Building Bridges

Authors

Benjamin R. Cousino, Grand Valley State UniversityFollow
Nathan P. Gillespie, Grand Valley State UniversityFollow
Shelby Miller, Grand Valley State University
Sue Pete, Grand Valley State University
Elizabeth A. Shepherd, Grand Valley State UniversityFollow
Philip M. Sheridan, Grand Valley State UniversityFollow

Keywords

Holland campus, design thinking, innovation, achievement gap, Hispanic community, cultural divide

Disciplines

Liberal Studies

Abstract

Throughout the winter 2017 semester our interdisciplinary team utilized the design thinking process to redefine the purpose of the Grand Valley Holland Meijer Campus. As a process for collaborative and creative problem solving on complex challenges, Design Thinking requires empathizing with community stakeholders, iterative integration of insights, ideation, prototyping and testing. Through this process we have identified creative possibilities designed to support and enhance both Grand Valley State University’s Holland campus as well as the community of Holland. Our final prototype optimizes engagement with the campus. While an incredibly large and challenging undertaking, this experience confirmed that the design thinking process can create innovative, context-sensitive solutions to complex and initially overwhelming problems. Our team hopes that the design thinking model can be used to further improve the GVSU Holland campus and that our results will inspire effective innovation beyond our expectations.

Comments

LIB 323 / HON 313 - Design Thinking to Meet Real World Needs

ScholarWorks Citation

Cousino, Benjamin R.; Gillespie, Nathan P.; Miller, Shelby; Pete, Sue; Shepherd, Elizabeth A.; and Sheridan, Philip M., "Building Bridges" (2017). Undergraduate Research. 31.
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/lib_undergrad/31