the openideo los angeles chapter journey

In an effort to “practice what we preach,” Alex used human-centered design techniques in creating an experience map that charts the path of leading the chapter since its inception in 2015.

What members think

WORKSHOPS

Caregiving for Dementia

> Caregiving for Dementia Challenge

 

OpenIDEO was so pleased with the OpenIDEO Los Angeles Chapter events that OpenIDEO global reached out to Alex, Founder of Super Curious, to help organize and facilitate “Caregiving for Dementia Challenge” national events in Los Angeles, New York and Washington D.C.

 

The workshop followed a caregiver-centered design approach wherein a curated group of healthcare professionals, designers, funders, innovators, philanthropists and caregivers were invited to come together to create solutions that are customized around caregivers’ needs.

 

Over the course of the day we used human centered design exercises to create solutions to caregivers’ challenges. Participants were divided into interdisciplinary teams and each group will include a caregiver who watches over a loved one with dementia.

Circular Design Challenge: Nike Grind

> Nike Circular Innovation Challenge

 

We hosted an all day design-a-thon around rethinking our relationship to product waste for the Nike Circular Innovation Challenge. Over the course of the day we used circular design methodology and Nike Grind materials to facilitate exercises around the different stages of the design thinking process.

 

The workshop was broken into four parts: 

• Form a team: network and collaborate with local impact community and get feedback from international teams
• Ideate (brainstorm): learn the human-centered design exercises and process of dreaming up moonshot ideas, collaborating, and honing down to one idea.
• Prototype: communicate your solution through a working prototype
• Test + Iterate: go out into the world and test your prototype’s assumptions with real users and then iterate the idea!

Going Local with LA Kitchen

> lakitchen.org

 

In 2017 we wanted to take design thinking beyond the theories and see them working in our local communities so we partnered with local nonprofit, LA Kitchen.

 

LA Kitchen is local food waste nonprofit that believes that neither food nor people should ever go to waste. By reclaiming healthy, local food that would otherwise be discarded, training men and women who are unemployed for jobs, and providing healthy meals to fellow citizens, L.A. Kitchen empowers, nourishes, and engages the community.

 

Through 4 day-long workshops over 4 months we were able to give the community what they really wanted, a focus on local challenges. Extending the challenge over 4 months enabled us to do a deep dive into each phase of the design process and establish leadership teams that would continue into 2018.