Session One – Exploring Innovation Physically
Learning Focus: Turning ideas into tangible concepts through creativity and teamwork.
In this session, you moved from thinking about innovation to doing it. You explored how prototyping helps turn ideas into something real that can be tested, improved, and shared. Working in your teams, you took on the challenge of helping “Ted” — a ping pong enthusiast struggling to pick up his balls — and began designing solutions to support him.
You learned that everyone is creative when they have the space to experiment and play. By using simple materials, you built and tested quick prototypes to explore what might work, learning that innovation is about progress, not perfection.
You practised techniques such as “Yes, and…”, quantity over quality, and lateral thinking to push your ideas further. By the end of the session, you’d turned your sketches into physical models and shared them with others, gaining feedback and insight into what makes an idea practical and effective.
Session Two – Testing and Evaluating Innovation
Learning Focus: Understanding why testing, feedback, and iteration are vital to innovation.
In this session, you explored how to test, evaluate, and refine ideas so they become stronger and more effective. You returned to Ted’s challenge, thinking about what assumptions you’d made and how you could test them to make sure your idea really works.
You revisited the Double Diamond model, focusing on the final stages — where testing and learning take centre stage. You discovered that testing isn’t about proving you were right; it’s about learning what works and what doesn’t.
You explored a range of testing methods, from qualitative approaches like user feedback and observation, to quantitative techniques such as surveys and A/B testing. You also looked at how evaluation helps measure success, gather evidence, and improve outcomes based on real data.
Through team exercises and feedback exchanges, you saw how testing reveals blind spots and opens up new opportunities. By the end, you understood that innovation is an ongoing process of learning, adapting, and improving.
