EDCI 337 – Multimedia Challenge Prototype

Design Thinking Made Simple

Image by Curated Lifestyle

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UNDERSTAND

What is the challenge?

The purpose of this comic is to explain the Design Thinking process in a clear, visual, and relatable way. Many students feel overwhelmed when beginning projects and may not fully understand how the stages of design thinking connect in practice.

As shown in Figure 1, the comic presents each stage in a structured sequence so that learners can see how the process unfolds step by step.

Who is the audience?

The intended audience is first-year university students or senior high school students who are new to design thinking. The main character in Figure 1 reflects this audience a student who feels stuck and unsure how to begin.

Learning Outcomes

After viewing the comic (Figure 1), readers should be able to:

• Identify the five stages: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test
• Understand how each stage contributes to solving a problem
• Recognize that feedback and revision are essential
• See design thinking applied in an academic scenario

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PLAN

Narrative Structure

The comic follows a clear progression:

Confusion → Guidance → Structured Process → Feedback → Confidence

In Figure 1, I see that the first panel establishes the emotional problem (the student feeling overwhelmed). A “Design Thinking Guide” then appears and walks the student through each stage.

Each stage is visually separated and clearly labeled to reinforce terminology.

Design Choices

1. Clear Stage Labels
In Figure 1, each panel clearly shows the stage name. This helps people remember the words more easily and keeps the information from feeling overwhelming.

2. Relatable Scenario
The stressed student makes it more engaging and helps the framework feel more real and relatable instead of just theoretical.

3. Minimal Dialogue
The speech bubbles are short and simple, so the pictures can support the idea without making it feel too crowded or confusing.

4. Visual Reinforcement of Concepts
As seen in Figure 1:

• Brainstorming notes show up during the Ideate stage.
• A rough draft model appears in the Prototype stage.
• Peer discussion is shown in the Test stage.

These visuals clearly match what each stage is meant to focus on.

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PROTOTYPE

Figure 1 represents the first visual draft of the final multimedia artifact.

The prototype includes:

• There are eight organized panels.
• All five design thinking stages are clearly labeled.
• The story shows growth, moving from confusion to understanding.
• The testing scene includes helpful, constructive feedback.
• It ends with a message that highlights the importance of improving and trying again.

In Figure 1, the way the visuals move from one stage to the next makes the process easy to follow, while the characters keep it interesting and engaging.

This draft shows that the learning goals are explained clearly using both the words and the pictures.

Prototype – Design Thinking Made Simple

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REFLECTION & NEXT STEPS

Strengths

• Each stage is clearly labeled and backed up by the visuals.
• The emotional journey helps make the process feel relatable.
• The order of the panels makes the steps easy to understand.

Areas for Improvement

• The dialogue could be made even shorter so it flows better and feels quicker.
• The idea that the process repeats could be shown more clearly through the visuals.
• The spacing and alignment between the panels could be cleaned up to make everything easier to follow.

Next Steps

1. Refine dialogue for conciseness.
2. Improve visual consistency between panels.
3. Add subtle indicators of iteration (arrows or cyclical layout).
4. Gather peer feedback and revise accordingly.

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Final Thoughts

This prototype demonstrates intentional multimedia design aligned with course concepts. By combining narrative storytelling, labeled stages, and visual reinforcement (Figure 1), the comic makes design thinking accessible and practical. The artifact reflects thoughtful planning and a clear understanding of the design process.