Next Idea to Invent (NII) guides students through the complete 5-stage design thinking process—Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test—to create user-centered solutions. This track emphasizes human-centered design, iterative development, and learning through making and testing with real users.
NII teaches students to design based on deep user empathy rather than assumptions, generate multiple creative solutions before committing, create tangible prototypes for testing, and iterate based on user feedback. The track's defining characteristic is its systematic progression through design thinking's proven methodology for innovation.
NII is the only track following the complete 5-stage design thinking methodology: Empathize → Define → Ideate → Prototype → Test. Students experience the full cycle from user research through solution validation, learning each stage's purpose and techniques.
Design begins with understanding users profoundly—experiencing their situations, observing their challenges, interviewing them about needs. NII requires direct empathy-building activities before defining problems, ensuring solutions address real (not assumed) needs.
NII emphasizes "quick and dirty" prototypes—tangible versions enabling testing and learning. Students create prototypes, test with real users, collect feedback, and plan improvements for next iterations—embodying the principle that design thinking is iterative, not linear.
Students generate multiple solutions (minimum 8), create evaluation criteria (5-8) with weights, and systematically score all options. This scientific approach ensures the best solution is selected through evidence rather than intuition.
Students define users clearly—who they are, characteristics, needs, and pain points. They describe typical scenes reflecting problems from micro perspectives. Through experiencing situations themselves, observing users, or interviewing them, students gain deep empathy.
Students synthesize empathy stage information to identify needs and objectives—the gap between user expectations and reality. They analyze current solutions and their limitations. Critically, they create human-centered problem statements framed as "How can we..." questions.
Students conduct group brainstorming sessions generating multiple ideas (8+), building on others' ideas without evaluation during generation. They determine 5-8 distinct evaluation criteria with weights, then systematically score all 8 solutions, creating evaluation tables and selecting the highest-scoring solution.
Students create "quick and dirty" prototypes—tangible versions (handmade, scaled-down) enabling testing and evaluation. They illustrate mechanisms and functions through text and pictures, explaining how prototypes work and how users interact.
Students design test cases—tasks, scenarios, operational indicators appropriate for prototype types. They test among real user representatives, objectively recording results. They collect feedback—users' thoughts and suggestions—ensuring specificity and detail (500 words) from multiple perspectives.
Students synthesize test data (results + feedback), comparing with expectations and identifying gaps. They acknowledge successes and failures, demonstrating iterative thinking—understanding that design thinking is cyclical, using results to redefine problems or return to previous stages.
Students who enjoy building tangible prototypes, testing ideas physically, and learning through making rather than just planning.
Those who value understanding users deeply and designing based on real needs rather than assumptions or personal preferences.
Students who understand that good design emerges through cycles of creation, testing, and refinement—not single perfect attempts.
Those who thrive in brainstorming environments, enjoy generating diverse ideas with teams, and build on others' contributions.
NII provides complete training in design thinking, teaching students that innovation emerges not from sudden inspiration but from systematic processes—understanding users deeply, defining problems clearly, generating options broadly, prototyping quickly, and testing thoroughly. Through experiencing the full design thinking cycle, students learn that great design is iterative, user-centered, and built on empathy rather than assumptions.