Many people say that kids are the future, but we are here now, and we can make a difference —Gitanjali Rao, at age 11, in 2017
I’m excited to share a preview of my new book, Design Thinking: A Guide to Innovation. The following excerpt showcases how young innovators applied design thinking to solve real-world problems. I hope it inspires your own creativity and demonstrates how everyone can make a meaningful difference through collaborative design.
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The Stria Story
Imagine if you couldn’t tell whether you were walking in a straight line or not because you weren’t able to see. How would you navigate a street busy with traffic? This is a very common and serious problem for the blind community. “We think we’re going on a straight path and the next thing we know we’re in the street facing oncoming traffic.”
Javier, blinded in an accident, is talking about “veering,” the natural tendency to turn from a straight path without visual cues. He recalls one particular episode of veering disorientation. “I was walking down the street and made a left without even realizing it. The next thing I know, I’m walking in between cars on the street.”
A team of high school sophomores enrolled in a design thinking class wanted to find out if design thinking could help people like Javier. Their inspirational teacher, Connie Liu, created this elective class focused on designing for social good at the Nueva School in San Mateo, California.
After considering a range of options, this team knew they wanted to work on a project to help the blind community. Over six million people are legally blind in the US, and many more have limited vision. How, they wondered, could they have an impact?
Nolyn, one of the students working on the project, said, “Blindness is such a large issue and the idea that a few high schoolers can take on such a big problem affecting so many people drew me to the project.” In addition to online research, they began with field trips to centers for the blind to help them empathize with the needs of people like Javier.
At such places as the Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired and LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, they interviewed people in the community and the professional staff to learn more about blindness.
“I didn’t know much about blindness until visiting the Vista Center,” said Maya, another team member. “After telling them about our project, they were just so welcoming. It was super humbling.” Having spent some time learning about types of challenges that exist in the community, the team decided to tackle the problem of veering and started their background research.
They concluded that a wearable device could be a significant improvement over the existing solutions. They met Javier, who agreed to partner with them on this project. The group wanted to answer the question: How could people know when they veer?
After brainstorming many possible solutions, they defined their idea to design a smart band that would give feedback to the walker using microelectronics. One challenge they faced was that many on the team were new to microelectronics and did not know microcontroller code. With characteristic enthusiasm and hard work, they learned about electricity, microelectronics, and coding microcontrollers as they built prototypes of the band.
Driven to make a difference, they persevered through many failures to test and refine their design. The team named their smart band Stria. The belt would have small vibrating motors on each side of the walker’s waist. Sensors would indicate when a person was veering in one direction and then signal the motor on that side to vibrate, alerting the walker to make a slight turn in the opposite direction. The vibrations would continue to provide feedback until the walker was back on course.
This technology is especially useful in noisy and crowded public places where navigation by sound is not safe. This all sounded good, but would it work in practice? To test their idea, the team made simple belts out of cardboard and attached hand-operated buzzers. First on team members and then with Javier, they tested these prototypes to see if the buzzing sensation worked. After many trials and lots of input from Javier, they had a basic design.
When completed, the Stria band operated well and allowed blind people to walk the streets more safely. Javier thinks of it as a lifesaver and says the Stria team impressed him, remarking, “Wow, [they] really want to help us.” Though the team won awards and attracted media attention, making life safer for Javier and the blind community was their greatest reward.
You can develop innovative solutions to assist others too. With design thinking skills, you can tackle problems like Javier’s, making someone’s burden a bit lighter and someone’s world a bit better.
What Is Design Thinking? Design thinking is a systematic approach to creative problem-solving, centering on the needs of people and our global community. The innovation and social impact method in this book focuses on empathy, collaboration, and continual learning. Applying these practices helps designers craft innovative, sustainable, and equitable solutions.
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If you enjoyed this brief look at student-driven design thinking projects, Design Thinking: A Guide to Innovation is available now on Amazon, at your favorite independent bookstores, and elsewhere online. Dive deeper into transforming your ideas into solutions and join a community of innovators making a difference through design thinking.
What creative challenges are you working on? I’d love to hear about your projects. Write to me at Fred3Estes@gmail.com.