fedex & the 606 trail

Professor Alexis walks through a design thinking framework

Professor Alexis walks through a design thinking framework

brief

In Summer 2018, 32 employees from FedEx came to IIT Institute of Design for a 3 day workshop to practice design thinking methods. Our client was The 606 - an elevated trail between the Logan Square and Humboldt Park neighborhoods of Chicago. The brief was to address existing pain points (the trail is shared by people, animals, bicycles, strollers, etc.) and increase awareness and use of the trail by a wider range of users. The trail would also be a way to enrich community engagement in those neighborhoods.

Over the course of the week, I assisted Professor Jeremy Alexis in working through various design thinking exercises with FedEx members, supervising rapid prototyping in the ID shop, organizing interviews with users of The 606, and general workshop facilitation.

FedEx team members share their ideas after a 3 day workshop

FedEx team members share their ideas after a 3 day workshop

DESIGN METHODS

  • Re-framing the problem, reviewing FedEx assets, and creating How Might We statements.

  • Field visit using the AIEOU and 5Es frameworks to make observations about users.

  • Ideating using ‘Round Robin’ brainstorming and ‘Insight Smashing’.

  • User interviews and concept reviews with active and non-active people to discover pain points and incentives.

  • Rapid prototyping, followed by on-site tests and user feedback.

  • Storytelling exercises including an impov session to build team camaraderie, and encourage share outs and positive critique methods.

outcome

FedEx members came up with 6 distinct concepts, prototypes, and strategies for implementation, which were presented to members of The 606 team. The concepts were very well received and are currently being put into action on the trail.

FedEx also walked away with design thinking methods and frameworks, and storytelling exercises that could be applied to future internal projects.

 

Ed Miniat - food packaging

Client team members share ideas from work session

Client team members share ideas from work session

Looking at different types of packaging from analogous companies

Looking at different types of packaging from analogous companies

brief

In Srping 2018, executives from the food packaging division of Ed Miniat came to IIT Institute of Design for a day long workshop on using design thinking to keep up with rapidly changing customer and industry trends.

Along with Professor Jeremy Alexis, I created materials for the workshop and co-facilitated it. We had with us photos of packaged products from the kitchens and shelves of Miniat’s clients’ kitchens and shelves, and also shopped for examples of competitor packaging.

I assisting the Miniat team in discussing the assets they posses, learning about emerging industry trends, reflecting on customer insights, and bringing a critical eye to accepted orthodoxies. We followed with several design thinking exercises to develop ideas to address pain points with existing packaging, and to develop new concepts for future products.

outcome

Conducted various exercises, including:

  • Identifying industry insights, assets, trends, orthodoxies, and ‘how might we’ statements.

  • Laying out the customer journey steps, pain points and opportunities.

  • Referencing competitor packaging concepts to see what can and cannot be applicable to Miniat

  • Generating several ideas from opportunity gaps and prioritizing them on a spectrum of ‘relevance’ and ‘uniqueness’.

  • A set of 6 core beliefs about the company’s strengths and market atmosphere to guide new product development.