Jessica A. Artiles // PROJECT

Design Thinking as Organizational Strategy

I served as one of 8 students on President Reif's Advisory Cabinet. In this role I liaised with students all over campus and tried to consolidate all this information into insights that then became improvement strategies for the Office of the President. Naturally, I tried to make that a space for design thinking to help us reach our potential of wild, crazy ideas that might just work. I've conducted group brainstorming sessions with our multi-disciplinary cabinet members to prepare content, I've engaged the President in Pin-Ups in his office (we had to roll in a whiteboard for the afternoon), and I've facilitated insight workshops with a set of MIT Lifers to gather information on institutional history.

Client

MIT President Rafael Reif

Details

Advisory role
Community Liaison

Skills

User Feedback Sessions
Expert Interviews
Workshop Facilitation
Logistical Organization

Mapping information on a DIY built whiteboard. Taking student feedback and making sense of it.

Engaging President Reif in a Pin-Up inside his office. We've confirmed that this is the first time anyone's rolled in a whiteboard into his office.

I facilitated an insights workshop with MIT Lifers to better contextualize our recommendations to the President. Every table had Lego's and pipe cleaners for some thought provoking discussions. After all, mens et manus, right?

I also made keychains for the attendees to take home as souvenirs. While I was on the laser cutter, I also made some for PAC members and for President Reif, aka POMIT, and the first lady, FLOMIT. (I heard back she that she loved hers!)

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