"Design Thinking" has been a hot topic for quite some time now. Many of us in the architecture and design fields have been a tad irked to see our process co-opted by enterprises focused on monetizing "user experience" and the like. So I was heartened to discover the different angle that Providence's DownCity Design has taken. Follow the link to explore their design-thinking toolkit for the classroom: "The Change Agent." And here's a video about it.

According to the DownCity Design website, "The Change Agent Toolkit is a set of fun, hands-on learning activities that guide groups of students through the Design Thinking Cycle. It's like a game that helps kids tackle any challenge they've identified, in any subject. The free web-based resource includes everything an educator needs to lead students through the design process."

It's a great example of design thinking put to work to generate a classroom learning tool for the design-thinking process. Very meta. Bravo!

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast