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Assignment: Ideate
Use this template for the assignment. Add your responses.
Templates are adapted from research by the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (the “d.school”) at Stanford University.

Change the layout as much or as little as you like. Upload your work to D2L (Desire2Learn).

Hi! Topic
You’re about to begin the You learned the topic in the “define” module.
“ideate” phase of design Your project must be on the class topic.
thinking.
For the rest of the semester, we’ll focus on
Review the introduction, lecture applying creative thinking to the class topic!
and support materials on D2L.
They’ll help you with the
assignment.

How might we redesign urban transportation systems to be

more sustainable, efficient, and accessible for all community
members?
Challenge question
Remind us of your challenge question and subtopic.
Write it below. (The challenge question starts with, “How might we…?”

Focusing on integrating eco-friendly technologies and inclusive design in underserved urban

neighborhoods.

How does your challenge question and subtopic directly

relate to our class topic?
Our class emphasizes sustainable design and innovative problem-solving. This challenge
directly addresses those themes by aiming to reduce environmental impact while improving
accessibility and quality of life for residents in urban areas.

Tell stories/share quotes

Synthesizing Great ideas are based on people. Sharing
interviews stories and quotes creates insights.

In interviews, one resident said, “I can hardly

Find meaning in the work you did for the get to work on time, as the buses are always
“empathy” phase. late and there’s no other transport.” A fellow
community member remarked, “Sustainability
should be affordable and accessible to
everyone, not just a privileged few.” This
highlights the need for any solution to be
both reliable and inclusive.

Point of view

These interviews reveal that current urban

transit systems are failing to serve all citizens
equally. By shifting our perspective, we see
the challenge as not only about reducing
emissions but also about creating an equitable
system that supports community needs. This
is designed especially for low-income
residents.

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 Adapted from: Both, T. (2016). Design Project Scoping Guide. Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford.

Synthesis
Themes
Look for themes, patterns, insights, and connections in your interviews and research. What
stands out to you? Did different people repeat the same idea? What was it? Are any of the
things they said linked together? How are they linked? (Example: Imagine my topic is online
education. Some of the themes in my interviews might be students having a strong need for
organized content, feeling overwhelmed, and technology issues.)

List at least three themes, patterns, or insights.

Reliability: A consistent concern is the unpredictable nature of current public transportation.

Sustainability: Environmental impact is important, yet it must be balanced with immediate

needs.

Inclusivity: There is a clear need for designs that address the requirements of underserved
neighborhoods.

What’s a larger category that summarizes all three themes? (Example: Imagine my topic is
online education. My larger category that covers all the bullet points is “anxiety about
learning online.”)

Overall, the themes converge under the category “Equitable Sustainable Mobility.”

What was the most emotional or impactful story?

What was a surprising/frustrating/important story told by an interviewee? Why is the story
important to your topic?
(What if you didn’t complete the interview assignment? Interview someone!)

One single mother explained how property-poor public transit means she can never count on
being on time and she has to choose between missing work and leaving her child unsupervised.
This story resonates even more because it shows how problems with transportation can have
tangible, sometimes tragic, effects on people’s lives and opportunities.

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Write action statements
Think back to your interviews. Select one interview to inspire this section. Complete a fill-in-
the-blank exercise to help synthesize your work.

Complete the following:

 I met Maria, a committed community member from an under-resourced community.

 It blows my mind that she spends almost two hours a day just getting to work and back
because her public transportation options are so flimsy.
 I wonder if that means a redesigned, community-focused transit system could
dramatically improve daily life.
 My goal is to enable low-income urban household to gain access to a more efficient,
sustainable, and reliable transportation network.

Summary of your action statement

Write a summary statement using the information above. For example, instead of “Teenage
girls need nutritious food because vitamins are important to good health.” You might write,
“Teenage girls need to feel more socially accepted when eating healthy food because, in their
community, a social risk is more dangerous than a health risk.”

The last statement is actionable and creates more ideas. The first statement is reiterating a
common fact. It’s not very inspiring or insightful.

Practice creating a summary statement

Complete a fill-in-the-blank exercise to help summarize your work. Fill in the areas outlined
by “( ).”

Low-income urban residents need reliable and sustainable transit because current systems
force them into long, stressful commutes that limit economic opportunities and impact overall
well-being.

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 Variety of ideas
Brainstorming Create a variety of ideas. The first person to
coin the term “brainstorming,” Alex Osborn
Generate lots of ideas! Develop a potential said, “It's much easier to tame a wild idea
solution to your challenge question. than invigorate one that has no life in the
first place.” Let your ideas be out there and
adventurous! 🛸

Reverse thinking
Think about your topic and your challenge question. Imagine three things that would make it
worse. Then, turn those three things into potential solutions. (Review the example below.)

Example - This may not represent your class topic.

Imagine your challenge question is, “How might we improve student living spaces?” When we
use reverse thinking, we investigate the opposite. (Review the lecture for more information on
reverse thinking.)

Example: Making student Potential solutions through reverse thinking

living spaces worse
Remove all windows from Create studying and social greenhouses. Offer
student housing. Students atrium-style spaces designated as “quiet” or “social”
have limited natural light. zones for people to gather, collaborate, reflect, etc.
Increase housing costs. Create a searchable housing database for Greater
Lansing. Students can select their budget, location,
housing type, amenities, and more to discover and
compare the best options.

Practice
Complete the table below. Base your answers on the class topic and your challenge question:
What would make your Potential solutions through reverse thinking
subtopic worse?
Removing existing transit options Instead of eliminating options, create overlapping transit
altogether. networks that offer redundancy and reduce service gaps.
Increasing fares without Rather than increasing fares, implement a dynamic pricing
improving service quality. model with community subsidies to keep transportation
affordable.
Overcomplicating transit Simplify scheduling by incorporating real-time data,
schedules without community allowing flexible routes that adjust to actual demand.
input.

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Forced association

Practice
Conduct a forced association exercise. Complete this with a partner. Your partner can be
anyone.

Review the lecture. There is an example of forced association. The activity is easy to complete.
However, it might be challenging to understand forced association without the example!

● Review the example in the lecture video and rubric for this assignment. (Here is a brief
video on how to find rubrics on D2L. Rubrics are mentioned at timestamp “0:40.”)
● Select at least one partner for the brainstorming exercise. (Your partner can be
anyone.)
● Gather scraps of paper, sticky notes, or a digital workspace like FigJam.
● Get ready to make lists/piles of words.
● Together, imagine something that makes each of you unique (such as you enjoy music
or you’re good at a sport)
● Set a timer for two minutes. Write as many words as possible, at least ten each, about
what you selected in step 4. Write one word per piece of paper.
● Gather your pieces of paper. Set them to one side. (We’ll come back to them.)
● Together, imagine the class topic and your subtopic.
● Set another timer for two minutes. Write as many words as you can, at least ten each,
about the class topic and your selected subtopic.
● Gather your pieces of paper about your topic/subtopic.
● Each person has two piles of paper!
● Each person: Randomly select one word from each pile and place them together. Match
all the words aimlessly. Be haphazard. (Don’t overthink this!)
● Together, review your new word pairs.
● Force an association between the words. How might these pairings create a solution to
your subtopic and challenge question? This is abstract. You can do it!
● Take a photo or screenshot of your process. Add it below!

Insert an image of your forced association activity

Share a photo of your pieces of paper and pairings or upload a screenshot from a digital board.

PAGE 6
Top ideas from the forced association activity
Write two good ideas from your activity.

First idea
1. What two words did you force together? “Green” and “Community”
a. Write a one-sentence description of your idea: A community-driven electric
bike-sharing program.
b. Write 3-7 sentences on how you might make this idea into a prototype. (Type
here)

It would put bike docks in underserved neighbourhoods in prominent locations. This would

PAGE 7
involve Local businesses acting as the drop-off point, and a connected mobile app would allow
users to find various bikes to check in and out in real-time. The pilot program would prioritize
affordability and subsidized rates for low-income residents. Usage patterns might furnish data
to adjust bike distribution and help grow the program to every corner of the city.

Second idea
2. What two words did you force together? “Innovation” and “Access”
a. Write a one-sentence description of your idea: An on-demand shuttle service
powered by renewable energy.
b. Write 3-7 sentences on how you might make this idea into a prototype. (Type
here)

It would include electric shuttles working on flexible routes rather than fixed routes and
schedules. A mobile app would allow users to hail a shuttle and see its estimated arrival and
route. The system would configure itself on the fly based on peak times and areas of demand,
reducing times and inefficiencies. A local government partnership could fund pilot testing and
subsidize fares for increased access.

Reflection: Ideation

Write at least 300 words (about half a page.) Review the support materials on D2L. Respond
to the following prompts in your reflection:
● How did forcing an association between words and remixing ideas change your
thinking about your subtopic? How did brainstorming tools help you discover
solutions to your challenge question?
○ Reference or quote Kirby Ferguson’s “Everything is a Remix” to support your
ideas.
● How might cultural appropriation or cultural appreciation impact your ideation
process?

(If you need to cite your source, add your citation below.)

Ideation was also the most painfully challenging and a very educational process, a lot of
minding beyond the solution. My original proposals to improve urban transportation was
grounded in things that already exist, including optimizing bus routes and introducing electric

PAGE 8
vehicles. But the forced association exercise sparked new lines of thinking. By connecting
seemingly incompatible terms like “green” and “community,” I was able to envision a larger
audience than that of traditional transit planning. This reminded me of Kirby Ferguson’s
notion in “Everything is a Remix” that creativity is doing something with something,
rearranging and/or recombining existing things into new, valuable things as an artform. It told
me that even the most popular ideas could be turned into a great new product, and it was all
through reinventing an existing product in a new way by looking at it through a fresh lens.

Additionally, I found the framework of the structured brainstorming sessions to be extremely

liberating as it forced me to challenge business as usual and consider radical alternatives. The
reverse thinking exercise, for instance, made me think of what would make things worse for
the ongoing transportation crisis, and then, those things showed me how we can make things
better. We realized that the endpoint was not simply new technology, but a system that is
resilient, flexible, and above all, equitable.

This reflection of course had a lot to do with cultural factors as well. “People will show you
who they are…” In dealing with an urban landscape with many potential cultures, the
downside of “innovator” solutions are cultural appropriation — the usurpation of cultural
practices. But ensuring community participation in all aspects of the design process,
combined with a focus on cultural appreciation, means that we can develop solutions that
would respect local traditions and needs instead of enforcing global models. It serves to build
confidence that innovations will not only pass the technical sniff test but also the acceptance
test.

Ultimately, the ideation phase taught me to cultivate a remix mentality that recognizes the
potency of divergent thoughts colliding to find innovative solutions in the realm of
sustainability. Only by recognizing the technical and the cultural aspects of urban
transportation problems can lead us to solutions that are integrative, inclusive and genuinely
transformative.

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