- What topic, community, problem, issue or “thing” did you decide to explore?
The topic I decided to explore was how people could reduce their effect on the planet using daily tips that everyone can do. - Who did you decide you should talk to, observe, interview to learn more about this? Be specific. (I am asking you to talk to at least 5 different people for this assignment)
- I decided to talk to a professor at UMD, my roommate, a friend who is apart of a climate change club at St. Scholastica, a member of the Lights Out club at UMD, and a professor who is researching climate change at UMD.
- What methods did you use to talk with people? (Focus groups, planed interviews, man on the street, polls…)
- I talked to clubs at UMD and St.Scholastica. Reached out to experts for planned interviews. Most were planned interviews but some were just talking and asking questions to people.
- What did these people tell you? Summarize what you learned from your interviews. Use as much detail as you can based on your responses.
- I learned how important the issue of climate change is and how urgent the matter is. All of the people I interviewed explained how necessary it is to take action now and not wait until it is too late. They explained the little habits that can be changed to help lower the impact that we as humans have on the environment. The urgency in their voices stuck with me throughout the interviews and into my thinking of how to compose this post.
- What did you learn that surprised you?
- Many of the people that I had interviewed were very aware of the issues that were at hand, when speaking about climate change, they were very focused on finding new ways for people to change their daily habits which surprised me. Thinking about how the community can change was a main focus and was pretty surprising.
- What kinds of problems, topics, ideas did you discover that you would like to learn more about?
- I think the main topic I want to learn more about is how we impact the environment on a daily basis and how climate change is effecting us in everything we do.
- What key insights or findings did you discover that excited you most?
- I think the insights that intrigued me the most were how easy it is to not think about the environment and how much impact we have on the issue of climate change. How many little things there are that could change the effect regular people have on the environment. There are so many ways to limit your impact, just by turning off a light. That was really interesting to find out.
- What’s next? What do you think your next step is?
- I think my next step is to reach out to more of the community and listen to try and create a prototype to test as a solution to the problem.
- Reflection: Briefly, did the design thinking process help you see this topic in a new way?
- I’m not sure if design thinking gave me a new perspective. I was already aware of the importance of listening to the people I talked to. Helping to collaborate with other people did help me see a clearer picture of what this project is to me. To see a pattern of what this project and research is going to be.
Empathy Research
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