The Design Process for Educators

Step 1: Understanding the Problem: Verification vs. Validation. Move beyond accepting stated problems in order to understand them more fully. A famous quote attributed to Einstein, goes something like this, “If I had one hour to save the world, I would spend 55 minutes understanding the problem and five minutes finding the solution.” This statement stands in contrast to the experiences of most educators who note that time dedicated to studying problems is rare. The design cycle method begins by retraining how to solve problems through: meetings, data collection, professional development, and within the independent work of educators. Underpinning this change are the concepts of verification, or work done to be sure questions are answered correctly, and the work of validation, which is to ensure that the right questions are being asked. Knowing when and where to do each of these types of work are central to this method. 

Step 2, Collecting Information: Systems Mapping, Nodes and Links. Knowing how to identify your problem is enhanced when developing a physical place for your knowledge to live. This step provides tools so that you may create 2D visualizations of systems and of problems to enhance your ability to collaborate, communicate and act on critical information through a process-driven approach. The easiest way to think about a change in your process may be to consider your use of sticky notes or note cards, taking them from a haphazard collection soon to be tossed in the paper bin to a map of your team’s thinking, organized and ready to drive your future work. All of which will rapidly move your team into ideation.

Step 3, Brainstorming/Ideation: Categorization, Analysis and ReductionNow that you have a clear understanding of your problem, solutions should rapidly develop. Working with the systems map created in Step 2, you are ready to develop solutions that directly apply to all facets of the problem. While a quick step, ideation will create several reasonable possible solutions that are fit for testing in the next step, prototyping, which is perhaps the most often ignored step in schools and which feels like the most useful step to those who regularly conduct trials of policies, interventions and within instructional design.

Step 4, Prototyping: Rational, Meaningful and Radical Choices This step is perhaps the most often skipped step and is quite possibly the most powerful step to support intentional school and classroom change. Step four offers a rationale and the tools to try multiple solutions to test effectiveness and act on that knowledge. Simply trying several solutions for a classroom or school-wide problem isn’t sufficient, however, to guarantee better results, but the ability to test our assumptions and try again is a game changer. Adding in such practice will shift the tone and content of meetings, change processes and the way individual teachers will work. 

Step 5, “Providing Feedback: Open Loop vs. Closed Loop Prototyping on a closed-loop model until a solution matches your very clear picture of the desired outcome is the engine for continuous improvement. Schools change quickly, students change even quicker, therefore, to maintain a great program and maximize the value of your change efforts, intentional maintenance is required. The closed-loop model works in contrast to an all-too-common open-loop model, in which we might find a problem, toss a single solution at it, fail to check to see how it’s going and just expect that it must work. It is also nimble, economic with investment and primed to deliver results while keeping faculty engaged. In short, this step is a simple model of feedback where chosen data to be collected, responsible persons chosen and dates are set. The frame of steps one through four provide the rest of what is necessary to close the loop.

Step 6, Improving Your Design: Iterating, Testing and Reflecting Finally you are empowered to emphasize the continuous nature of design, demonstrating how educators, like designers, may keep the ball rolling forward rather than succumb to the pendulum nature of school improvement attempts. The results of step five provide your team with the mandate to make meaningful change.