1. Design Challenge: Redesign the School-
to-Work Transition
Reflection on
Design Thinking Process
Theresa Kingston

2. Observe and Reflect - Takeaways
• The process is fun. It provides an opportunity
to be creative and think. The prototyping and
need to ‘fail fast’ allowed me to let go of a
need for things to be perfected prior to
showing others.
• Empathize is a way of being not a stage in the
process. Keeping in mind the needs of the
stakeholder throughout the entire process is
paramount.

3. • Be prepared to be amazed and excited
throughout the journey. You really don’t
know where you will end up. But it will be at
the right place…

4. My Design Thinking Process

5. My Design Thinking Journey

6. Applying Design Thinking
• To Municipal Government
• I have already started to apply Design Thinking
in my workplace. Over the past two weeks we
have had a team of 6 people working on a
design challenge and going through the same
processes that we did in the course.

7. Design Challenge:
Redesign the Budget Process
Our workspace – while we have not yet installed hanging
whiteboards, we have changed how the room is used.
The information on the walls represents 4 team
meetings focusing on the design challenge.

8. Empathize
Stakeholder Map Empathy Map for City Councillor
Team members interviewed a City
Councillor and several taxpayers

9. Define
For City Councillor For Taxpayer

10. Ideate – Team came up with over 90
ideas in 30 minutes

11. Prototype

12. Next Step
• Test with Council and Taxpayers, Refine, Retest
and implement
• Include more managers in the process

13. Next Design Thinking Challenge
• Redesign the Employee Engagement Process
for involving employees in the budget process
• Team of 8 employees from different
departments and levels in the organization
will be the Design Team
• They start next week…