Taylor ’07 Teaches Design Thinking Workshop at Wesleyan

On Oct. 19, students, staff and faculty learned about design thinking and creative problem solving through a Wes Design Tank. During this two hour workshop, participants learned the methodology and solved a problem experienced in their own life. Their mission? To reimagine a personal behavior.

The event was organized by Posse Scholar and Patricelli Center Fellow Lance Williams ’20 and facilitated by Brent Taylor ’07, a design thinking practitioner and coach at Stoke.d in Nashville, Tenn. Coaches at Stoke.d help individuals and teams get back in touch with their inherent creative abilities.

Participants worked with a partner and created experiences through interviews, ideas, written words, sketches and ultimately a physical prototype.

“What does this idea look like in the real world,” Taylor asked. “Bring your idea to life in as much detail as you can.”

At the end of the workshop, partners shared their ideas and prototypes with each other.

Wesleyan currently offers two courses in design thinking – Thinking with Things and Participatory Design – both taught by Barbara Adams, the Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Design.

Photos of the workshop are below (Photos by Olivia Drake):