UTAK (National Design Research Conference) was hosted by METU. Various sessions and workshops were held at UTAK 2018, in which the title was determined as”Design and Hope”.
The first of the workshops I attended, “My Dream Job Workshop” was about the use of Business Model Canvas, which is a method in business, and how can it be used to speed up the processes in design. The workshop focused primarily on Business Model Canvas and Design Thinking, and then participants were expected to design a service using Business Model Canvas.
The second of the workshops I attended is “Empathetic Design for Children”. Various user research data with children were shared with us to design a camera for children. After examining the “Camera” from the perspective of the children, the participants were divided into groups to develop design suggestions that match the user’s expectations.
The last workshop I attended “IOT Focused Innovation Workshop” was sponsored by Userspots. The workshop, which started with the concept of IoT and its contribution to our life, continued with the determination of which teams to work together. While a fun game was played to identify the design problem, different design methods were used at the same time.
Finally, UTAK 2018 left me with new friends and pleasant memories. It made me have new ideas about the developments in the design world. Thanks to the workshops, I was able to apply creative thinking methods that would make my job easier in my educational and professional life. It also broadened my horizon of user researches and design applied to children. I am so glad to be a part of UTAK 2018.