This course was nothing like I imagined it to be. More so than any course I’ve ever taken, I was challenged to think differently. To see room for innovations and improvement in the everyday products and services I come in contact with. Below I have listed my biggest course takeaways: Sustainability encompasses the four dimensions of environment, […]

The evaluating & feedback process has been not only my favorite part of the process thus far, but the one that also challenged my mindset the most. Before we could even begin the feedback process, we needed to shift our mindset, to step away from the bonds we had built in creating our prototype (kind […]

Prototyping wasn’t what I expected to be – when I think of prototyping I think of complex machinery and detailed technicality. Contrary to my thought process, prototyping is about showing the consumer experience. For our prototype, we had narrowed our ideas down to one broad category: reusable containers. There was two parts to this, however: the […]

The ideation experience falls under the create category, but it was almost a number game to me more so than anything else. Creation to me has always been at the heart of time; I have always fallen under the lonesome artist stereotype, creating “when the inspiration strikes me.” This process was almost instinctively the opposite […]

What strikes me about defining is that it is a movement; it continuously grows. Before I learned about the process of defining, defining was very singular in my mind. As in, I have defined the word, now it’s time to move on. But the defining process is anything but singular, which strikes me as particularly counterintuitive […]

My team’s chosen company is Olay, which focuses on higher-end skincare products. When thinking of what constitutes “great design” I looked first at the changing market, and more importantly, the changing values of the consumers. For who this company caters to, young women in the millennial generation, we see a consumer who is paying more […]

The common thread I found when reading about the five facets of consumer wisdom is that wise consumers act on their values. They recognize their purchases as a larger reflection of themselves, and so when making a purchase, have the ability to apply their consumption choices to their deep set values. For example, the lifestyle environment […]

I think the big takeaway, and the point of us reading about the different theoretical approaches to sustainability, is that there is no “right” formula to address sustainability. There are frameworks that offer us at least a start pointing, but each has it’s own strengths and weaknesses and the best possible approach to sustainability would […]

My biggest takeaway of these presentations was not the product or service, but rather the cultural shift and the direction businesses are heading. As far as looking into a specific lens of the presentations in class, one presentation that really stood out to me was “imperfect produce.” I liked it because it seemed to be […]

The science of happiness and overall wellbeing happens to be one of my lifelong passions. Being a psychology major and a wellness ambassador, wellbeing seems to be the perfect cross-section that has sparked my passion. I have often time grappled with the question “what is the key to happiness?” I, myself, subscribe to the eight […]