The Problem Opportunity

Each cohort I observed a remarkable transformation in UX students. What I also observed was the separate disciplines coming together for 3D - a hackathon with Data, Design, Development. Each discipline had been heads down in their specialization for 10 weeks, and while completely necessary, it meant a cross-discipline hackathon where collaboration was an unknown.

In student feedback, communication and collaboration appeared as pain-points across all 3 disciplines, with some requests for a PdM to mitigate. This led me to wonder HMW... make the unknown known... cross the disciplines... teach a common language

Student (customer)

Immediate opportunity was to improve the hackathon experience. Zooming out, there was an opportunity to provide more 'real work' experience, which students may not have, and that may change interviews, portfilios, and outcomes.

Service

With the goal of career transformation, there was an opportunity to address the industry demand for work experience, and "collaboration" as a core competency. More importantly, was the point of difference in education, and the potential for a unique offering.

The idea

Cross-discipline touch-points.

At the end of Summer 2019, we synthesized student feedback and discussed the opportunity to iterate on 3D.

In education, I defined the overlap between disciplines, identifying opportunities for cross-discipline lectures and guest lecture topics. While innovation in core curriculum was in the works, we kicked off with some quick wins in additional programming.

Begining Fall 2019, in partnership with the experience team, we introduced three syncs to enhance cross-discipline communication and collaboration, and prep students for 3D.

• Meet the different disciplines
• Explore overlap and what collaboration might look like
• Practice workflow and handoff