ASSIGNMENT- Design Thinking 

 Nadeem Pandey 

 Challenge- I work with Learning & Development ( L&D ) Division of my organisation . One of the 

 most prominent feedbacks business managers like to give to L&D division is that the 

 trainings / learning interventions need to be more in - sync with the business needs of the 

 organisation . 

 In my organisation also , L&D division was struggling with similar remarks . Therefore , we decided 

 to explore ‘ how can we make our trainings more relevant to the organisational and individuals 

 needs ’ . To understand the ‘ what - is ’ , we launched a survey and focussed group discussion . 

 The results yielded that Training Need Identification ( TNI ) of employees is the most important 

 issue in L&D. TNI is the first step from which entire activity of L&D is planned and if done in a 

 wrong fashion , can derail the entire L&D efforts of the organisation . Evolving a TNI mechanism is 

 really a complex task in our organisation as we have a vast cross - section of employees of different 

 age brackets , education levels , backgrounds , spread in different geographies all around the globe 

 and involved in very varied job roles . This variation in target population leaves no scope for a ‘ one 

 size fits all ’ approach in this task of developing a TNI mechanism . 

 As this question was a very open - ended and human - centric question , it is one of the classic 

 examples of a Design Thinking problem . 

 We started with studying in depth all the recommendations for a new TNI system emerging from 

 the survey & FGDs . Based on the insights gathered , we developed a new online TNI system , which 

 can cover wider cross section of employees and elicit more responses due to its simple design 

 and flow . 

 Selection- After brainstorming and developing a prototype of the new system , we went ahead 

 with the Learning Launch . I want to emphasise this element as it was crucial in the success of the 

 project . Role of Learning Launch in our project is explained in the para below . 

 When we developed the prototype of the system and demonstrated it to our colleagues many of 

 my office colleagues were not convinced with the system proposed by us . At the same time , they 

 also did n’t have a clear cut better solution to offer . Therefore , we felt it is very important to get 

 inputs from the users themselves so that we can find through tangible data that whether the 

 ASSIGNMENT- Design Thinking 

 Nadeem Pandey 

 system proposed by us is indeed better or requires a re - look . Hence , without much ado , we 

 launched the system for a select group of heterogeneous employees . 

 Application- In the initial learning launch , we started by finding out if the new online system 

 meets the needs of individual . Our team had chalked out a list of factors , which could be 

 detrimental to the success of the system . We asked the users to rate the system on those factors 

 after going through the entire process . On the other hand , we also involved the different 

 prospective administrators of the system to figure out if the data / output from the system is 

 suited for their use or require any modifications . We got many relevant inputs from the users & 

 administrators regarding simplifying the flow of the system , appearance , log - in issues , etc . 

 In the second learning launch , we focussed on implementation of the system . In this cycle , we 

 tried to figure out how the employees would respond to the pushing of a new system by the 

 organisation and what needs to be done to communicate the need for a new system . These 

 factors were important for deciding the fate of the system , whether it will survive in the long run . 

 In this phase , we conducted a workshop of the HR managers and tried to explain in details the 

 philosophy and working of the TNI system . We elicited responses from them , whether they feel 

 it ’s required in this way or not . After taking inputs & incorporating the changes , we went ahead 

 with the launch . 

 Insights- Learning Launch Tool enabled us to seek direct feedbacks from the users and modify 

 the system accordingly before the final launch . Another important thing , which Learning Launch 

 Tool enabled was the shift from ‘ Satisficing ’ to ‘ Optimising ’ . During the initial discussions , we 

 did n’t have a clear answer to all the questions about the new system posed by our colleagues . 

 However , with the help of this tool we could experiment and speak with data about the positives 

 and areas of improvement in the new system . 

 Approach-    This work was done before I had gone through the module . After going through the 

 module , I can relate to the different concepts presented in the module especially in the Learning 

 Launch section . If I do this exercise the next time , I will concentrate on the following to make the 

 activity more thorough : a ) involve a cross - functional team in the activity instead of a homogenous 

 team b ) regularly interact and get inputs from the   person who is not too convinced with the idea 

 ASSIGNMENT- Design Thinking 

 Nadeem Pandey 

 c ) list down the assumptions I had in mind regarding why this system shall work and 

 systematically check whether each assumption shall work in the given situation . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: Nadeem Pandey, Nadeem Pandey, Nadeem Pandey
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: ASSIGNMENT- Design Thinking 

 Nadeem Pandey 

 Challenge- I work with Learning & Development ( L&D ) Division of my organisation . One of the 

 most prominent feedbacks business managers like to give to L&D division is that the 

 trainings / learning interventions need to be more in - sync with the business needs of the 

 organisation . 

 In my organisation also , L&D division was struggling with similar remarks . Therefore , we decided 

 to explore ‘ how can we make our trainings more relevant to the organisational and individuals 

 needs ’ . To understand the ‘ what - is ’ , we launched a survey and focussed group discussion . 

 The results yielded that Training Need Identification ( TNI ) of employees is the most important 

 issue in L&D. TNI is the first step from which entire activity of L&D is planned and if done in a 

 wrong fashion , can derail the entire L&D efforts of the organisation . Evolving a TNI mechanism is 

 really a complex task in our organisation as we have a vast cross - section of employees of different 

 age brackets , education levels , backgrounds , spread in different geographies all around the globe 

 and involved in very varied job roles . This variation in target population leaves no scope for a ‘ one 

 size fits all ’ approach in this task of developing a TNI mechanism . 

 As this question was a very open - ended and human - centric question , it is one of the classic 

 examples of a Design Thinking problem . 

 We started with studying in depth all the recommendations for a new TNI system emerging from 

 the survey & FGDs . Based on the insights gathered , we developed a new online TNI system , which 

 can cover wider cross section of employees and elicit more responses due to its simple design 

 and flow . 

 Selection- After brainstorming and developing a prototype of the new system , we went ahead 

 with the Learning Launch . I want to emphasise this element as it was crucial in the success of the 

 project . Role of Learning Launch in our project is explained in the para below . 

 When we developed the prototype of the system and demonstrated it to our colleagues many of 

 my office colleagues were not convinced with the system proposed by us . At the same time , they 

 also did n’t have a clear cut better solution to offer . Therefore , we felt it is very important to get 

 inputs from the users themselves so that we can find through tangible data that whether the 

 ASSIGNMENT- Design Thinking 

 Nadeem Pandey 

 system proposed by us is indeed better or requires a re - look . Hence , without much ado , we 

 launched the system for a select group of heterogeneous employees . 

 Application- In the initial learning launch , we started by finding out if the new online system 

 meets the needs of individual . Our team had chalked out a list of factors , which could be 

 detrimental to the success of the system . We asked the users to rate the system on those factors 

 after going through the entire process . On the other hand , we also involved the different 

 prospective administrators of the system to figure out if the data / output from the system is 

 suited for their use or require any modifications . We got many relevant inputs from the users & 

 administrators regarding simplifying the flow of the system , appearance , log - in issues , etc . 

 In the second learning launch , we focussed on implementation of the system . In this cycle , we 

 tried to figure out how the employees would respond to the pushing of a new system by the 

 organisation and what needs to be done to communicate the need for a new system . These 

 factors were important for deciding the fate of the system , whether it will survive in the long run . 

 In this phase , we conducted a workshop of the HR managers and tried to explain in details the 

 philosophy and working of the TNI system . We elicited responses from them , whether they feel 

 it ’s required in this way or not . After taking inputs & incorporating the changes , we went ahead 

 with the launch . 

 Insights- Learning Launch Tool enabled us to seek direct feedbacks from the users and modify 

 the system accordingly before the final launch . Another important thing , which Learning Launch 

 Tool enabled was the shift from ‘ Satisficing ’ to ‘ Optimising ’ . During the initial discussions , we 

 did n’t have a clear answer to all the questions about the new system posed by our colleagues . 

 However , with the help of this tool we could experiment and speak with data about the positives 

 and areas of improvement in the new system . 

 Approach-    This work was done before I had gone through the module . After going through the 

 module , I can relate to the different concepts presented in the module especially in the Learning 

 Launch section . If I do this exercise the next time , I will concentrate on the following to make the 

 activity more thorough : a ) involve a cross - functional team in the activity instead of a homogenous 

 team b ) regularly interact and get inputs from the   person who is not too convinced with the idea 

 ASSIGNMENT- Design Thinking 

 Nadeem Pandey 

 c ) list down the assumptions I had in mind regarding why this system shall work and 

 systematically check whether each assumption shall work in the given situation .
### Output: 