Created by Skyscanner design team

Big Thinkers

In this series of lessons, you’ll be exploring a process known as the "double-diamond". It's end-to-end problem solving, applicable to any area of the school, work, or life, reaching far beyond just design. It helps you back up your thinking and start from real problems, understand the root of them, and determine the correct problem to solve. From there, you’ll learn how to ideate and come up with interesting solutions, plus techniques for narrowing them down to the strongest.

  • Target age
    10-14
  • Duration
    5h
  • Lessons
    5
Lesson 1

Discover & Define

This lesson will be focused on finding problems to solve, and understanding their causes.

Each student should work to brainstorm about problems they face day-to-day, aim to create a comprehensive list, then narrow it down to one they’d like to move forward with solving. This will cover both the discovery and definition phases of the double-diamond.

Lesson 2

Develop, Part 1

In this lesson we will be exploring potential solutions to their problem, using the ‘Crazy 8s’ brainstorming method. We will go around the class and have each student read out the problem they’ve decided to solve and causes behind it.

Each student then brainstorms ideas, and presents them to the class who will help them to pick their best idea by voting using sticky dots.

Lesson 3

Develop, Part 2

In this lesson we will be working out a flow for your solution using ‘journey mapping’.

Figure out the core moments of engagement on post-it notes. What prompted them to take action? What happened just before the core moment? What will happen just after? What happens in the long-term? Then organise these moments in a timeline, creating a storyboard.

Lesson 4

Deliver

In this lesson, we will be visualising our solutions. Working from the student-created storyboards, they will create a more refined visualisation designed to help others understand their solution.

Lesson 5

Share

The grand finale! This is where students will share their finished presentations with the rest of the class.

Included materials
  • Lesson Overview
  • Lesson 1 Lesson Plan
  • Lesson 2 Lesson Plan
  • Lesson 3 Lesson Plan
  • Lesson 4 Lesson Plan
  • Lesson 5 Lesson Plan
  • Crazy 8's template

Made by believers

Hey! We are Skyscanner design team!

We're around 60 people distributed around the world at 7 of our 11 global offices. We're made up of lots of different disciplines: graphic designers, user experience designers, user interface designers, illustrators, copywriters, animators, producers, researchers. All of us with one thing in common: we solve problems for real people. We listen to the difficulties they're encountering, what they're trying to accomplish, and we develop solutions that work to meet their needs.

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