*"Wind, Water, Soil" is a concept introduced by Japan Foundation Asian Center to describe how different types of people contribute to cultivating solutions. It uses the metaphor of ideas as seeds and the things seeds need to grow. The concept is explained here, as well as inside the field guide.
In October of 2017, Habi Education Lab hosted a week-long design thinking workshop for Southeast Asian delegates as the first stage of the HANDS! Project. We developed a friendly field guide that fit in the pocket, was easily accessible, and could still be consulted after the workshop ended. The document was given to the delegates during the workshop.
The field guide walked the participants through Habi's 4 modified steps of design thinking: 1) Hear and Observe, 2) Add and Brainstorm, 3) Build Prototypes, and 4) Improve through Assessment. The nature of the HANDS! Project meant delegates would be encountering communities from countries outside their own—thus, the field guide also highlighted how to respect other cultures and how to avoid imposing their own values when designing solutions.
To make the concept of design thinking more tangible, the field guide assigned the stages of design thinking to the steps of cultivating a plant. This helped draw a parallel between design thinking and the Wind, Water, Soil philosophy: ideas are seeds that design thinkers sow and help grow. The illustrations help visualize this concept of the gardener. The style is made to blend into Habi's existing branding and materials.
The delegates found the field guide helpful and friendly to use during the workshop proper. Some who lost the file after the workshop ended asked for it again from the Habi team. One of them has been able to use it in classes, i.e. even outside the context of the workshop. Overall, the field guide did much of what we designed it to do. We only recommend that 1) the field guide could be translated since HANDS! delegates are of varied nationalities; 2) sections such as the one on prototyping could be extended, with specific examples of different prototypes.
*The HANDs! Project is a human resource development program sponsored by the Japan Foundation Asia Center. The Project was created as a place for mutual learning, sharing knowledge, and cooperating to solve problems for disaster prevention and support for disaster-affected areas, primarily in Asian countries.
*Habi Education Lab is a design and research group that works in various contexts, from early childhood education to adult learning and development. We envision a creative and robust education sector that leverages empathy, learning science, data, and design thinking for continuous improvement and innovation.
Words: Habi Education Lab
Illustrations & Icons: Abi Godoy
Editing, Layout, Additional Illustrations: Rebecca V. Yu
Thank you!
