Week 2: Discovery

Written by student Rory.

Edventure 10 has come back together for week two, bundled up against the frosty morning air, but brimming with energy and ideas from the events of our first week.

We have now had the chance to settle as a group, learned about the history of the project and the parties involved so far, hosted an event in which we talked to interested members of the community, and ended the week by looking inwards on our personal goals for the course.

Now was the time to further our discovery into the possibilities and parameters for our challenge. Maxine (our facilitator for this week) started our morning check-in with some dancing and stretching to loosen us up, ready for the next steps. 

After that, we learnt more about the accreditation of the course, and then moved on to design thinking.

This is a process has a lot to it (the full workbook is 80 pages long!), so we watched a brilliant 80s American news segment about a group who were showcasing the design thinking process by developing a shopping trolley. It was led by a guy who looks a bit like Ned Flanders from The Simpsons and sounds a bit like Kermit the frog from The Muppets, and through this session we learned the importance of:

• Having a diverse group of people with different experiences and methods.
• Brainstorming ideas quickly and getting them written down, without initial judgement of those ideas.
• Having a facilitator to keep the creative chaos in check by time-keeping, giving gentle reminders to keep on track, and to ensure everyone gets an equal chance to present.
• When doing research, talk first to people who might be ‘experts’ on the area you’re working on.

One key phrase I took away from this was “Fail often to succeed sooner”.

To use this process ourselves, we brainstormed ideas that came out of the soup event and our existing knowledge of the project. We split our thoughts by evaluating what we know and what we don’t know, in order for us to clearly see what research would be needed. What parameters are we already constrained by? What are some of the riskiest assumptions we might make?

In preparation for a research presentation at the end of the week, we had a big discussion about these key ‘don’t know’ points and people who wanted to contact, all linked to the three main sections of our brief, which we used to split out into sub-teams:

1. Design and Build
2. Business Development and Sales
3. Social Model

We then went on a little field trip to go and visit the first prototype Edspace. It was a really valuable experience; we got to see the space close-up, ask about how it’s been to use, what issues they’ve had, what’s worked well, what would they change. We collected this useful information and headed back, once again energised by the real world application of this work.

On Thursday, each of our sub-groups delivered a short presentation and it was really interesting to see everyone’s findings and different presentation styles.

• Social Model
  This group presented their findings on a whiteboard, each writing a different sub-section. Hettie talked about the interesting and varied details of planning regulations, as well as the potential opportunities to connect with other organisations such as community land trusts and homeshares. Adam discussed his findings regarding different types of tiny house communities, including one that houses homeless people, and elaborated on the benefits that these communities have experienced. Maxine revealed more details on the investment goals of Edspace and what relevant funding there is out there that Edspace may be able to use, as well as surprising many of us with the potential personal finance options for individuals buying tiny spaces!
• Business Development and Sales
  Tom and Lawrence created a mind-map on the computer, which went out into five paths:

1. 1. 1. Current business financials and business development goals
      2. SWOT analysis of Edspace (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats)
      3. Identifying customer markets
      4. Researching our potential competitors
      5. Branding methods

• Design and Build
  This group (which I was in) did a powerpoint presentation in order to show large visuals and images that we referred to as we spoke. Niki presented first where we drew inspiration when thinking about the design, in particular the interiors, from narrowboats, container homes, and other tiny homes, and then went on to show what interior design concepts were most applicable to our project, and how we might do so. I (Rory) explained our parameters and xplained what I learned from speaking in depth to the craftsman who currently makes our Edspaces, in order to find out about the offcuts we want to use in the interior design, about the materials being used and the pros and cons of those, as well as the construction methods and the plans to streamline the process and how that would help.

We ended the week by discussing how that all went and touching on the idea of feedback culture, to ensure we continue to learn and grow in a supportive environment. Onwards and upwards! Next week we unleash more ideas!