DEZIGNBLÄST: A YCISL Internship Framework for Sustainability Design Thinking

In 2021, students in the YCISL Design Thinking Incubator workshop series were given the context of a design thinking firm with a Design Innovation Division in which they were interns. Their task was to produce concept proposals along a Sustainable Futures Initiative theme that would be vetted internally for potential presentation to prospective clients. This fictional design firm’s name was DezignBläst.

“As a part of our sustainable futures initiative, all concepts must promote sustainability features that enhance personal well-being. We are seeking ideas that persuasively shift human behavior and push the boundaries of people’s imaginations.”

The students were given a Request for Proposals (RFP) which contained a brief set of instructions about the scope and requirements.

We are planning to call upon the DezignBläst framework for the Sustainability Design Thinking course this summer at Stanford. This is to get students out of a perfunctory classroom mode of predictability into an innovation-oriented exploration field of uncertainty & potential surprises.

Tying in to the SUHSD mock interviews that I recently participated in, there is one goal where each student could insert a distinctive description of their course experience into their resume. This is about a student’s design thinking journey and a record of the life lessons they gain along the way. This is a story about growth, purpose and good memories.