{"id":12225,"date":"2020-11-26T14:42:02","date_gmt":"2020-11-26T19:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/?p=12225"},"modified":"2021-01-28T14:54:49","modified_gmt":"2021-01-28T19:54:49","slug":"alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Stories: Teamwork Triumphs at IBM Design Sprint"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This month, current BrainStation students had the opportunity to participate in a Design Sprint, in partnership with IBM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each team had five days to design a solution for an identified problem inspired by one of three sample user personas. IBM’s Senior Design Lead David Burdreau and Senior UX Designer Dan Silveira judged the event, and were impressed by what they saw from the student teams. \u201cYou guys are blowing me away\u2026 it\u2019s absolutely incredible what you can accomplish in five days. It makes me think that we at IBM should do more in five-day sprints,\u201d Burdreau said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We spoke with the winning team: Hope Liang, Jose-Carlos (Joey) Laguio, Matthew Ahn, Nina Paramonov, Rachel Fuhrer, and Renee Yang. Together, these students designed Task Circle, a remote collaboration app to help improve inclusive interactions between international students and their project teammates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Challenge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Currently enrolled in the full-time User Experience Design bootcamp<\/a> at BrainStation, the students were eager to put their learnings to the test and work with a larger team of Designers with a panel from a design thinking pioneer like IBM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe main benefit of participating in the design sprint was having the opportunity to work within a larger group of Designers. In class, we typically worked with around two or three other Designers at a time, but in this case, we had the opportunity of working within a team of six,\u201d said Laguio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was an opportunity to solve big problems in a very short amount of time. It challenged me and gave me a chance to think deeply about important issues,\u201d said Fuhrer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For their winning project, the team was inspired by the pivot many post-secondary students have had to make while pursuing remote education from all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe came up with Task Circle, a digital solution to address the online learning and student collaboration that was designed with international students in mind. We wanted to create something that allowed students to feel valued and included by their peers in order for them to effectively contribute to projects,\u201d said Yang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Task Circle:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Allows students to communicate and empathize with their classmates<\/li>
  2. Tracks project progress, successes, and challenges<\/li>
  3. Supports inclusion by creating space for international students to reach out for help<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Working Together While Apart<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    While trying to solve remote collaboration for other students, the team first had to figure out how they were going to master it for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cOne of the reasons why I think our group worked so well together was because every single one of us did a fantastic job of accommodating each others\u2019 schedules,\u201d said Laguio. With students collaborating from around the world, time zones were another factor to consider in their design process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Paramonov credits the outstanding professionalism of her teammates for their success. \u201cIt was a mix of very humble, curious and hardworking people. All of us put the team interest before personal interests. All decision-making we made together based on logic, time frame and learned material.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But the design sprint wasn\u2019t without challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Delivering a high-fidelity prototype in just five days to be presented to design leaders from IBM is no small feat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cWe were posed with a daunting challenge and it was difficult figuring out how to get started. We had lots of questions, confusion about what to focus on and lots of uncertainty in general. I learned that getting started, making assumptions, and asking questions is the hardest, but most important part,\u201d said Fuhrer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Design thinking<\/a> requires conducting user research to test assumptions and learn more about user needs. When the team\u2019s initial assumptions and hypothesis didn\u2019t align with what they uncovered through their research, they had to reevaluate their project\u2019s purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cIt was a chance for us to pivot from our original idea, we had to kind of let go of our attachment to previous plans, but we all had an understanding that we needed to focus on what would bring the best solution,\u201d said Yang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Communication around what would bring the best solution and keep the project moving forward also proved to be a bit of a challenge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Much like design teams in the workplace, communication proved to be essential. As the team of six ideated, different opinions and visions emerged, but this did not stall the project’s progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cEven if we didn\u2019t fully agree, it didn\u2019t mean the conversation had to stop,\u201d said Laguio. \u201cWe created a space where it was okay to respectfully challenge others\u2019 ideas, and where it was even better to riff off of them to spur even more creative ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    When presentation day arrived, Liang recalls the excitement her team felt as they prepared. \u201cAll team members were helping each other to practice their speech, time the parts, adjust the [slide] deck, and do whatever it takes to make the final pitch flawless.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cThere\u2019s always a desire to push further and if you had more time you feel as if you could do more, do better. It\u2019s important to manage expectations,\u201d notes Ahn.\u201cIt was satisfying to see our presentation come together. To see all of our hard work come together in the end, we felt proud of each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Taking the Next Step<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Fuhrer credits BrainStation\u2019s extensive curriculum with her ability to tackle the sprint, \u201cThe 12-week bootcamp is taught by passionate educators that come from different industry backgrounds and experiences. They have taught me so much… design concepts, skills, career guidance, and I\u2019ve been supported from day one to fully launch myself into a UX career,\u201d she said, adding that the program also gave her hands-on experience with essential design tools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cI went from never touching design software prior to BrainStation, to presenting our project in week seven with ease and confidence,\u201d  she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The team encourages those considering a career change to take their first step into the unknown. \u201cEmbrace ambiguity. Accept that you might not know where that next step might take you, and that this is okay.\u201d said Laguio. \u201cI took the leap and threw myself into [BrainStation\u2019s] intensive UX Design bootcamp. And now, it\u2019s really surreal thinking about how we\u2019ve just won our first design sprint with IBM and comparing that to the fear-filled me from a few months ago!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Read a recap of the IBM Design Sprint with insights from the winning team about UX Design and BrainStation’s bootcamp experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":12242,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[303,595,158],"tags":[1273,188,260,546,386],"yoast_head":"\nAlumni Stories: Teamwork Triumphs at IBM Design Sprint | BrainStation\u00ae Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read a recap of the IBM Design Sprint with insights from the winning team about UX Design and BrainStation's bootcamp experience.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alumni Stories: Teamwork Triumphs at IBM Design Sprint | BrainStation\u00ae Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Read a recap of the IBM Design Sprint with insights from the winning team about UX Design and BrainStation's bootcamp experience.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BrainStation\u00ae Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-26T19:42:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-28T19:54:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2re7sjnpekmig.cloudfront.net\/prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/25152627\/halacious-tZc3vjPCk-Q-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Emily Peck\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"BrainStation\u00ae Blog\",\"description\":\"The Digital Learning Company\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/d2re7sjnpekmig.cloudfront.net\/prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/25152627\/halacious-tZc3vjPCk-Q-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/d2re7sjnpekmig.cloudfront.net\/prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/25152627\/halacious-tZc3vjPCk-Q-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Alumni Stories: Teamwork Triumphs at IBM Design Sprint\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint\",\"name\":\"Alumni Stories: Teamwork Triumphs at IBM Design Sprint | BrainStation\u00ae Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-26T19:42:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-28T19:54:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/def5a28d107b78fbbb2eda040cdaccd3\"},\"description\":\"Read a recap of the IBM Design Sprint with insights from the winning team about UX Design and BrainStation's bootcamp experience.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Alumni Stories: Teamwork Triumphs at IBM Design Sprint\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/def5a28d107b78fbbb2eda040cdaccd3\",\"name\":\"Emily Peck\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8faa0efa70ea91e762ee51dfb46b8b52?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8faa0efa70ea91e762ee51dfb46b8b52?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Emily Peck\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/author\/epeck\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Alumni Stories: Teamwork Triumphs at IBM Design Sprint | BrainStation\u00ae Blog","description":"Read a recap of the IBM Design Sprint with insights from the winning team about UX Design and BrainStation's bootcamp experience.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Alumni Stories: Teamwork Triumphs at IBM Design Sprint | BrainStation\u00ae Blog","og_description":"Read a recap of the IBM Design Sprint with insights from the winning team about UX Design and BrainStation's bootcamp experience.","og_url":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint","og_site_name":"BrainStation\u00ae Blog","article_published_time":"2020-11-26T19:42:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-01-28T19:54:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/d2re7sjnpekmig.cloudfront.net\/prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/25152627\/halacious-tZc3vjPCk-Q-unsplash-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Emily Peck","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/","name":"BrainStation\u00ae Blog","description":"The Digital Learning Company","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d2re7sjnpekmig.cloudfront.net\/prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/25152627\/halacious-tZc3vjPCk-Q-unsplash-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d2re7sjnpekmig.cloudfront.net\/prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/25152627\/halacious-tZc3vjPCk-Q-unsplash-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Alumni Stories: Teamwork Triumphs at IBM Design Sprint"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint#webpage","url":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint","name":"Alumni Stories: Teamwork Triumphs at IBM Design Sprint | BrainStation\u00ae Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2020-11-26T19:42:02+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-28T19:54:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/def5a28d107b78fbbb2eda040cdaccd3"},"description":"Read a recap of the IBM Design Sprint with insights from the winning team about UX Design and BrainStation's bootcamp experience.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/alumni-stories-teamwork-triumphs-at-ibm-design-sprint#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Alumni Stories: Teamwork Triumphs at IBM Design Sprint"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/def5a28d107b78fbbb2eda040cdaccd3","name":"Emily Peck","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8faa0efa70ea91e762ee51dfb46b8b52?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8faa0efa70ea91e762ee51dfb46b8b52?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Emily Peck"},"url":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/author\/epeck"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12225"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12225"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12525,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12225\/revisions\/12525"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}