The LIFEHACK Labs Series #1: Problem Solving with Design Thinking
This is the first in the series of our LIFEHACK Labs posts to share how we approach different aspects of launching social ventures.
Problem Identification & Understanding is at the heart of our LIFEHACK Weekends and Labs.
We recognise the importance of building small teams with a variety of skill sets, and backgrounds and enabling you to work together in a trusting environment. Working with people from diverse backgrounds can be difficult, sometimes you need some structure to help you get there.
You don’t have to come to a Lifehack Weekend to identify and understand a problem though. The essence of how we go about it is rooted in the concept of Design Thinking, and we’re happy to share the toolkits we use to approach problems.
Whilst we’re in the process of writing up our own LIFEHACK toolkits, we wanted to share one of our absolute favourites – Design Thinking from Stanford d.school
→ Head to the d.school website
This is a fantastic resource to take a deep dive into better understanding the problem you’ve identified, and finding innovative ways to tackle it and turn it into an opportunity.
The Challenge!
This Summer, we’re laying down the challenge to the first Lifehackers and Kiwis all around the country to gather a group of friends and take a deep dive into Youth Wellbeing issues that they see in their communities.
How to do it:
- Head to the d.school virtual crash course above & do the reading.
- Extend the invite to some friends (even numbers is best) to gather to spend half a day on the experience.
- Run the d.school experience, learn about design thinking and have fun doing it!
- Send us some photos of the day and the outcomes through Twitter or our new Google+ Community.
- We’ll send Lifehack T-shirts to our favourites!
Get in touch if you have any questions or thoughts on how this helps (or hinders) your problem solving efforts.
