5-12 sections on Moodle for more detail of how you will complete this project.
Project budget: AU$ 50,000
PROCESS
An overview of your project is provided here, though please refer to the Week 5-12 sections on Moodle for greater detail of each weekly activity during the project.
At the Design Department in Monash University we use a circular Design Thinking model to signify that good design is constantly iterating and improving through rounds of reflection, critique and feedback. We will follow this process during the Sustainable Startup project, which will start with the Discover stage and progress through Define, Design and Demo as you develop creative business ideas and then refine them to deliver a single creative and relevant solution in Week 12.
Project timeline:
Class 5 Analyse data using Affinity Mapping (Discover)
Class 6 Synthesise data into Personas and a project challenge (Define)
Class 7 Creative ideation and design selection (Design)
Class 8 Stage 1 Presentation (assessed presentation)
Class 9 Prototype idea and seek feedback (Demo)
Class 10 Evaluate idea and refine (Discover)
Class 11 Preparing to pitch through effective communication (Define & Design)
Class 12 Stage 2 Presentation (assessed presentation) (Demo)
ASSESSMENT DETAILS
Assessment submission
This project is worth a total of 40% of the semester.
There will be two assessment stages during this project, each worth 20%.
Both assessments will be conducted as in-class presentations and both will be assessed as a group.
These will be during your allocated class time in Week 8 and 12.
All digital presentation materials including slides and images must be submitted to Moodle on the day of your designated class in Week 8 and Week 12.
Only 1 team member needs to upload the presentation material as this will automatically be counted for all team members on Moodle.
Assessment criteria
The Stage 1 presentation will be assessed based on the following criteria:
Ability to analyse and synthesise data (10%)
This criterion focuses on your team’s ability to identify an interesting design challenge based on a thorough analysis and synthesis of collected data.
Consideration for the end-user (10%)
This criterion focuses on your ability to demonstrate a consideration for the end-users’ needs and desires through relevant insights and empathetic awareness in your design ideas.
The Stage 2 presentation will be assessed based on the following criteria:
Uniqueness, creativity and relevance of proposal (10%)
This criterion focuses on the uniqueness and creativity behind your team’s proposal for a business startup, which will be judged in relation to UN SDG12 and with consideration for your end-user.
Thoroughness of consideration (10%)
This criterion focuses the apparent thoroughness of your team’s thinking around the complex challenge and resulting business offering.
Review the Sustainable Startup Presentation Grading Rubrics (also available on Moodle).