Empathize
Students will investigate the needs, perspectives, and prior knowledge of real users in order to design a meaningful Golden Bodhi Tree painting and Eightfold Path workshop for the Bodhi Art Festival. They will conduct direct interviews, document evidence-based insights, and create structured empathy artifacts that ground future design decisions in authentic user voices.
Day 1
Define
Students will synthesize interview data and research about Buddhism, the Bodhi tree, and the Eightfold Path into a clear, evidence-based design brief. They will identify patterns across users, draft and critique "How Might We" statements, and produce a focused problem definition that guides their workshop and art prototypes.
Day 2
Ideate
Students will generate a wide range of user-centered workshop concepts for the Bodhi Art Festival, using their interview evidence and defined 'How Might We' statements to brainstorm, refine, and select the most promising interactive experience. They will move from divergent idea generation to a clearly justified top concept supported by annotated sketches tied to real user needs and Buddhist teachings.
Day 3
Prototype
Students will build and refine testable versions of their Bodhi Art Festival interactive workshop, moving from low-fidelity paper prototypes to a higher-fidelity materials kit. They will document user testing with peers, gather specific feedback connected to Buddhist teachings and user needs, and revise their designs using an iteration log that traces changes back to evidence.
Day 4
Test/Present
Students will conduct a final validation of their Bodhi Art Festival Interactive Workshop with new users, refine materials based on real feedback, and present a design story that traces their journey from empathy interviews to final prototype, explicitly connecting artistic choices and workshop design decisions to Buddhist teachings and user evidence.
Day 5