On April 27, LA-based Magnum Opus Studio (MO Studio) immersed Wayfinder entrepreneurs in a crash course on human-centered design. MO Studio helps organizations and companies design and develop user-centered products, services, experiences, and strategies.
According to MO Studio Principals Jeff Scheire, Sue Tan and Dennis Wang, design thinking provides a framework to sort through complexity and ambiguity, is rooted in information about customer stories and behaviors, and involves iterative analysis and synthesis of ideas. MO Studio’s structured process embodies core competencies comprising customer discovery and insights, design and innovation, to develop innovation capabilities and strategic planning. The end result: products and services that better meet customer needs.
In the workshop, Scheire, Tan, and Wang led participant teams through an exercise of reimagining the wallet and lunchbox. The tools were simple; some markers, construction paper, duct tape, sticky notes, and toys stolen from Tan’s home. The group split into two teams and came up with some unconventional and fun ideas for multifunctional objects, while gaining an introduction to the concepts of ideating, synthesizing, developing prototypes, and testing and iterating designs. Each team’s prototype then received a quick round of feedback from the opposing team. “User testing is important to check the validity of your design,” said Scheire, MO Studio’s chief passion officer.
MO Studio also provided resources for workshop participants to further educate themselves on the design process, including www.designkit.org, the field guide to human centered design, www.dschool. stanford.edu, and books including Designing Your Life and The Tao of Innovation which Tan co-authored.
MO Studio Contacts
Jeff Scheire: jeff.scheire@themostudio.com
Sue Tan: sue@themostudio.com
Dennis Wag: dennis.wang@themostudio.com