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By now, you have spoken with lots of students, faculty and administrators at your school and, through your Landscape Canvas research, you have defined key gaps that point to opportunities to enrich the I&E ecosystem at your school. You have likely already considered potential solutions, some that are new and others that have been tried by Fellows at other institutions (see these [[:Category:Guides|Wiki-pagepages]]s for inspiration).</div><br>As you move forward with implementing solutions for the opportunities you have uncovered, it's important to:
#go beyond the first obvious solutions;
#<div style="text-align:justify;">invest time and resources on a solution that will be well received by students, faculty and administrators and that will have real impact. What appears like a great solution in your mind might not work at all in practice, while an idea that didn't seem that good might turn into a success. The faster you test your idea with the people involved, the earlier you will know if you are on the right path. But if you ask people what they think about an abstract idea, all you are going to get are opinions. Very often others might not understand your idea (this is especially true when we talk about novel ideas). This is where prototyping adds great value. If you can make it easier for people to experience or at least visualize or imagine what your idea is about, you will get usable feedback. And this feedback is key in order to understand what aspects of your idea work well and which need improvement. Even more importantly, you may discover that there is a more interesting problem than the one you set out to address.</div><br>
* Come up with '''multiple ideas for solutions for each of the 5 problems (opportunities) you identified''' as part of your Landscape Canvas synthesis. Creativity thrives under constraints, so set a 15-20 minute timer for each problem, and come up with as many ideas as you can in that time. You can do this individually but it's much better if you do it as a group and build on each other's ideas (it's key to suspend judgment about what is a good idea and write down ALL ideas - watch this [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1h5L_0rFz8 short video] with tips on group brainstorming). If you are not part of a Leadership Circle, you may invite friends/classmates to join you on the brainstorming session.
* '''Each person in your team should select an idea''' they are excited about and create a prototype for it. As mentioned in Session 2 (Design Thinking), there are different ways to prototype your idea depending on what that idea is. It could be a poster for a workshop that includes a link for students to sign up (so that you can assess interest and ask a question about why they are interested) or a draft of a syllabus. In sum, a prototype is anything that makes your idea tangible, allowing you to develop it from its abstract form to a more concrete one, and engage relevant people. Review different prototyping techniques in the TOOLKIT: Prototype and Test, and if you want to discuss with peers and mentors how you might prototype your selected ideas, go to the "Prototype to Learn" discussion thread in the session.
* '''Test the prototype''' with the relevant people -- students, faculty, etc., depending on what it is (see below some things to keep in mind as you test). Remember when you had to go out an and interview someone on the first week of the challenge? Testing your prototype is similar to that: you might feel apprehensive about showing a prototype that doesn't look very polished to someone else, and that's understandable. Use some of the same strategies you used to set up your interview: introduce yourself and the project, establish a rapport with the other person, encourage him/her to be candid with you, and demonstrate you really care about what he/she says. You will find that people will be incredibly helpful, even flattered that you care about their perspective.* '''Iterate'''. Based on what you learned about the problem or the solution, you might make a minor modification, learn that you are solving for the wrong problem or make large changes in your strategy for how you solve the problem. Incorporate your learnings into creating a new prototype and test once again with the same person or different ones.* '''Take a photo of people testing your prototypes,''' and include a short reflection about what you learned from the tests. If you are part of a Leadership Circle, combine all your photos and learnings into one submission.<br><br>{{Fmbox|image=none|style = border:5px solid dimgrey; background-color:lightgrey;|text=Due September 27 26 at midnight ET: A google doc containing a photo of people testing your prototypes, and a short reflection about what you learned from the tests. Drop this document into your institution's Google Drive folder (find the [[2021:Training/Start Here|folder link here]]) and submit the link in the Training Updates page of the UIF Portal. Instructions are on the [[2021:Training/Submitting Assignments|Submitting Assignments]] page. As a reminder, we will be reviewing Session 4 in the Training Mural to understand your journey, so be sure to document your thought processes and show your work.}}<br>
:Here are some elements to keep in mind when you test your prototype:
* Do NOT sell your idea: Your goal is NOT to convince someone that your idea is good. You want to find out what can be improved.
* If you're the only candidate at your school, you may only be leading one project to start, but you should still take the position that the remaining projects need to be assigned to other people at your institution.<br><br>
'''A consulting approach'''<br>
Approach your upcoming meetings with faculty and administration as though you are a set of consultants who your school has hired to recommend four to five projects to address the key issues facing your school's I&E ecosystem. What are those top four to five projects you believe your institution should implement in order to expand I&E?<br><br>{{Fmbox|image=none| style = border:5px solid dimgrey; background-color:lightgrey;|text=Due September 27 26 at midnight ET: Link to the completed/updated student priorities wiki page.}}<br>
*[[2021:Training/Start Here|''Click here to access your campus's student priorities Wiki page.'']]<br><br>
On your Strategic Priorities wiki page, outline the four to five projects you have identified and refined by prototyping. Include not only the project name, but also the key tactics required to bring this project to life. Be as specific as possible, including assigning names of the team mates who will be in charge of each project. Make sure you review your plans with your uiguide and faculty champion(s) and take into account their feedback.<br><br>{{note2|'''Note:'''}} If you are a new school in the UIF program, you will be the first cohort to add content to the Strategic Priorities wiki page, but if you are a school who already has Fellows, this page already will have content added by previous Fellows, and you should update the page to add your cohort's strategic priorities. Do this in reverse chronological order, so that the most recent set of priorities are at the top of the page, and clearly indicate to which cohort they correspond.<br><br>
Submit the strategic priorities page in Training Updates. Visit the [[2021:Training/Submitting Assignments|Submitting Assignments]] page for more on how to submit this deliverable on the UIF Portal. And be sure to show your work in the Training Mural.
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* The Twente team used a few methods to test their ideas -- WhatsApp interviews, surveys and role plays. One of the ideas they tested was for a virtual sensory room to help users relax. It involved BYO (bring your own) blanket and tea. They learned a few things to take into consideration if they decide to proceed -- the session might be too short, and everyone has their own ways of relaxing.<br><br>
* Wichita Fellows created a poster to test their idea of a competition for students who had no experience with entrepreneurship.
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