Anntoinette from the Quantam Startup Foundry participated in the Teaching and Learning Studio at the Stanford d.school (TLS) in summer 2024. The Academy collaborates with design educators at the Stanford d.school to produce TLS. Here's what she had to say about her experience:
How has the TLS experience inspired your work or the way you think about your work?
“I have been so grounded in reality and solving problems practically that I was missing so many "other" options. Having been in finance and management for so many years, I have worked to make sure that the job was done in a neat and tidy way. TLS helped me to reimagine all of the ways I do things. I am no longer focused on just solving the problem but determining if we even have the correct problem, where the problem is coming from, will this cause additional problems in the future? I think raising these questions help connect Noticing and Sensemaking in a way that better prepares me for future challenges.”
What experiments have you tried, after TLS?
“Prototyping is crazy fun. I have a large space in the center of my office that could be a great classroom or meeting space but the HVAC and lighting leave the room basically unusable. I headed to the library and grabbed Make Space; Scott Dooley and Scott Witthoft. I have been taking notes, visiting Home Depot and asking a million questions from my HVAC friends. I have been brainstorming with unexpected constraints to test the limits of what is possible. I used to hate constraints because it was a list of barriers or things that couldn't be done. I love constraints now because they are a list of things that could make your unbelievable idea possible. I have not gotten to any real cool prototypes at this point but I have been building a collection of materials, re-defining the problem and taking notes on the things I saw in practice at the d.School. My original goal was to make the space usable but now I am planning to make the space usable as a flexible training space that can operate as collaborative space or shift into several independent work spaces by adding floating walls. The long term implication of this is to build a completely collapsible, closet stored room for our new office space.”
“I am also finding new ways to pass on the knowledge that I receive and am coaching students in IDEA311. Sessions are beginning soon and I am in a very "Yes, lets!" space.”