Collaboration and learning from others are key elements of design thinking, and something actively incorporate into the Senior Design Challenge’s own teaching practices. This was done through a specific emphasis on teamwork building, guest lecturers, an alumni speakers series, and pairing student teams with Tuck student coaches throughout the winter and spring.

Teamwork Activities

Physical and social contact are critical for building trust and confidence. Fostering a culture of collaboration both across the class and within teams was a critical element of the Senior Design Challenge. This was done at the beginning of both terms through introductory team building activities and personality assessment tests such as “all my neighbors,” “human knot,” “snowball wars,” and a discussion of DISC assessment results. In addition, there was a two-hour team building session early in the team formation stage during the winter term, facilitated by Brian Kunz and Lindsay Putnam from the Outdoors Program. In the session, Brian and Lindsay facilitated a series of communication, leadership, and strategy-oriented activities, which students really enjoyed and which helped build trust and a sense of camaraderie amongst all the students in the class. This session was also helped individual student teams build a greater sense of identity and work early on in a hands-on setting outside the scope of their project.

Guest Lectures

Interspersed throughout the term there were several guest lectures from a wide range of departments across Dartmouth visit the Senior Design Challenge.

  • The first guest was Professor Elizabeth Carpenter-Song from the anthropology department who spoke to students about doing ethnographic research in the Upper Valley, sharing some general advice and her own experiences. Elizabeth has since been an invaluable resource for multiple student teams who continued to consult with her during their early research stages.
  • The second guest was Professor Daniella Reichstetter who is spearheading many of the entrepreneurial initiatives at the Tuck School of Business. Daniella spoke to the class both during the winter and spring terms. In the winter she introduced the lean canvas model and MVPs to the students, whereas in the spring she gave advice on implementation plans and advice on working with clients.
    • The SDC instructional team has continued to collaborate with Daniella with other aspects of the class, including coordinating alumni speakers and Tuck student coaches.
  • The third guest of the winter was Professor Lorie Loeb, from the digital arts program in the computer science department, who lectured about UX/UI design. Lorie showcased this by introducing some general concepts and then connecting them to multiple real-world examples that included some of her own work.

Other professors from Tuck, computer science, geography, WGSS, and studio art were also contacted and consulted with. 

Tuck Student Coaches

Another unique form of collaboration that arose in the course occurred with Tuck students directly, who volunteered to coach SDC student teams on their project during both terms. Each SDC team was matched with a Tuck student based on mutual interests at the beginning of February. Since, student teams and Tuck coaches have met twice a term. Tuck coaches have served as mentors for issues ranging from project management to data collection to client negotiation. Tuck students have also helped students think through their ideas, advise them on how to best deliver content, and consider solution viability. This has been a very engaging experience for both sets of students, and an initiative the SDC instructional team hopes to be able to continue in the future.

Alumni Speakers

The interdisciplinary nature of human-centered-design dictates there is no single “right path” for following a career related to design thinking. To best exemplify this, the SDC instructional team reached out to a variety of alums who agreed to connect with our class and share some stories behind their own design journeys. These alums included:

  • Jennifer Lopez ’08: A geography major at Dartmouth who then went through Stanford’s d.school design program and is now the head of products at Capital One.
  • Sara Gabriele ’16: A geography major at Dartmouth who works as a UX researcher at Google.
  • Hannah Hoyt ’13: A government and studio art major at Dartmouth currently pursuing a masters in Architecture at Harvard GSD
  • Maura Cass ’10: An anthropology major at Dartmouth who now spearheads design research at IDEOs studio in Cambridge, MA.