Lee-Anne Walker developed prototypes for two ideas to help senior high school students transition from school to work: 1) Workshops led by experts covering career exploration, CV/interview preparation, and mentorship; and 2) An online portal providing a one-stop resource for career guidance, simulations, and connections to employers. Both prototypes were demonstrated to and received positive feedback from the stakeholder, a teacher, though some questions were raised. Further refinement of the prototypes and testing with additional stakeholders was recommended before pursuing implementation.

1. Rapidly turning ideas into reality
Prototypes
Assignment 3:
Lee-Anne Walker

2. Rapidly turning ideas into reality
What problem are we trying to solve?
Stakeholder
needs a way to
Need Insights
because
Dave, a
dedicated,
caring,
committed
teacher who
enjoys
supporting and
providing
advice to
senior students
easily access
information to
help prepare
students for
life after
school
senior high
students are
time poor and
lacking in life
experience and
often role
models to guide
their decisions
How might we make access to information relating to the
transition from school to work easy for teachers and students?

3. Rapidly turning ideas into reality
Ideas Selected for Prototyping
Idea 1. The most practical idea: Workshops for students
Workshops led by expert facilitators to help students determine their preferences and
then work through:
• An online preference survey to indicate the kind of occupations that would match
their skills and capabilities
• CV preparation
• Interview skills including mock interviews / role playing
• A ‘day in the life of’ experience of your top 3 preferences post workshop to
experience what a student would need to do to transition to that occupation in terms
of further study, experience, applications, interviews and then what working in that
field would be like
• An assigned mentor to help you work through the process
Idea 1. Prototype & test method
• I used a storyboard to map out and illustrate how the workshop would run, including
the different steps and the outcome
• I walked my stakeholder (who I did the initial interview with) through the prototype
and recorded their feedback
• Please refer to the next 3 pages

4. Rapidly turning ideas into reality
Idea 1: Workshop Prototype

5. Rapidly turning ideas into reality
Idea 1: Workshop Prototype

6. Rapidly turning ideas into reality
Idea 1 Testing & Stakeholder Feedback:
+ What Worked
? Questions
What Could be Improved
! Ideas
• “Helps to clarify a career path and the steps that
need to be taken”
• “Offers a range of advice sources and
experience”
• “Direct links to university and organisations so
you get more specific knowledge”
• I as a teacher don’t require detailed or diverse
expertise in everyday career options”
• What happens if you don’t narrow down the
options and choose a career during the first
workshop?
• What happens if parents aren’t supportive of the
oprtion identified?
• What happens if the plan is unrealistic in
relation to their capabilities?
• Assign each student a teacher contact in the
school to follow up to make sure they are going
through the process
• Involve parents in the workshop to get their buy-
in and understanding early in the process
• Run follow up workshops to check in, re-adjust
career options and have the ability to simulate
different careers

7. Rapidly turning ideas into reality
Ideas Selected for Prototyping
Idea 2. My favourite idea: Online Portal
• An online portal / contact centre which will provide a one-stop place to go for all information
relating to the transition from school to work.
• It will begin with students completing a preference survey to provide direction in their career path.
• It will incorporate gamification techniques to allow students to work through / simulate a ‘day in
the life of’ their choice.
• There will also be the option to chat to a professional career adviser / life coach.
• It will provide a step by step guide and video clips on how to complete applications, CV, interview
preparation.
• It will also have a community forum for students to connect with other students going through
similar experiences.
• It could link with major employers as a source for their recruitment based on interest and
competencies.
Idea 2. Prototype & test method
• I made an online portal / app to and mocked up what information the different tabs and screens
would have and the process students would follow to use it
• I walked my stakeholder (who I did the initial interview with) through the prototype and recorded
their feedback
• I made a video of how the online portal would work. Please watch it on You Tube:
http://youtu.be/X0_kPBkDVvw

8. Rapidly turning ideas into reality
Idea 2: Online Portal
Watch a live demonstration of
the Online Portal on You Tube
here:
http://youtu.be/X0_kPBkDVvw

9. Rapidly turning ideas into reality
Idea 2 Testing & Stakeholder Feedback:
+ What Worked
? Questions
What Could be Improved
! Ideas
• “Students can do it in their own time”
• “Students like technology and gaming platforms
and would find this an engaging tool to use”
• “Everyone has access to all relevant information
in one place”
• “It’s very easy to use”
• “You can repeat the process to try / simulate
new careers”
• Who has the access to the information students
enter?
• What is the security around the site?
• You could upload your CV to the site for easy
access for recruiters, employers
• You could use a code name rather than your
own name if you are concerned about security
• Students could be sent email or text alerts once
they register interest in a particular career. This
could include from tertiary institutions,
employers, recruiters, etc
• You could enter location details to find relevant
universities, employers
• Link to other social media sites, eg Facebook,
LinkedIn

10. Rapidly turning ideas into reality
Reflection on Prototyping Exercise
a. What I learned by testing my prototypes:
I really enjoyed making both prototypes and being able to be creative in how I delivered them. By
having to build and map out the process, it forced me to think through the actual steps much more
carefully and helped to raise any potential implementation or feasibility issues. It surprised me how
quick and easy it was to build a prototype and I realised that it wasn’t important to make it perfect or
aesthetically beautiful, as it just needed to demonstrate to the stakeholder how the idea would work
– in an effective way.
By being able to test the idea with the stakeholder before any resources were invested, it became
evident very quickly whether the idea was desirable and feasible. By asking for their feedback I
could see how this would help with buy-in during and post implementation.
My stakeholder liked both prototypes and thought they would work well and solve his problem –
which was fantastic validation! He asked some interesting questions which triggered more ideas on
ways to fine-tune both ideas, and potentially build on the ideas.
b. What I would do next if I were to continue working on the project:
I would work through the feedback I was given through testing and modify the idea and re-build the
prototypes. I would then test with a larger group of stakeholders including students, teachers,
employers, careers advisers, recruiters, employers, tertiary institutions and incorporate their
feedback into the ideas.
Once stakeholder desirability was ascertained, I would then prepare a business case to ensure the
ideas were feasible and viable before planning for implementation.