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IT: Ideating Prototypes Pathways to Prosperity Network
1
IDEATING PROTOTYPES
Essential Question: What’s Your App?
Learning Targets:
Students will:
Identify a need whose solution could benefit people.
Effectively engage in collaborative discussions with peers.
Describe the need an app should address.
Discuss potential solution designs with peers.
Lesson Overview
In this lesson, the IT Design Teams decide on their final app ideas. After reflecting on their own
ideas about a need that can be addressed with an app, design teams participate in a Mind
Dumpster brainstorming initiative. This initiative ends with the selection of one app design idea
associated with a need identified by the team. Teams also begin the process of learning to write
an app description by playing a Mad Libs-type game to create an index card story about their
app.
IT: Ideating Prototypes Pathways to Prosperity Network
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Lesson Agenda Opening
Mind Dumpster (10 min)
Work Time Final Project Outline (30 min)
Draft Your App Description (20 min)
Closure Exit Ticket (5 min)
Materials
Young Professional student packet
Projector and speakers
Brainstorming App Ideas Note-catcher (one per team)
Exit Ticket (one per team)
Post-its (two different colored stacks per team)
Ignite example presentation (to project)
Index Card Story example cards
FACILITATION NOTES
Design Thinking. This lesson draws on the “ideate” and “prototype” phases of design thinking.
Review the videos shown in lesson 6 and the phases of design thinking to reference and
highlight as students work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee4CKIPkIik,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLAD1F87125529A918&v=kAvVd1Ipw68.
Mind Dumpster. This exercise follows the “ideate” phase of design thinking. Young
professionals will work in their teams to generate as many ideas as possible on post-it notes in
response to the prompts provided. Each group will have two different colored post-it notes to
respond to the two prompts. As students post their ideas on the chart paper, encourage them to
read them aloud to their teams. Each team member should contribute at least one idea.
Establish group norms in advance: For instance, all ideas should be treated seriously with
respect, each team member must contribute at least one idea per prompt, and no idea is too
big—think outside the box! This protocol has been adapted to closely mimic the "ideate" face of
Design Thinking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLYq4DnSgz0.
Needs, Not Apps! For students struggling to brainstorm needs or problems during the initial
Mind Dumpster brainstorm, emphasize that they do not need to come up with ideas for apps at
this time—this brainstorm is purely for thinking about needs or problems that they or other
communities in the world face. They will have time to brainstorm apps later during the initiative.
IT: Ideating Prototypes Pathways to Prosperity Network
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Ideate Scaffold. If the YPs meet roadblocks when brainstorming ideas for apps, emphasize that
they do not need to reinvent the wheel—they just need to reimagine it! Ask probing questions
like: What apps do you currently use? What annoys you most about the way these apps
function? How would you improve them? How would you personalize them more?
Final Projects. The format for the final product is introduced in this lesson. Familiarize yourself
with the final project by reviewing future lessons in the module.
Ignite. The final project will follow this presentation format, which is designed to tell a story
through photographs and words. It was developed based on a presentation invented by a pair of
architects to increase the interest level of design presentations in the field (the Pecha Kucha-
learn more at: www.pechakucha.org/). Ignite presentations are designed to be 5 minutes long,
with 20 slides that automatically advance every 15 seconds (for an example, see:
http://www.ignitetalks.io/videos/vaccinate). Determine in advance if you need to adapt this final
project format to meet the needs of your class— for example, larger class sizes may need to
have smaller presentation lengths, i.e. 10-15 slides lasting 2-3 minutes.
Time Management. This is a packed lesson that may need to span over two class periods. It is
encouraged that you spend adequate time explaining the final project and its format, so you
may want to introduce the drafting of the app description in a second lesson.
IN ADVANCE
Review the Mind Dumpster initiative. Set up brainstorm stations for each team with two
different colored post-it notes and two pieces of chart paper with the prompts written at
the top per team.
Preview the example of the Ignite presentation:
http://www.ignitetalks.io/videos/vaccinate.
Consider assigning roles in advance in each Design Team for drafting the app
description.
Vocabulary
Content Tier II
design thinking, ideate, prototype, audience,
user, customer development
colleague, component, client, prioritize
IT: Ideating Prototypes Pathways to Prosperity Network
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Opening (10 min)
Mind Dumpster
Put on your innovation hats! What are some needs that you experience as a teen that could be
solved by mobile technology? Or think bigger—what are some broader issues in your
community, or the world, that mobile technology could address with a well-crafted app?
1. Explain to Teams that they will now brainstorm needs they might like to address through
the creation of an app.
2. Follow the Mind Dumpster initiative:
We are going to use an initiative called the Mind Dumpster. A Mind Dumpster is a fast way
to read the landscape of what’s running through your mind and, if you are working in a
group, the minds of your colleagues, or collaborators and co-working peers. This is a
common practice in design thinking where designers ideate, or generate a larger number of
ideas.
3. Provide two stacks of different colored post-it notes per team and a fat pen or
marker for each person.
4. Direct students to the first prompt written on the chart paper by their group: What
personal, community, or global need do you want to address?
o Explain to students that in their teams, they will have two minutes to write
their answers to the prompt on the same colored post-it notes. They can use
as many post-it notes as they need to generate as many answers to the
question as possible without censoring their ideas—any need or problem is
fair game! As each team member posts an answer, they should read it aloud
so the rest of the team can hear it.
o Encourage design teams to follow group norms throughout the ideation
process.
5. Following the two-minute mind dump, tell teams to go through the responses posted
on the chart paper and narrow down the posts to the needs that interest everyone in
the group.
6. Direct students to the second prompt written on the second piece of chart paper:
What app could address this need?
7. Explain to groups that they will divide up the “needs” post-it notes they have
selected. They can choose the notes they are most interested in. On each need
In the Mind
Dumpster
initiative,
students ideate
by responding to
a question or
prompt with
multiple
answers on
post-it notes. By
writing one
answer on each
note, students
are encouraged
to produce a
great quantity of
ideas without
self-censorship,
towards the aim
of generating
many ideas.
After this mind
dump is
complete,
students can
filter through the
notes for the
ideas that
interest the
team most.
IT: Ideating Prototypes Pathways to Prosperity Network
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note, they should now generate an app idea that might be able to address that need,
using a different colored note to post on the second piece of chart paper. They have
another two minutes for this process.
o After two minutes, collect the chart paper for each group to let the ideas ferment.
Explain to students that they will return to these ideas after being introduced to
the overall project each Design Team will complete.
Work Time
Final Project Outline (30 min)
Young programmers, you are prepared. At IT Ops, your mission as a Design Team is to
imagine, create, and market an idea for a mobile app that meets a real need of real people.
This is no easy task. What need do you think an app can help meet? Who will download and
buy your app? How do you encourage people to use your app? These are just a few of the
questions you’ll need to answer. Today, you will work with your design teams to think of the
app you want to create and begin a draft of the 100-word app description.
1. Share the <App Development Project Descriptor>.
2. Invite students to popcorn read the project descriptor aloud.
3. Tell students that people who write code do a lot of their initial work on a paper
prototype before actually coding with their computer. Refer back to the design thinking
videos from earlier lessons.
4. Ask students: Why would developers begin with a paper prototype?
5. Call on volunteers to answer the question. Listen for: Paper prototypes are less
expensive, faster to create, easier to make multiple drafts of, etc.
Point out that later lessons will cover the marketing side of software
development: Crafting a business plan, writing a final app description, and
designing a logo and slogan.
Ignite Exemplar: Final Project
1. Explain that the final product, an Ignite presentation, is an engaging presentation
that tells a story through visual images and words. The author of the Ignite
presentation chooses 20 digital images to be slides and then has 15 seconds of text
or explanation to go with each image. (Note: Adapt this format according to the
needs of your students. See Facilitation Notes.)
Point out to
students that
this is a good
opportunity for
informal note-
taking. Students
should write
down anything
that might be
useful to have
for reference
and review as
they continue
their work.
When you
encounter the
word prototype,
explain that it is
a model of the
finished product.
Following the
ideation phase
of design
thinking, the
young
programmers
will prototype
some of their
ideas to test
whether or not
they can
function in the
real world.
IT: Ideating Prototypes Pathways to Prosperity Network
6
2. Project the example of the Ignite presentation:
http://www.ignitetalks.io/videos/vaccinate. As you play the presentation, encourage
Design Teams to take notes on ways they plan to adapt the presentation example to fit
the needs of their project.
3. Invite students to turn and talk in their Design Teams about the project components.
4. Check for understanding: Ask students to show a <Fist-To-Five> to gauge their
understanding, with a fist indicating absolute confusion and 5 fingers showing that they
clearly understand the final product of this Design Lab.
5. Call on students with 4 or 5 fingers shown to restate the project requirements in their
own words.
6. Ask students if they have any questions regarding the project and provide needed
clarifications.
Choose Your App
1. Tell teams to return to their need-idea card stack from the Mind Dumpster initiative.
They will now narrow down their ideas to reach a single idea to prototype.
2. They should work together to arrange the cards in a rough order, with the ideas the
team is most interested in first. They may also add new ideas on additional post-it notes
as needed.
3. When a few minutes have passed, tell students to remove all but the top four
ideas. Explain to students that the goal is to narrow the ideas down to two.
4. After the teams have two ideas, explain that they must now choose one to prototype.
Draft Your App Description (20 min)
Now that you have chosen the app that your team would like to create, we will begin to flesh out
the details. These details will guide your work for the remainder of our time in the IT Ops design
lab. It might be helpful in moving forward with your design ideas to remember that apps “do”
something. They embody an action. To begin describing your app, we will try to think in terms of
the parts of speech–nouns, verbs, objects, and descriptors.
1. Distribute the <Brainstorming App Ideas Note-Catcher> and project the <Example
Index Card Stories>.
2. Explain to students that these index card stories were written by two middle school
students. The four words are the words they chose at random, and the two sentences
are the index card stories they wrote from their chosen words.
3. As you explain, model the process of selecting the four words randomly, and think aloud
as you craft the index card story from the four words. (Note: For differentiation, ask the
YPs to define the parts of speech as you model.)
IT: Ideating Prototypes Pathways to Prosperity Network
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o Example:
Noun (user- Be specific!) (Ask: What is a noun?): Teens
Verb (Ask: What is a verb?): Recycling
Object (Ask: What is an object?): A meeting
Other: Environment
2 sentence index card story:
Want to meet with fellow teens who are interested in recycling? Use our app
to find local teens who want to help the environment, and set up a time to
meet and discuss eco-friendly initiatives!
4. Explain to students the steps to accomplishing today’s work:
o Each team member writes out four index cards using words to describe the
app. The four words are the user, a verb, an object, and one more word that is
either a noun, adjective, adverb, or verb.
o After this work is complete, mix up the index cards in those four categories–be
sure to keep all the different types of cards in separate stacks: user cards, verb
cards, object cards, and other cards.
o Each person then chooses four random cards, one from each stack, and writes
an “index card story.”
o As a team, choose the story that is the most engaging to be your rough draft of
the 100-word app description.
5. Have students work together in their Design Teams to draft their 100-word app
description. As each team member contributes their ideas, they should also serve one of
the following roles (project roles with descriptions):
o Taskmaster: Ensures the team remains on task at all times and focuses on
the need-idea chosen to prototype.
o Organizer: Helps the team organize their thoughts into a logical story that
makes sense for the app description.
o Scribe: Takes notes throughout the brainstorm process and scribes the draft
paragraph of the app description with input from the team.
o Communicator: Ensures the draft description is ready for presentation and
communicates the app description to the class.
6. Circulate and provide assistance to teams as needed.
7. When Teams finish, invite the Communicators to read out their Team’s chosen app
description.
Ensure all
students are
familiar with
these parts of
speech before
moving forward.
Check for
understanding
and run mini
grammar review
sessions with
groups of
students as
needed.
If you have
taught the
Collaboration
unit, refer back
to the lesson on
Additive and
Subtractive
Behaviors to
help students
select the role
that fits their
strengths within
the team.
IT: Ideating Prototypes Pathways to Prosperity Network
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If students struggle
with understanding
the idea of
differentiating apps
based on the user,
offer concrete
examples:
Many apps target
specific groups of
users. 1) The JetBlue
app targets frequent
travelers and offers a
"hip, modern
interface" for those
who need to book
tickets, check flights,
and want to know if
there are travel
delays. Who here
would use an app like
this? 2) Khan
Academy is a mobile
app that allows you to
study math,
languages, and
computer
programing—all at
your own pace. You
can also review a
topic that you missed
in class or one that
you struggle with
before you take a
test. Who might use
an app like this?
Closure (5 min)
Exit Ticket
We now have concrete ideas for our mobile applications. Before we move any further
on our app designs for IT Ops, we need to revisit the people for whom we are working:
our customers and users. What is the value of your app? In customer development,
we seek to understand what the customers need and what they think they need, as well
as how they prioritize these needs. For example, a bakery sells bread and addresses
the need of hunger, prioritizing a simple and inexpensive food product. What need is
your product going to be designed to meet, and for which specific customers?
1. Distribute the <Exit Ticket>.
o What need does your app meet? What are the characteristics of the
ideal user of your app?
2. Provide time for the teams to discuss the question and answer it.
3. Collect the quick writes, read them, and return them the next class meeting with
written feedback.
IT: Ideating Prototypes Pathways to Prosperity Network
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Name:
Date:
IDEATING PROTOTYPES: What’s Your App?
Today’s Learning Objectives:
I can:
Identify a need whose solution could benefit people.
Effectively engage in collaborative discussions with peers.
Describe the need an app should address.
Discuss potential solution designs with peers.
In this lesson, my IT Design Team will decide on our final app ideas. After reflecting on our own
ideas about a need that can be addressed with an app, my design team will participate in a
Mind Dumpster brainstorming initiative. This initiative ends with the selection of one app design
idea associated with a need identified by my team. My team will also begin the process of
learning to write an app description by playing a Mad Libs-type game to create an index card
story about our app.
Today’s Activities:
Mind Dumpster
Choose Your App
Draft Your App Description
Exit Ticket
IT: Ideating Prototypes Pathways to Prosperity Network
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App Development Project Descriptor
At IT Ops, your mission as a Design Team is to imagine, create, and market an idea for a
mobile app that meets a real need of real people. This is not an easy task. What need do you
think an app can help meet? Who will download and buy your app? How do you encourage
people to use your app? These are just a few of the questions you’ll need to answer. Your final
products for this work include the following components, or parts:
An app prototype that is a paper version OR three working screenshots.
A prototype is a model of the finished product.
Marketing Your App
A business plan A 100-word app description A good name for the app
A logo
Performance
An Ignite-style presentation
This presentation is in the style of an Ignite presentation. You will be required to have 20 slides
and speak for 15 seconds on each slide. Your goal is to tell the story of your app in photos and
write good text to accompany each slide.
IT: Ideating Prototypes Pathways to Prosperity Network
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Brainstorming App Ideas Note-catcher
On index cards, each team member writes out four cards using words to describe the app. The
four words are the following parts of speech:
o Subject (the user)
o Verb
o Object
o Another noun, verb, adjective, or adverb
Shuffle the cards and turn them upside down, being careful to keep each of the four categories
separate.
Each member chooses four index cards from the stacks. Write an “index card story,” a two-
sentence story using the four index cards about how someone would use your app. Practice
making the description engaging for the reader.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________
IT: Ideating Prototypes Pathways to Prosperity Network
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Design Team Roles
Taskmaster: Ensures the team remains on task
at all times and focuses on the need-idea chosen
to prototype.
Organizer: Helps the team organize their
thoughts into a logical story that makes sense for
the app description.
Scribe: Takes notes throughout the brainstorm
process and scribes the draft paragraph of the
app description with input from the team.
Communicator: Ensures the draft description is
ready for presentation and communicates the app
description to the class.
IT: Ideating Prototypes Pathways to Prosperity Network
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Facilitator Documents:
Example Index Card Stories
Example 1:
Noun (user- Be specific!) (Ask: What is a noun?): Teens
Verb (Ask: What is a verb?): Recycling
Object (Ask: What is an object?): A meeting
Other: Environment
2 sentence index card story:
Want to meet with fellow teens who are interested in recycling? Use our app to find local teens
who want to help the environment, and set up a time to meet and discuss eco-friendly initiatives!
Example 2:
Noun (user): Smokers who wish to quit
Verb: Quit
Object: Cigarette
Other: Help
2 sentence index card story:
Attention smokers! Do you wish to quit? Don’t go crawling back to the cigarette; get help now
with our app!