Applying design thinking to benefit cultural and creative industries
Since globalization and innovation are two key forces that shape individual and business success in the 21st century, this project aims to enhance students’ understanding on how people can utilize their cultural knowledge to generate creative and innovative ideas, by means of integrating different disciplinary perspectives and applying design thinking skills. In this multicultural environment, people must collaborate effectively across cultural borders, broadly defined, to solve pressing problems and develop new products and solutions that will appeal to the global market. Cultural and creative industries are one of such sector that emphasizes culture as the foundation for developing and supporting industries through creativity (e.g., cultural tourism, community cultural development, performing art, product design). In the project, we partnered with our business client, the Hayashi Department Store. Hayashi is a departmental store and a cultural icon that sits in the heart of Tainan. As Tainan’s first and oldest departmental store, Hayashi embodies the history and cultural heritage of Tainan since 1932. To date, it continues to retail a diverse range of creative and cultural products. The project statement is to help Hayashi Department Store become a representative cultural icon so as to allow the world to see and get to know Taiwan. Students had to learn about its rich culture and history and analyze the rationale underpinning the company’s strategies and management. In the process of completing the project, they had to engage in empirical research to collect data via surveys, observations, or interviews. Collaborating with their SMU-NCKU team members, students developed a business plan exemplified in a design thinking prototype for the client’s consideration and potential implementation.
Via collaborating with the students and faculty members in the Institute of Creative Industries Design at the National Cheng Kung University, SMU students had immersive cross-cultural collaboration experiences with their Taiwanese counterparts. Through participating in class discussions and learning different case studies of Taiwan’s cultural and creative industries during the field trip, students had received ample opportunities to sharpen their cultural knowledge and skills and to apply these new insights to benefit creative productions in the real world. The project was a partnership with our industry client, the Hayashi Department Store. In the project, students conducted in-depth analyses of the business client with their SMU-NCKU team members. The project was facilitated by the following:
(a) Preparing students with the state-of-the-art literature in the fields of cultural psychology and creativity in class seminars.
(b) Having students participate in a two-day workshop on design thinking. The NCKU team members that SMU students met online also travelled to Singapore to attend the workshop together. This was the first get-together for the SMU-NCKU team. Team members worked together in the first stages of design thinking – emphasizing with and defining the problems. They did a presentation that showcased their understanding and identification of issues faced by the Hayashi Department Store at the end of the workshop.
(c) Arranging field trips to visit cultural creative parks, museums and galleries, institutes and studios in the field of cultural and creative industries in Taiwan.
(d) Scheduling talks and sharing given by renowned entrepreneurs and scholars with extensive experiences in cultural and creative industries.
(e) Having students participate in hands-on data collection as part of empirical research (e.g., recording and documenting data via observations and interviews).
At the end of the course, students were able to integrate theories of cultural psychology, creativity, and design thinking to broaden their knowledge about the development and sustainability of cultural and creative industries. The project outcome is in the form of developing a design thinking prototype with which it exemplifies the students’ analysis of Hayashi Department Store’s mission and business strategies and their business proposal. Students worked in their cross-cultural SMU-NCKU team to complete their client-oriented project by proposing solutions, implementation plans, and design prototypes to address the identified client-centered problem. The finale was an exit sharing and presentation to a group of audience involving the client, cultural entrepreneurs, as well as faculty and students in the Institute of Creative Industries Design at NCKU. Feedback on the projects was given after each group presentation by the client and the faculty members.
“It is a great success for us to collaborate with the student groups from the Psychology Study Mission cum SMU-XO course led by Professors Cheng Chi-Ying and Angela Leung on the transformation of Hayashi Department Store. We are currently pursuing new projects on the transformation of Hayashi Department Store by referencing on the SMU/NCKU student groups’ proposals. First, we are working on the new design for our brochure based on the recommendations and the mock-up proposed by one student group. In another ongoing project, “Happiness Is Coming!”, we aim to turn the classic old-fashioned Hayashi Department Store to a new signature place for love birds to make marriage proposals. This idea is derived from the iconic phrase, “Hayashi is everyone’s parlor” (“林百貨是大家的客廳”) created by the SMU students. We were amazed by the brilliant and novel ideas that SMU students developed after learning the history of the Hayashi Department Store—when our grandparents chose Hayashi Department Store as the venue for a blind date, it never failed. Besides these two projects, there still are a few more great ideas by student groups await to be pursued. We are excited about all these proposals generated from our collaboration with the Psychology Study Mission. It does make an impact.”
Ms. Stacy Tseng, Planning Department Deputy Manager, Hayashi Department Store
“This first Psychology Study Mission cum SMU-XO course took Professor Leung and me more than one year to prepare before we made it happen. We first recruited NCKU team as our teaching partner and then engaged Hayashi Department Store, an 81-year-old boutique Japanese department store turning to a renaissance, and Tainan Cultural Creative Department Store in Tainan, Taiwan, as our client partner. This Study Mission was truly a brand-new journey for all three parties including the professors and students from SMU and NCKU, and Hayashi representatives. None of us could predict where this journey would have led us to before reaching the end. I was impressed and touched by the strong will and creativity sparked by the very different ideologies and training backgrounds among the three parties as well as the shared identity and cohesiveness we’ve grown as a team along the way. I was moved when seeing our students from SMU and NCKU overcome the national, cultural, and professional differences between them and learn from each other through their interdisciplinary teamwork. Although Tainan is being known as the top gourmet city in Taiwan, the student teams voluntarily camped in the NCKU studios all day long, eating instant noodles, to perfect their group projects. This explains why our student groups could awe the representatives of Hayashi Department Store by the creative designs and feasible ideas in their final projects. This journey has proven that SMU undergraduate students not only can make connection to the real world, but also a real impact on the work and people they encounter. I am glad that everyone who joined this study mission has enriched his/her worldview and became a better person.”
Assoc Prof Cheng Chi-Ying
“It is extremely gratifying that I had this opportunity to offer the first Psychology Study Mission cum SMU-XO course. I felt so heartened to see that students face up to the various challenges in the course and appreciate the “real-worldness” of executing this client-centered project. Since the project is a real-world application, this is unlike the well-structured assignment in other modules. There were times we were uncertain about some plans and details. However, these challenges come with learning opportunities where students can learn how to cope with ambiguous situations with flexible thinking and adaptive problem solving, which would be very common in their future job. I could also see much friendship developed among the SMU-NCKU teams. The different disciplinary backgrounds of the team members (social sciences vs. design background) offered a lot of inspirations during the collaborative process. I have enjoyed every moment of facilitating this course and mentoring the students.”
Assoc Prof Angela Leung
“Embarking on this study mission without knowing what to expect, what I brought back home was far more than what I’ve imagined. Invaluable experiences, memories and friendships formed, ten days in Tainan has taught me much more than one semester in SMU.”
Sim Wai Leng
“The two-day workshop held in Singapore and nine-day study mission to Tainan was undoubtedly an eye-opening and enriching experience. The opportunity to learn from a host of academics and industry representatives as well as to thoroughly immerse in the local culture and lifestyle was invaluable.”
Leung Yu Long
“This trip was undoubtedly one of the most insightful study missions I have been on.”
Chua Ko Hwee
“This study mission is quite likely one of the best modules I have ever taken in SMU. Being the first psychology study mission, I suppose none of us knew what to expect; in some ways, going along with things as they came made everything a much more enjoyable experience. Undoubtedly, the line-up of activities arranged throughout the study mission all contributed significantly to a richer understanding of the relations between culture and creativity.”
Bryan Choy
“The study mission had helped to enhance my creativity through the cross-cultural interactions with the Taiwanese students from ICID. By working on a real-life case, that is, Hayashi Department Store, it gave rise to the opportunity to utilize the new knowledge I had learned about Taiwan and Tainan, enabling me to break free of my schemas and fixed mindset.”
Tay Jia Hui
“By immersing myself in a second culture to really understand how others think, feel and do, I was able to look beyond my bubble and increase my personal creativity while enjoying the fun.”
Jermaine Tan
“I was deeply moved by the confidence and willingness of the professors to guide us in the design thinking process. Because of that, I felt this strong motivation to do better, both in terms of our groupwork and personal development. I have always admired people who are creative, and this study mission gave me the tools and confidence to achieve that in the near future.”
Ariel Teo Yi Jun