Imagine inviting some of your city officials to an amazing dinner. The table cloth, instead of being a mere accessory to beautify the event, becomes a place to actively dialogue with those around you. While you eat, you are visualizing the conversations presented to you on the table cloth.

Could this be a new alternative to local democratic exchange? If Obama can have a state dinner, could the local community do the same and address issues over a meal? We may not have a presidential budget but each community will have vendors who would likely benefit from the opportunity to be included in such an undertaking.

I am so proud of the crew of students I've gotten to work with in this class! We have one week left, which means the process and thinking they've engaged in this short amount of time is impressive.

Tonight we discussed their prototypes and gave feedback for further development. We also covered what it means to deliver your final outcome. Here are some good questions to ask (sourced from the HCD Toolkit) in the process:

Where, when, how and why might the customer experience our solution?
What channels can assist with distributing our solution?
What are the range of ways it could be delivered?
What human, financial, manufacturing or technological elements are needed?
Who could we partner with to show the value and impact of the solution?
How will we test our idea?
How will we implement the idea?
What will be our measure of success?
How will we generate feedback?

Links:
The Ripple Effect
Dining Room Made of Pop Bottles
Karaoke and Literacy
Better World By Design Challenge
$100 Ventilator

For our last class, we're going to eat together before presenting the final projects. I'm excited to see their final outcomes! And in case you're wondering, here's what's on the menu:

A few shots to capture the experience that was Dinner With A Side Of Design. Loads more here!
Photos by Danny Chan