From October 18-19 and 25-26, the Ingenuity Lab at UNNC successfully held a four-day "AI x Design Thinking" workshop. This event was led by Associate Professor Jaden Park from the School of Design, Hong Kong Polytechnic University. It is aimed to guide students in using design thinking methods, combined with artificial intelligence technology, to explore the possibilities of future social robots and create warm, meaningful intelligent products for different user groups.
Recap: From Observation to Creation, From Concept to Prototype
After four days of intensive learning, students experienced the entire process of combining design thinking with AI technology. Starting from vague problem challenges, they ultimately delivered surprising robot design prototypes.
Empathy & Discovery – Stepping into Users' Real World
The workshop began with "User Research." Guided by the trainer, students left the classroom, using "shadowing" to observe behaviors, "photo diaries" to collect stories, and in-depth interviews to understand needs. The painpoints they discovered on campus were more specific than imagined: For example, international students having social activities at night disturbed others, while introverted students felt lonely late at night with no one can talk to. These fresh, first-hand insights became the foundation for all designs.
Definition & Focus – Pinpointing the Core Issue from Vast Information
Faced with collected data, students learned to use frameworks like AEIOU and tools like affinity diagrams to categorize scattered "data" into "themes", identify key "behavior patterns" and ultimately extract profound "design insights". For example, one group transformed the observation "noise in the dormitory" into the insight: "Students don't need absolute silence, but a mechanism to balance respect and social interaction".
Ideation & Creativity – Letting Ideas Flourish
Guided by "How Might We" questions, brainstorming began. Trainer introduced AI tools to assist creativity – for instance, using AI to quickly generate dozens of robot appearance concepts or simulate dialogue scripts for robots with different personalities, greatly expanding the breadth and depth of ideas. Diverse concepts emerged, from "community mediator" robots solving specific conflicts to "caring companion" robots providing emotional support.
Prototyping & Implementation – Making Ideas Tangible
This was the magical moment of turning abstract concepts into concrete forms. Students utilized their skills: building structures with LEGO, designing interactive interfaces with Figma, and even using programming to give robots basic conversational abilities. They were no longer creating sketches in PowerPoint, but tangible or digital prototypes that could be touched, interacted with, and tested. This process made ideas real and it also exposed problems that were not initially considered in the design.
Testing & Iteration – Refining the Product Through Feedback
"Design isn't created in a vacuum". Students took their prototypes back to real users for testing. They discovered that features they found interesting could confuse users, and assumed usage scenarios might not exist. Guided by the trainer, they learned how to listen to feedbacks, accept critics without bias, and quickly modify prototypes accordingly – perhaps adjusting the color of a reminder light or simplifying a dialogue flow. Each iteration made the solution more mature and reliable.
Outcomes & Learnings: More Than Design, It Was Growth
What did the students gain from this four-day learning journey?