Research Assistant, Institute of Information Science (IIS), Academia Sinica
Bio-Industrial Mechatronics (BIME), National Taiwan University
DESIGN THINKING
2017 Spring
Design Thinking Course @ D-School, NTU
​
An intensive course provided by the "D-School"(Design school), NTU.
The course provides diversified lessons such as user experience, field investigation, prototyping, and so on.
The goal is to propose a solution to our collaborative partner, the public Neihu Sports Center, to enhance the frequency and willingness of nearby engineers to do exercise at the sports center.
My lovely team members :)
My lovely team members :)
COURSE OBJECTIVE
Employees of companies in the Neihu software park tend to sit all day and lack exercise. This kind of unhealthy lifestyle might result in unfavorable health status and body shape.
Together with our collaborative partner, Neihu Sports Center, our objective is:
"To increase nearby employees' exercise frequency and willingness of using the Neihu Sports Center."
NEIHU SPORTS CENTER
Located in Neihu District, Taipei City, our collaborative partner is a public sports center which provides various sport facilities and equipment.
- Gym
- Swimming pool
- Rock climbing center
- Basketball, badminton, table tennis courts
NEIHU SOFTWARE PARK
The Neihu software park is an industrial area with plenty of computer and software companies.
Employees here are mainly engineers, business or project managers.
COURSE PROGRESS
We discussed our ideas on sticky notes and gradually converged to our solution.
DAY 1-4: INTERVIEW
Followed by user experience, innovative design, and field investigation lectures, teams design interview outlines and seek for appropriate interviewees.
DAY 5-9: DEFINE
- REPRODUCE: Situations and experiences of our target users.
- DIG: Find the core of the problem and the real need. Solutions may be very diversified.
- DESIGN POINT-OF-VIEW:
To explain user experience and true need.
DAY 10-13: IDEATE
- PERSONA: a more clear silhouette of our target user group, with his/her own profile, experience and perspective.
- CONVERGE to a preliminary solution.
DAY 14-17: PROTOTYPE
- Cooperation with communities and organizations
- How and where to receive food?
- Information source?
- ...
DAY 18-20: TESTING
- Stock distribution and delivery
- Information database and bulletin
- ...
DAY 21-24: PREPARE FOR FINAL
- Website and phone application
- Database management system
- ...
DAY 1-4: INTERVIEW
These are responses of some of our interviewees, who are:Â
- Employed around the Neihu Software Park.
- Wish to exercise more due to health, body shape, or other concerns.
- Has faced problems when trying to develop exercise habits.
MR. KUO (28)
Software engineer
"Food around my company are too greasy so I prepare my own lunchbox.
I hope to stay in shape by exercising and going on a healthy diet."
MS. PENGÂ (24)
Planning specialist
"It's usually 8 or 9 PM when I leave my office and there are not many food choices left.Â
I only eat little before exercising, such as oatmeal. Eating too much makes me uncomfortable."
MS. LIÂ (23)
International company employee
"I once passed out when doing TABATA because I didnt' eat anything."
"An obstruction is that I must eat before doing exercise. I like to eat around 7 or 8 PM, but if I want to exercise I have to eat earlier and it bugs me."
DAY 5-9: DEFINE
We reconstruct our interviewees' point-of-view by reproducing their user experiences and faced situations.
Then we converge to the core problem and needs of each interviewee's case.
​Our preliminary conclusion is that eating is a big deal.
"FOOD AROUND MY COMPANY AREÂ TOO GREASY, ..."
REQUIREMENTS:
A light diet to satisfy healthy lifestyle and stay in shape.
"HARD TO BUY SUITABLE FOOD AFTER WORK, ..."
"FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE IF I EATÂ TOO MUCH BEFORE EXERCISE, ..."
REQUIREMENTS:
Buy appropriate food after work and before exercise.
"HAVE DIFFICULTIES COORDINATING EATING AND EXERCISING HOURS"
REQUIREMENTS:
Favorable time and environment for eating before exercising.
DAY 10-13: IDEATE
- Design a "persona" representative of our target user group.
- Converge to a preliminary solution.
PERSONA
Angela, 26, Project manager at Neihu software park.
​
- Has been working for 3 years. She is aware that her body metabolism is slowing down, her skin is aging, and her body shape is not fit as usual.
- She thinks that this will affect her physical health, therefore she plans to cultivate an exercising habit.
- However, she finds it difficult to exercise in fixed time, since her working hours are unset.
- If she wants to exercise, she needs a suitable time to eat some food in appropriate serving. However, most restaurants around Neihu are too greasy and large in size.
PRELIMINARY SOLUTION
Seek for collaboration with diet lunchbox sellers.
SPORTS CENTER
- Doesn't sell appropriate food, and may discourage potential clients from going to exercise.Â
- However, there are lots of seats and room for people to eat.
LUNCHBOX SELLERS
- They provide lunchbox with designed diet, especially to satisfy needs of people with exercising habits.
- However they have limited advertisement and selling channels.
DAY 14-17: PROTOTYPE
CONVERGED PROBLEM
Employees are hard to find appropriate food in the time period between "after work" and "before exercise".
This makes preparation before exercise more difficult and therefore decreases willingness of exercising.
​
Appropriate: moderate in serving size, easy to digest & healthy ingredients
DESIGN SOLUTION
- Functional set menu order service.
- Order and pay online.
- Set menu consists of "Pre-exercise"
and "Post-exercise" parts.
- Eat at Neihu Sports Center.
- Nutrition facts, serving size and
ingredients.
- User encouragement card!
DRAFT STORYBOARD
Simulate user experience from his/her perspective when using the service.
​Illustration by Szuyu :)
DAY 18-20: TESTING
Modify our solution based on user testing (interviewing workers at Neihu Sports Center).
CUSTOMER SERVICE
"Pretty good idea since preparing for food is sometimes tiring."
"No cooking facilities are here."
"Most people come in around 6 PM. They stay for about 1 to 1.5 hours. Some go to hot pot restaurants together after exercise."
"Online payment is simple and convenient."
COURSE DESIGNER
"Effects of the food should be clearly marked. We have to ask dietitians for advice, in order to sell the food to clients."
"Should have more connection to the sports center, such as qualifications to use the service. Consider conditions like membership, or enrolling certain course."
FITNESS COACH
"Eating both before and after exercising is a correct concept."
"You can eat carbohydrates, bananas and non-processed food before exercise."
"Our first course starts at 6:30 PM daily. Some people eat chocolate or greasy food before exercise and turn out feeling sick."
OPERATION DEPARTMENT
"Why do people not exercise? They are either busy or lazy."
"Users must gain positive feedback, for example, diet + exercise = healthy"
"We can design an overall exercise prescription, new courses, since diet can magnify effects of exercise."
FINAL SOLUTION
Prepare for exercise: a banana and a bottle of milk.
Encouragement card & meal content.
Prepare for exercise: a banana and a bottle of milk.
PRE-EXERCISE MEAL
Fruits, milk products and carbohydrates.
Well-balanced meal box.
Encouragement card & meal content.
Well-balanced meal box.
POST-EXERCISE MEAL
Well-balanced lunchbox with a bigger serving.
STORYBOARD
Illustration by Szuyu again :o
1
After working for several years in a company at Neihu Software Park, Irene feels that her body is no longer in good shape.
Therefore, she looks up "office worker", "gain weight", and "what to do" on the Internet.
Special thanks to my teammates (from top left):
Rachel, Zili, Ingo, (me), Jarah, Jackie, and Chueh-Wen.
