Design Thinking Process: e3

Discovery Phase-Checklist
Part 1
Due: October 16, 2019
Work with your design thinking team to take notes about each part of the Design Thinking Process
that you complete together. After you feel that you have fully explored each step of the three parts
listed, change the checkbox to a check mark. Return to and revise each part as needed.
Prepare for Research – Discovery Part 1
❏ Identify/define the topic
Our topic is to find a solution to reduce marine pollution. Marine pollution isn’t only affecting marine
life but also humans because of all the chemicals that are found in the ocean. It is also affecting the
sea animals, such as sea turtles, destroys habitats and animals mating rituals. If we find a way to
solve this, than animals wouldn’t be the only ones who benefit from this but also the humans.

❏ Identify/define the audience (end users) -- Who will benefit from solving our problem
statement? These are the end users:
We think that we all benefit from this because plastic has been affecting our health, global warming,
and killing sea animals

❏ Share what you think you know about each end user (needs, challenges, background, etc.):
Some of the challenges that we think we’ll have is reducing plastic because plastic has become
something daily that we use. Background: We been using plastic for years and now its affecting us.
It affects us humans and marine animals. Needs: We need to start reducing plastic and also stop
using it in our daily life.

❏ Identify what you don’t know:

We didn’t know that ocean pollution has affected more than 817 animals species around the world.
We also didn’t know the causes of ocean pollution are littering, sewage, ocean mining, oil spills,
agricultural runoff, toxic chemicals, air pollutants, and maritime transportation.

❏ Make a plan for your research: How will we complete our research over the course of the next
two weeks?:
Our plan is each one of us will finish “What did I understand” articles.

❏ Revisit: Identify the end users, experts and other sources of information:
We contact Blue Sea and interview the next week.

❏ Users (sometimes called the audience) - who can we contact and how?:
We can contact by emailing them or we can call them and then interview them. We contact
organization such as Blue Sea and Ocean Connector.

❏ Build questions to ask the end users (think of as MANY relevant questions to ask as possible):
What are some ways that we can help?
What do you think our communities can do to help or ways?
What causes ocean pollution?
Where do plastics in the ocean come from?
How can we prevent ocean pollution due to plastics?
Do you think that a ban on plastic straws help reduce plastic pollution in the ocean?
What are other people doing to help?
What can one individual do to help?
Which types of plastic litter in the ocean?
What are the risks of marine plastic?
How can we prevent the spread of marine litter?

❏ Build questions to ask the experts:

How much do plastic straws contribute to pollution in the ocean?

How much plastic is in the ocean?
Where do plastics in the ocean come from?
How much plastic litter is there in the ocean?
How large are the garbage patches?
How many million tons of plastic are sumped in our oceans every year?
How many marine species are harmed by plastic pollution?
What percent of its plastic does the US recycle?

❏ Make a plan for conducting the fieldwork:

Our plan was to finish the “ What Did I understand” articles to understand our topic. Then we send
an email to an organization, we got an interview with Clear Blue Sea next week. Our plan is to go to
the library, ask them our questions. After the interview, we hope to have an idea for a solution. And
hopefully start creating some kind of a project.

❏ Set the schedule for your work on the discovery phase:

We will finish the “ what did I understand” articles, then interview blue sea and ask them our
questions. After that, we need to come up with a project that can help reduce plastic in the oceans.

❏ Determine who will do what by when:

What did I understand articles are due on 10/16
The interview by 10/23
Start coming up with ideas of our project by 10/28

❏ What do you plan to report back?:

We plan to report back, what project we came up with and how it would reduce plastic.

❏ When do you plan to report back?:

By the end of October we plan to report back what have we done and what has to be done.

❏ Did you dig deep enough?:

I think we did dig enough because each member looked up 5 articles to have a better
understanding of our topic. And also one of us are come up with questions for the interview.

Checklist Evaluation Rubric

Exemplary Good evidence Some evidence Little or no
Evidence evidence
✔ ✖ ⁄ x