Des Moines

Des Moines, USA

• Fisher Controls

Small town

But this is the world of endless public spectacles we live in. There is the news on TV and in the newspaper. There is commentary running on the World Wide Web 24 hours a day. Even something as distant, complex, and intractable as Israel's relationships with its neighbors - a story that began in the Old Testament and continues into the New Era - is something people in Des Moines and Butte feel they need to think about.

• Distance Learning News from Arkansas

How to Innovate

How to learn the innovation process:

• How innovation happens, and the role of design in this process
• Tools for implementing design services and strategies
• How innovation, and the creativity on which it depends, can be encouraged (or discouraged) through organizational structures and control systems
• How to assess the innovative potential of yourself, your colleagues, and your organization
• Why individuals and organizations can be resistant to change, and what they may do to sabotage innovative initiatives
• How to bring about change, both in your own organization and in clients’ organizations.

Team Work

Team work, a valuable work place skill in any industry, is a critical component of any design or product development the project. Collaborating teams are organized to look at various aspects of the consumer, business to business market: user needs (a key component of the finished design), safety, regulations, competitors, t e c h n o l o g y, materials and manufacturing, and so forth.

• Team-building experiences
• During the design process we go through various stages
• We produce sketches and study models
• Visual models building
• How to build strong ownership of a particular design?
• An outside team of independent reviewers can be used to evaluate the models
• What kind of help is needed to make sound decisions?
• Latitude 61 is one of the early Kajaani team members

Learning by doing

The experience gave valuable practice working with others, defending sound design concepts and ultimately agreeing on a final solution. Overcoming difficulties led to a team that was committed, that knew how to deal with individual personalities, and that appreciated what it took to work together.

• The human cooperation chemistry

We also learned the value of compromise and consensus. Throughout the design process, participatns took advantage of other core disciplines. Human factors were a major consideration in determining layout of the intended product and or proces.

• Participants investigated materials and manufacturing methods and researched industry trends.

Ideas needed to be generated quickly, and model-building and presentation skills were strengthened as participants endeavored to support concepts.

• The designs not only had to look good but had to function well.