The OIP-tool was created by research group imec-MICT-UGent, connected both to Ghent University and research center imec. The tool is a result of a collaborative effort of Design Thinking practitioners and enthousiasts at Ghent University. The goal of the tool is to support a “doing-by-learning” trajectory in which students, entreprneurs and social innovators can learn the Design Thinking methodology and mindset by concretely applying the Design Thinkin process. The tool is aimed to be spread and adopted as widely as possible. First internally at the university of Ghent, and then beyond in other research and educational environments. In order to develop the tool, a fewsteps have been undertaken. More information can be found underneath:
First, through an environmental scan of existing tools that are currently utilized in Design Thinking trajectories, and interviews with our dedicated educators, we identified 18 tools falling under the categories of "innovation tools" or "support tools for innovation processes." A thorough SWOT analysis and property analysis were conducted, leading to the initial outline of potential functionalities for our innovation tool.
Building on this foundation, and a conceptual model was crafted through collaboration with internal researchers and educators using a Miro environment. This resulted into a first version of the MIRO-tool.
Moving forward to a requirement analysis, through presenting and asking feedback on the first conceptual model, we conducted interviews with (internal and external) stakeholders to refine user-fit requirements, resulting in a set of concrete design requirements for the innovation tool, allowing the preliminary conceptual model to be updated and ready to be made tangible in a first prototype.
The Prototype involved a three-step prototyping process, incorporating feedback from expert stakeholders, iterating on the conceptual model, and finalizing a high-level prototype in collaboration with project stakeholders.
The OIP-tool has then undergone practical testing in two use cases. The first test, within the international IN2FOOD student competition, involved students seeking solutions to food waste for Marriott Indonesia. The second test, in the 3rd bachelor communication sciences innovation research at Ghent University. The results of these tests were then used for a last iteration of the OIP-tool, resulting in the version which can be found on this webpage.
A special thanks goes to all of the researchers and educators working at Ghent University who have been involved in the creation of the OIP-tool, by providing feedback and participating in the various research phases.
