Huawei Tech4Good

Design Mentoring & Teaching

Client: Huawei Seeds for the Future- Tech4Good Accelerator

Duration: 3 weeks

Type of work: Design mentoring, teaching and facilitation

Deliverables: Lectures & Workshops x 2 (Value Proposition Design and Business Model Innovation)

Context

I had the honour of serving as a mentor during the Huawei Seeds For The Future Tech4Good Competition at their Acceleration Camp in vibrant Singapore. This unique camp brought together a diverse cohort of undergraduate students hailing from Cambodia, Nepal, South Korea, Bangladesh, Singapore, and hosted in partnership with the ASEAN Foundation. The participants came from a variety of academic backgrounds, encompassing technology, business, communication, and engineering.

Objective

The goal was to empower the students with design thinking as they transformed their ideas into tangible, desirable, viable, and feasible projects.

Roles & Responsibilities

I assumed a multifaceted role that involved delivering insightful lectures and orchestrating engaging workshops on the principles of design thinking. In addition, I had the privilege of closely mentoring two exceptional teams, both representing the ASEAN region.

Challenges & Takeaways

This immersive experience proved to be enlightening and presented its share of challenges. It became evident that design thinking brought invaluable structure and rigour to the students’ projects. The application of design thinking led to pivotal shifts in nearly every project, underlining its transformative potential.

Navigating this extremely fast-paced environment was a test of adaptability and quick thinking. One notable learning was that introducing design thinking earlier in the students’ journey might have yielded even more remarkable outcomes. Many projects began with technology choices, followed by attempts to identify problems to which these technologies could be applied - an approach that felt somewhat top-down and hasty.

This experience served as a poignant reminder of the profound impact of design thinking. Despite my familiarity with design, it reaffirmed the value it brings, especially in igniting innovative thinking within such dynamic settings. It was an eye-opening journey that highlighted the enduring relevance and power of design thinking to effect meaningful change.