Thinks and Drinks Diaries #1
Thinks and Drinks 18th January 2021 — what just happened?
So, 2020 was chaotic for the world and of course, the Service Design in Education crew as well. In 2020, we re-invented our first EduJamUK in September 2020 and switched it from a physical to a virtual Jam because of the pandemic. If you participated or read our post-EduJam medium post, you would recall that it was a success with over 60 global participants across industries. You can access everything on EduJam here.
After the tumultuous EduJam in September 2020, we thought to ourselves — where do we go from here?
And what do Service Designers do when they want to answer a question like that? They ask of course! From the feedback, it was clear that our community wanted more so we agreed to another EduJam in Autumn 2021 (I know, I know!).
Our community told us they also wanted shorter, more frequent opportunities to network and learn from each other, so we drew inspiration from Thinks and Drinks Service Design events (Leeds especially) and decided to launch………. (drum roll please), our very own Service Design in Education Thinks & Drinks series!
Given that we are all ‘screened out’ by the end of each day, it was pretty clear that a lunchtime slot would be a good time for people to tuck into their lunch and relax while listening to chilled conversations on how speakers are using service design in their work in education. We also took on feedback from EduJamUK 2020 that participants wanted to network — so, we included a short 15 minute networking slot to encourage attendees to meet new like-minded people.
Our Thinks & Drinks agenda totalled 75 mins tops. A tight schedule. Would it work?
Theme? We had a few ideas put forward but for this first event we settled on Design Journeys as we were hearing a lot of questions in the community about ‘how do I get into service design?’ and ‘where did it all start for you?’
The result? Well….we were chuffed when 40 people turned up to hear the story of the Business Enhancement Team (@MDXbet) at Middlesex University who talked us through their journey into service design and how they are using human-centred design tools and methodology to enhance the student and staff experience. They also run training for teams in-house so they are building a great community which will sustain, maintain and support new service improvements. Truly inspiring!
Next up was Anonymous Lobster (@anon_lobster) — a Design Collective empowering young people to become change-makers towards sustainable futures, featuring our very own committee member and graphic design whiz, Ahrian Taylor. We were wowed to hear how they have been working with young people to co-design for social change and teen empowerment.
As usual, with all our Service Design sessions, we captured questions and feedback (this time using Padlet), and we encouraged people to continue to post their thoughts to keep the conversation going.
We viewed this event as our first iteration prototype so there were some learning points for us. We are super excited about our next Thinks & Drinks and have already planned in another event ‘Enterprise and Design’ on 18th February. So! It looks like the #SDinEd Thinks and Drinks series is here to stay!
If you are happy to meet a group of cool Service Design in Education troops, why not give it a try — it’s free (cuppa soups are welcome). Sign up here.
We look forward to welcoming you.
Like what you are reading? Join our Mailing List and follow us on Twitter for more information and updates.
