This may sound crazy but at first, I actually liked the teamwork in both settings. Despite whether or not my teammates carried their end of the work I really liked how immersive these experiences were. We were able to meet new people and learn more about the city then we would have without them. But even with that in mind, I feel like especially with the UvA students there should have been more check-ins throughout the process especially since our team did not even know what challenge they were doing, and we discovered way later that they actually did not follow any other the provided challenges and did something completely different. Even with this in mind, none of them completed their interviews and if it was not from the work of Jenny or I they would not have known whether or not it was an actual issue. So, I feel like I understand the type of thinking necessary, but I personally do not think that those collaborations really helped with doing the work to solve an issue rather than familiarizing myself with the process.
I have learned about the design sprint process previously through the EDES120 as well as a previous summer program. I learned about all the elements of a successful sprint and the importance of each step. I would say a key takeaway is in to completely understand your problem and allow the solution to come to you in that way. To completely understand your problem, you need to first zoom in and notice the specifics to then zoom out to notice the larger and more complex ideas. Once you do so, you can actually understand your problem and brainstorm in a manner that will create better ideas then going in knowing what you want to do. It is pretty similar to what I have previously learned, I guess the one thing that I knew previously that I wished was mentioned was that sometimes when you are interested in a project you may be tempted to start solutioning or brainstorming how to approach the problem. But by understanding that if your solution is the best solution, it will eventually get ruled out since it may not meet your criteria the best.
I learned a lot about the architecture and mobility of the people who live there. Through a canal cruise, I realized how Amsterdam is a city essentially built on water. Seeing how they built locks in order to keep out sea water and control the canals. Or how they built the city to be extremely bikeable and walkable so that it is relatively inconvenient to have a car. I think it put a lot of things into perspective and I really loved being able to visit other cities and see such different lifestyles in cities that are just 40 minutes away from each other by train. I was honestly a huge fan of Rotterdam and had the best food from my trip from there.
I think I liked both honestly, while the UvA students may have simply provided the idea and nothing else. I truly enjoyed the process of the interviews and the gallery walk. I feel like it allowed me to discuss with other UvA students about what I learned about the Dutch healthcare system. It was interesting that we were able to see it in relation to the American healthcare system as well. I also did like the Avans students since the conversations were nice. We were able to create a fun lego prototype and play some fun games with them. But I guess with the UvA students it was more serious, so I felt like I did more stuff. Honestly, it reminded me of high school since I was more responsible for ensuring the work got done. But I liked teams in Houston more since people pulled more of their weight and I feel like our project would have been way more interesting if they actually took the class seriously. But I realized how much I liked the partnerships since we met amazing people to show us around and venture out with.
I honestly liked how the first two since I was able to do those in public since the weather was permitting. It gave me a chance to notice things about the world around me that I would not have seen otherwise. I really enjoyed these projects for that reason. I also liked reflecting on the activities because it gave me the opportunity to yap lol.
My favorite part of my Amsterdam experience was my trip to Rotterdam along with exploring the city in general. I thought it was really fun to walk around and see different things and just get my steps up with Jenny. We walked around so much that it became a routine for Jenny and I to check our steps at the end of the day and notice how much more we walked compared to in Houston. WAIT I LIED, my favorite part, my dream come true was riding in the box of a cargo bike. That honestly completed the trip since literally the first day I wanted Jenny to drive me around in one of those.
I would tell them to DRESS FOR RAIN, it will probably be cold or rainy so make sure you have enough for both. Also, try to get out of Central Amsterdam if you want to get good food and do not be afraid to ask for recommendations. You should also always check the reviews before going to a place and definitely try to meet and talk to locals through UvA and Avans and make friends to experience things with.
