Week 6: Brainstorming

In this week’s session, our team focused on transforming early ideas into a clearer direction for our solution. We began with a fast-paced brainstorming exercise using a board and sticky notes, where we generated as many ideas as possible without filtering. Afterwards, we grouped the ideas into three categories: feasible (such as an anonymous feelings-sharing app, AI-based mapping for the teacher, a growing class symbol, or a help-request feature), not feasible, and surprising. This process revealed that most of our intuitive ideas were already practical and aligned with the needs we identified. We also completed the “Perfect Assistant” task, which helped us refine our understanding of what truly supports the teacher.

Next, we created a timeline that maps the teacher’s experience leading up to the annual school trip. Based on interviews, we identified key stress points—especially during the week before the trip, when room assignments happen and when teachers try to convince hesitant students to participate. This timeline helped us pinpoint when an intervention could reduce social pressure and strengthen class cohesion.

Finally, we developed a scenario for our product: a system that the teacher introduces about three weeks before the trip, built around a shared class symbol that grows as students interact. Through an app, students answer questions about interests, share feelings with the teacher, offer or request help, and report daily social interactions. Each action contributes to the growth of the symbol, while an AI system analyzes the data and provides the teacher with a clear social-emotional overview of the class. The goal is to create openness, strengthen connections, and help the teacher feel in control of the classroom’s social climate before the trip.

Overall, this session helped us move from broad ideation to a more defined concept, grounded in both research and real teacher insights.