Their ice breaking or get-to-know-each-other-name session was conducted in a creative way in which we were required to swagger to the middle from a large human circle and made a gesture or symbolic moves that we like while introducing ourselves. It is something different that I have never tried before. It makes an ice breaking session less boring and cheerful.
Following that, we were asked to get our partner and had a quick chat with them. After the snippet, we then draw a magazine cover to describe the person. All covers were illustrated creatively with livid colour of handwriting and some even have a funky tagline. Well, my first acquaintance was Letchumi who::
~ from Ipoh; practically travel to and fro; it would be great if someone can offer her a place to stay for a night to ease her;
~ like for today, she walked for 20 minutes from Asia Jaya LRT to Genovasi;
~ worked in RHB for the past two years;
~ currently 26 years old;
~ single lady;
~ teaches Yoga and know meditation;
~ seems to be someone spiritual;
~ had a Raya gathering yesterday;
~ soft-spoken person;
~ yet she is eager to learn;
~ take up Genovasi to fill her time while she is waiting for some approval/result of some important certification.
After that, we switched partner who I then came to know Ming Yi who::
~ short hair with spectacles;
~ 23 years old;
~ a freelancer who manages FB page; basically any corporal company that is interested to publicize their product through FB can look for her;
~ easily get flustered and affected by the environment;
~ expressive;
~ clumsy who always misplaced stuff;
~ perfectionist who loves everything to be kept in one place;
~ fluent in English;
~ bubbly and loving;
~ energetic and enthusiastic;
~ easily to be tickled and giggles a lot.
Yea, basically that about her. Next we proceeded to another session in which we needed to create a prototype - a purse - for the person who we had just spoken to. There are few processes to be followed to lead us to Design Thinking. The most challenging and also intriguing part was the time limitation. I love being pushed by time factor because it motivates me to take prompt action and prevent me from over-thinking. The reason that many wills/ideas on the environment have failed to be executed because I tend to worry more rather than taking proactive action. To date, I am still unable to overcome. So back to the processes that we gone through in creating the prototype were::
~ Sketching out the ideas in within 3 minutes based on the small chat you had with the person just now; in my mind, I knew she was a girl who met a lot clients, thus requiring a purse with much compartment and card holder; someone who would carry a very lady looking purse - typical;
~ Next was a 4 minutes interview;
~ Followed by a Dig Deeper Interview in 3 minutes; Alright the main highlight of this activity is this part. Dig Deeper literally means asking your her something more personal or a person's idiosyncrasy. Today I learned a new word, empathy which means the ability to understand a person's feeling, experience, etc. The whole idea is that we need to find out what has the person gone through and try to relate on how our product can suit the person. One very good example is from this pair in which the lady loves outdoor activities - jungle trekking, water rafting - thus her partner shrewdly designed a purse which can be attached to her arm so as she moves, it is easy for her to have all her important belonging with her, without causing any burden to carry it in hand;
~ Then we need to sum up what we have obtained from our partner so as to give ourselves a clearer picture later;
~ Here comes the "ideate" part; we need to sketch out at least 5 RADICAL ways to meet our user's needs in 5 minutes and present it to the person while jotting down the feedbacks;
~ We have reached the climax when we were required to literally create the prototype! My first thought was, "Oh no, I am not able to produce something pleasant and bombastic with such a little time, not even completing a purse! But then again, working under pressure really did give me the urge to complete my task. It's do or die.
So yeah. Personally, I felt satisfied for having able to create something that suits my user. But then again, from the Design Thinking point of view, I have yet to fully exploit my user's empathy into good use. In fact, I actually just designed something that already existed in the market - a purse which can fit in phone as well (Ainur's) and a purse akin to sister's (lot's of compartments). I vow to do better next time.
Finally, we were divided into our groups. I am in Team 2 which I met Sree - 26 years old, graduate from UTM, complete his master on mechanical engineering in UM, currently working with a Norway company, tall, bespectacled, enjoy swimming and jogging - Brindha and Jeremy who both I have yet to know much.
The following session triggered our thinking a lot. We were given images and we had to observe the appearance and then infer about it. Interesting exercise that gives room for creativity. We can infer anything that we wish to, feel free to make our own radical hypothesis.
During lunch, I made a fer new friends too - Raj, Sree's colleague and Farhan, Raj's teammate. After our fail attempt in looking for the mamak stall, we ended up savouring KFC which surprisingly quite vacant of customers despite lunch hour. Through the conversation, I learned that Farhan's idiosyncrasy is that despite his body size (fat), he is not that typical lazy, sluggish and like to act nonchalantly guy. In fact, he is very proactive, brave and innovative based on his achievement as a 5th Runner Up in creating a carpet which has a heater function. Pretty cool. He is a fresh graduate from Chemistry in UMT and is currently looking for a job while working part time as a tutor. Surprisingly, he is familiar with Taman Midah too as he learned keyboard at Yamaha Music Centre.
I also observed that Raj is someone that is hasty and disciplined. When we almost reach the end of lunch hour, he was the first to reach the car and ignited the engine while waiting for us slugging towards the car. This is just a simple remark though. I have yet to know him deeper. Anyhow, by looking at his neat and clean car, I think he is most probably a Virgo and someone who is conscientious.
The afternoon session is a little bit mundane but still good enough to spark some interest in my. Basically, after creating a persona from the images given, we would need to present it by acting. Following that, we needed to create an ideal working experience for Jennifer, our prototype. Throughout the process, I realize that I am still stuck with my own weakness - low oracy. Truly. I often find it hard to express my ideas in proper, short and precise sentences. Noted on that.
Anyhow, I think my team fulfilled the goal/the activity's requirement pretty well unlike other groups which I think probably have focused too much on the humour side of the story board. I guess the whole idea of the session is to create a prototype situation - something less tangible - rather than a product (first session).
So that's pretty much about today and let's just wait for the surprise tomorrow.
p/s: I think all the five coaches are pretty cool, caliber and professional. Not forgetting that they are highly proficient in English despite their races.
pp/s: One of the coaches - a Malay - has got USP/attractive by his own persona.
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