Part 1 - Brainstorming Session
Part 2 - Incubation Journal
Below are the photos from my incubation journal. I found that keeping a journal with a paper and pen was the best method for me to instantly collect my ideas with minimal limitations.
Part 3 - Idea Reflection
In the last week-plus of my incubation journal, I found myself drifting back to three main items that were originally identified in the empathy stage and re-assessed in the brainstorm session, related to my problem of practice:
In keeping the incubation journal, I found that I would have times where ideas, concepts and links between topics connected almost instantly. Other times I would sit down and the process felt forced; I would continue to ponder ideas, but usually took it as a sign that the mental gears simply weren’t turning that day, or my mind was elsewhere (currently at work we are in the middle of Winter degree clearance so I often was stressed in thinking about work). On the days in which my ideas were flowing, you’ll notice in the journal that I started with a discussion point from the brainstorm session, and then just jotted down ideas that were relevant to the proposal. Some ideas were connected, other items were unrelated but possible tasks for future projects. In my journal I tried to explore deeper connections and unravel the original idea to see what other concepts could either be developed or identified through the word connection process.
As you may notice in the journal, I started with the two main questions: Why and How – why is this issue occurring and why are we trying to resolve it? How can we resolve the issue and how can we improve staff understanding when processing forms. From here I then narrowed my focus on those concepts covered in the brainstorm session. I also attempted to connect unrelated items (as labeled in the journal) such as ballet, keys and trees – in which the latter gave me a unique idea for the design structure (branches/roots) of a possible web page/wiki page for staff learning.
Out of the process I feel like I have a solid foundation to move forward in tackling my problem of practice. First, I will aim to organize the form intake and review, starting with filtering the forms by form type rather than date received. Organizing the forms by form type could help alleviate data entry issues, as the staff member processing the form is repeating the same/similar steps for each form, rather than jumping from one process to another.
Next, I will develop a wiki page that staff can create, maintain and reference in regards to form documentation. Rather than searching our online servers for documentation and deliberating on which document to reference, the wiki page will contain only the most relevant/recent information and screenshots of the process. Steps will be outlined for each of our 26 forms, possibly organized by career for ease of reference. The design is drafted roughly on “The Websites” photo in my incubation journal, but this should provide a starting point for staff.
Lastly, and unfortunately not within the time constraints of this course, I would like to consider suggesting PeopleSoft (our student information system) enhancements that could digitize the forms, eliminating the paperless process. We currently have a few basic online forms in which students can declare/drop/adjust majors, so we may be able to leverage this format to provide students the direct opportunity for additional form entry online. As mentioned, this process is more of a long term solution, but possible with using the current PeopleSoft delivered functionality (with minor adjustments to Stanford-specific procedures).
- Form organization when processing forms into the student information system
- Form documentation located within a single source for ease of reference and maintenance
- Digital form integration with our student information system to eliminate the paper process
In keeping the incubation journal, I found that I would have times where ideas, concepts and links between topics connected almost instantly. Other times I would sit down and the process felt forced; I would continue to ponder ideas, but usually took it as a sign that the mental gears simply weren’t turning that day, or my mind was elsewhere (currently at work we are in the middle of Winter degree clearance so I often was stressed in thinking about work). On the days in which my ideas were flowing, you’ll notice in the journal that I started with a discussion point from the brainstorm session, and then just jotted down ideas that were relevant to the proposal. Some ideas were connected, other items were unrelated but possible tasks for future projects. In my journal I tried to explore deeper connections and unravel the original idea to see what other concepts could either be developed or identified through the word connection process.
As you may notice in the journal, I started with the two main questions: Why and How – why is this issue occurring and why are we trying to resolve it? How can we resolve the issue and how can we improve staff understanding when processing forms. From here I then narrowed my focus on those concepts covered in the brainstorm session. I also attempted to connect unrelated items (as labeled in the journal) such as ballet, keys and trees – in which the latter gave me a unique idea for the design structure (branches/roots) of a possible web page/wiki page for staff learning.
Out of the process I feel like I have a solid foundation to move forward in tackling my problem of practice. First, I will aim to organize the form intake and review, starting with filtering the forms by form type rather than date received. Organizing the forms by form type could help alleviate data entry issues, as the staff member processing the form is repeating the same/similar steps for each form, rather than jumping from one process to another.
Next, I will develop a wiki page that staff can create, maintain and reference in regards to form documentation. Rather than searching our online servers for documentation and deliberating on which document to reference, the wiki page will contain only the most relevant/recent information and screenshots of the process. Steps will be outlined for each of our 26 forms, possibly organized by career for ease of reference. The design is drafted roughly on “The Websites” photo in my incubation journal, but this should provide a starting point for staff.
Lastly, and unfortunately not within the time constraints of this course, I would like to consider suggesting PeopleSoft (our student information system) enhancements that could digitize the forms, eliminating the paperless process. We currently have a few basic online forms in which students can declare/drop/adjust majors, so we may be able to leverage this format to provide students the direct opportunity for additional form entry online. As mentioned, this process is more of a long term solution, but possible with using the current PeopleSoft delivered functionality (with minor adjustments to Stanford-specific procedures).
Top photo credit: ReinventingEvents.com