Samsung conducts first Design Thinking workshop for schoolchildren

Hyderabad: Samsung, consumer electronics brand, has introduced the first ever design thinking & training workshop in select schools across the country. This unique initiative, part of Samsung’s ‘Solve for Tomorrow’ programme, focuses on enhancing essential skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, probing, and creativity among students through the Human-Centered Design Thinking framework. The national education and innovation competition aims to foster a culture of innovation amongst the next generation.

Tailored specifically for India, the one-day workshop has been conceptualised to encourage students to appreciate the idea of design thinking and nudge them to identify and solve real-world problems. As part of the academic curriculum, Human-Centered Design Thinking is a powerful practice for solving problems. Using processes and tools from the design world, the-Human Centred Design framework impresses upon empathy, definition, ideation, prototyping and testing of a solution to improve the lives of users.

“Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is part of our vision to empower the next generation and create an ecosystem of innovation in the country. We believe that they are the flag-bearers of innovation and require nurturing from a young age. The design thinking workshops have been introduced as a pilot in 10 schools this year to motivate young students to execute projects, which involve problem-solving, collaboration, and creative thinking. Through these offline sessions, school students will get a unique opportunity to question basics, identify real-world issues and propose tech-based solutions", said SP Chun, Corporate Vice President, Samsung Southwest Asia.

This is how a one-day Design Thinking Workshop looks like:

-Introduction to Basic Concepts of Design Thinking

-Five Steps of Design Thinking Process

1. Empathy: Students engage in role-play and interviews, empathizing with various user types affected by real-world problems, exploring their experiences and perspectives.

2. Define: Through consolidated notes and guided discussions, students define the core issues using tools like the Problem Tree, identifying root causes and areas for intervention.

3. Ideate: Encouraging creativity, students brainstorm a multitude of solutions, embracing all types of ideas, before refining and finalizing inter-linked solutions through group collaboration.

4. Prototype: Students recap prototyping methods and translate their chosen solutions into tangible storyboards, presenting their ideas for feedback and further enhancement.

5. Test: After building the solutions, feedback mechanism begins where user experience is taken into consideration and depending on the response; it is improved as per their satisfaction levels.

Samsung 'Solve for Tomorrow’ ignites the passion for problem-solving, collaboration, and creative thinking among young minds. First launched in the US in 2010, Solve for Tomorrow is currently operational in 63 countries globally and has seen over 2.3 million young people participate worldwide.

Samsung Electronics' global CSR vision of ‘Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People' is committed to providing education to young people around the world to empower the leaders of tomorrow.

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow School Track at a Glance

Who can participate: 14–17-year-olds - individually or in teams of up to five members can submit their ideas in the "Community & Inclusion" theme caters to empowering underprivileged groups by improving accessibility to health, improving learning methods and access to education, and ensuring social inclusion for all

What will they get: Semi-finalists 10 teams will get Rs 20,000 grant for prototype development & Samsung Galaxy Tabs. Final five teams will get Rs 1 Lakh Grant each for prototype enhancement & Samsung Galaxy Watches

What do winners get: The winning team will be declared as the "Community Champion" of Solve for Tomorrow 2024 and will receive a seed grant of Rs 25 Lakh for prototype advancement. The Schools of the winning teams will also receive Samsung Products to boost educational offerings, encouraging a problem-solving mindset.