Design thinking in Amsterdam has been truly an unforgettable experience. Two weeks went by so fast, and we met so many amazing people and visited so many incredible spaces. Over the course of two weeks, I went through the design thinking process of identifying a problem, interviewing users, brainstorming solutions, building prototypes, testing prototypes, and making sense of the gathered data. This process first began with the University of Amsterdam of Business students. I was paired with a group of 5 other UvA students and we investigated how we might make the process of planning and cooking cheap / healthy meals for college students quicker so that they have more time to study. Working with the UvA students allowed me to learn from a different perspective as they have different work ethics and already have taken similar business classes. For example, there were issues prevalent in the Netherlands like food waste and lack of social media at farmers markets. However, as a Rice student, I had a different perspective of the social priorities in the US and our use of social media is consumed more heavily.
The full day workshop with the Avalon students taught me how to pitch new ideas and brainstorm ideas with new people. It also taught me how to combine brainstorming ideas to come up with a final solution that I can prototype and then test. An interesting part of this process was seeing how students who have no prior knowledge on the design challenge, came in, learned what data has been collected and then moved forward with a potential solution. I was thankful that the students were open minded, cared a lot about my personal input, and was excited to work on this project. I think in many ways this resembles how other professionals work on different projects that are in different stages of the design thinking and engineering design process.
Further, I enjoyed the process of doing these asynchronous activities alongside these classes because they prepared me for activities I would be doing in class. For example, “slow looking” taught me how to gather data simply by observing and making inferences I can then tease out later. “Weave a story into gold” taught me how to give a compelling story for users to imagine when testing out our prototype. It additionally helped me create a beginning intro for my team’s final presentation. I also appreciated how I was able to work on these assignments at my own pace. There were many points in my day that I enjoyed sitting at a new cafe working on the assignments. It was a fun way of exploring the city and understanding the new environment I was in.
My favorite part about Amsterdam was everything. The air felt different. Given that we were staying close to the city center, there always felt like a small buzz in the air as people commuted. I love how environmentally conscious and aware the stores and cities were. I love the culture of enjoying nice weather when it’s possible. It was refreshing to see people of all ages laid out in the sun with their pets or just eating a sandwich. The students as well were always down for a small bite or coffee after class, which is different from the typical university student in the US. I loved the fries. OMG I miss the fries so much. This was a great place to be for my time in Europe.
I would have to tell any future student that is interested in taking this course to absolutely do it without question. I wish I would’ve had a better plan on the food spots nearby or planned itinerary to do after class ends. This would’ve saved me a lot of walking and time.