For the Swiss Space Center, we organized multiple design thinking workshops for the Swiss Space Summer Camp. It is a one-week program for international end of Bachelor, Master or PhD students. The students received lectures about living in extreme environments and worked in teams to solve this challenge by applying the design thinking process. The goal was to come up with disruptive and new ideas for a space habitat.

The first workshop contained the wallet exercise to familiarize the students with the design thinking process. After this experience, they interviewed space habitat experts. Using the gathered insights, a problem statement was formulated. After an iteration, the ideation phase started. The teams were able to gather countless ideas to solve their problem with the autumn leaves method including random inputs. After this divergent phase, the teams had to choose their favored ideas and make them more specific. Continuing with just one idea, the teams started prototyping to test their ideas with the space experts and pedestrians on the street. Steps were iterated through the whole process. The highlight of the week were the presentations of the final concepts and prototypes followed by a certificate ceremony. With a wrap-up reflection, a presentation by Claude Nicollier (the first and yet only Swiss astronaut) and an aperitif the Swiss Space Summer Camp was concluded.

It was fascinating for us coaches to work together with such interdisciplinary, international and motivated teams. The students got the chance to get in touch with the design thinking method and we were able to learn from their different backgrounds and behaviors. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with the Swiss Space Center and want to thank them for the awesome cooperation.

 

 

Swiss Space Center
www.spacecenter.ch

Swiss Space Summer Camp
https://www.spacecenter.ch/activities/spacecareer/student/summercamps/switzerland/

Idea sketching

Ideation

Interview unpacking

Problem statement iteration

Testing instructions

Prototyping

Prototyping

Prototyping

Getting to know each other