Improving the campus experience at the University of Toronto through student-led design
Community Animators, Alan and Anunita share the value of team takeovers in fostering a positive, empowering, and inclusive environment at the Innovation Hub and explain how these events fostered personal growth, skill development and team building.
Written by Delphine Ji, Design Research Team Lead, Alan Sivabalan, Community Animator, Anunita Wazir, Community Animator
Listening can seem like a passive action, but there’s so much more to hearing someone’s story. Lisa explores how empathetic listening has the power to transform tough situations into safe spaces that foster creativity.
Written by Lisa Yuwen Hu, Design Research Team Lead, Honours Bachelor of Science, Psychology Research Specialist
Anchana Kuganesan, Design Research Team Lead, MASc, Biomedical Engineering-Clinical Stream
Team building is crucial to motivate my teams about their work. Anchana reflects on team building and socials, creating trust and collaboration that ignites a passion in each of her team members.
In Reese’s What’s Your Why, she explores her journey as a Design Researcher and the many important skills and techniques she has gained, reflecting on how the role emphasizes the effectiveness and importance of human-centric design.
Written by Reese Halfyard, Design Researcher, Bachelor of Information
Written by Paul Kaita, Senior Project Assistant, Master of Education, Higher Education
The design thinking process is never straightforward. In fact, it’s usually a bit messy. Paul shares how he uses sketching to prototype ideas, share them with others and refine along the way.
Written by Jeanne Polochansky, Digital Content Writer, Psychology Specialist
Despite how daunting writing may seem, everyone has the skills to do it well. Jeanne shares how she overcomes her anxiety about the writing process through a set routine of reflecting, selecting, and revising.
Written and Illustrations by Paul Kaita, Senior Project Assistant, Master of Education, Higher Education
Games bring people together and can change the world. Paul reflects on his classroom experience and how gamifying Innovation Hub workshops evokes positive emotions and creates memorable learning moments.
Written by Eli Rose, Design Research Team Lead, Food Services
The Innovation Hub has allowed me to continue my design thinking journey, and I am excited to apply my experiences to design problems in the future.
Written by Anchana Kuganesan – Design Research Team Lead Transforming the Instructional Landscape
After joining the design research leadership team at the Innovation Hub, I had the chance to learn more about my colleagues during our team retreat day on August 8th. In the morning we took turns taking the team to different spots on campus that were memorable to us. We shared stories about how these places evoked emotions and memories about our time on campus, and how we are all connected through these feelings. We used design thinking methods to ask one another questions that probe more deeply into each other’s experiences and build empathy and we had great conversations as a team throughout the tour. Not only did this make us pay closer attention to our team members, but it also evoked new ways of thinking when we revisit these spaces on campus in the future.
Written by Delphine Ji (Design Research Team Lead), Austin Go, Ting Bai, Izzy Friesen, and Hong Shu (Design Researchers)
Over the course of the summer, one team at the Innovation Hub has been dedicated to ensuring that returning to work in person is a positive experience. The team hosts team-building activities during our Friday workshop meetings and has been gathering feedback from team members. To grow and improve the Innovation Hub, a key focus is identifying aspects that are working well, and what to improve. With this term, the Innovation Hub has moved back into in-person work, and a few team members took a moment to reflect on their experiences.
