Blog

TNA – why is this acronym so important in design thinking and eLearning?

If you’re wondering what TNA stands for, here’s the crux: Target Audience Analysis. It sounds quite robotic, but is one of the most important elements of a nicely and effectively designed eLearning course, a successful design thinking project, hell, even…
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How the brain learns – a quick and dirty recap

Ever since uni, I have been connected with education. I have a degree in teaching, a few extra methodology courses under my belt, I use design thinking and do workshops, I taught at school for a while, I work in…
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eLearning – where to start?

Some knew what eLearning is way before the Covid-19 pandemic, but indeed it started to get recognition when life, including education/schooling/classes, moved to the Internet. As the world fought the ubiquitous virus by isolating at home, teachers worldwide (and other…
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Who are Instructional Designers?

The field of eLearning is becoming widely recognized, there are still questions about what people within eLearning do. My position has always been a mystery – and it’s perfectly fine when people ask me what I do! I don’t expect…
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Exploring educational solutions (conference)

Hej, cześć! DT w Szkole (DT in School) to firma zajmująca się propagowaniem stosowania design thinking w “tradycyjnych” szkołach. Projekt prowadzony jest w języku polskim. Jeśli chcesz przeczytać posty po polsku to kliknij tutaj, znajdziesz tam pełny opis konferencji. Dziękuję!
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Podcasts about design thinking (List 3)

retty straightforward. Below is a list of episodes that talk about design thinking. The bad, the good, all. Welcome to list number three! The Business of Government Radio Hour – Design Thinking for the Military with Hal McNair, Ben Zweibelson,…
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Tool: Ice breakers for remote meetings, part 1 (six games)

I work in eLearning, promising people you actually can learn stuff online (which more and more people take advantage of, yay!), so remote exercises are not news to me. However, what I noticed around when the times have changed, is…
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Unpopular Opinion – We need to stop innovating!

Innovation and creativity have been the staple of my hustle existence for a long time now, with design thinking, content creation, and creativity workshops. However, the more I venture into the world of new technologies, inventions, and creative solutions –…
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Inspiration: Lewis Howes and The School of Greatness

I get a lot of inspiration from other people’s stories – listening to how they lived, what they achieved and how much it cost the, how they were able to cope with both challenges, as well as hurdles in their…
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Tool: Personas (empathy)

One of the best ways to better solve someone else’s problems is to understand them clearly, understand their lives. And there is no better way to do so that try to be them, be in their shoes and see the…
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The power of BAD IDEAS

Hever you ever ransacked your apartment, pulling your hair out, firefighters and search rescue one call away, trying to find this once-uneventful scrap of paper that, as your current self realized, contained notes for the greatest idea ever invented™️? You…
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The power of USELESS SUFF

Most of us, for some strange reasons, were bombarded by phrases such as, „That will never work!” or „That’s so stupid!” throughout our lives (unfortunately, that often starts in our childhood). And then we carry them with us and let…
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The power of BOREDOM

„Only boring people get bored,” have you heard that before? Well, don’t worry, it’s a load of crap, actually. Unless you just complain about how boring your life is, and then roll over in your bed, wallowing in self-pity –…
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Parallel thinking

Have you noticed that a standard conversation/discussion/debate usually focuses on supporting or disproving points that are being discussed? There are two tracks: you either support it, or you’re against it. This is called adversarial thinking.
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Tool: Six Thinking Hats (ideation and feedback)

Six Thinking Hats method was given to us by the (as I call him, at least) father of lateral/creative thinking, a Maltese physician, psychologist, philosopher, inventor, and consultant Edward de Bono. If you read my blog or follow my love…
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A Tale of the Two Mindsets

„Ugh, another buzzword!” you might be thinking. Well, not quite (also, read here why I don’t believe in buzzwords). A way of life, more like it! Let’s quickly establish what growth mindset is, what it isn’t, and how can it…
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Tool: Eisenhower Matrix (prioritization)

President Dwight D. Eisenhower was a General in the US Army, then Allied Forces Supreme Commander during World War II, and later the 34th President of the United States (1953–61, serving two consecutive terms), is the namesake of the priority…
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The power of design thinking, part 3 of 3: Proven cases and more!

I’ve written a few words about why I think design thinking is different, untrivial, and interesting, just click here! If my word is not yet authoritative for you, despite my long-winded expertise, maybe the podcast below, from world-renown experts with…
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The power of design thinking, part 2 of 3: Critical claims rebuffed!

I’ve presented to you before the critical view of design thinking, a few articles and videos that generally say it’s trash. The time has come to address some of the accusations and misconceptions that float out there in the sea…
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The power of design thinking, part 1 of 3: What do critics say?

Like with literally everything else, design thinking has supporters as well as adversaries. It’s easy with supporters – the logical ones see the benefits but try to tackle all the hurdlings as well. And I strongly believe that those who…
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6 Adult Learning Principles by M. Knowles

Andragogy, meaning methods and principles used in adult education, has been around for over 100 years. Firstly coined by a German educator Alexander Kapp in 1833, it was extensively studied and popularized by an American educator Malcolm Knowles in the…
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How to set up an eLearning team (in a nutshell)

There is this famous saying: teamwork makes the dream work. And, I do believe this is true if you play your cards right. There are multiple ways how you can set up a successful team, and I will say this…
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Tool: Rose, Thorn, Bud (retrospective)

A simple activity to reflect on performed actions or meetings, that taps into own’s doings/thoughts. This activity is based on one simple idea, that: -> Roses are what we did right, something we are happy about, positive things. -> Thorns…
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Plan better meetings with design thinking

„Oh, I wish I was at a 2-hour, pointless meeting right now,” said no one ever. Most of us working in collaboration situations are aware that not all meetings are needed, that they are too long, too confusing, don’t reach…
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Podcasts about design thinking (List 2)

Pretty straightforward. Below is a list of episodes that talk about design thinking. The bad, the good, all. Welcome to list number two! The Crazy One – three episodes on design thinking
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Tool: Disney Brainstorming Method

When things fail – don’t fret, don’t throw your sketchbook away! Follow Walt Disney and switch your creativity! Instead, look at your idea/plan from three different perspectives: firstly generate new ideas from an innovative and creative perspective of a dreamer;
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[Polish] UX po godzinach – ja w podkaście dla UX-owców

Nieczęsto zdarza mi się spotkać nową osobę, z którą mogę bez problemu przegadać pół dnia, a to i tak wydaje mi się za mało. Dla podcastu UX po godzinach rozmawiałam z Szymonem Trzeplą, UX designerem w branży bankowej, jednym z…
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Tool: Brainstorming with SCAMPER

We all know and love good ol’ brainstorming (or maybe we don’t… read more about my on-again-off-again relationship with brainstorming, just click here), and – when done correctly – it can bring amazing results. But brainstorming is not the only…
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Three thinking modes – no, they don’t exclude each other

With the development of problem-solving techniques and methodologies, some simple and known concepts are getting their revamped life. So now, especially working in design thinking, when I approach something in an A->B->C way, I hear: „oh, but you need to…
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Objectives Taxonomies, part 4 of 4: Six Facets of Understanding

Following a learning taxonomy, teaching can have a logical path, consisting of rational and beneficial exercises or knowledge chunks. There are other taxonomies as well (Bloom’s Taxonomy, SOLO Taxonomy, and Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning; all links to posts on…
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Objectives Taxonomies, part 3 of 4: Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning

Learning taxonomies provide guidance and structure for creating meaningful and educational learning experiences. There are other taxonomies as well (Bloom’s Taxonomy, SOLO Taxonomy, and Six Facets of Understanding; all links to posts on this blog), and all have their supporters…
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Objectives Taxonomies, part 2 of 4: SOLO Taxonomy

In the world of learning, a taxonomy is a framework that provides guidelines on how to plan, organize, and assess/evaluate learning experiences so they have the best educational effect. SOLO Taxonomy is not the only one, oh no! There are…
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Objectives Taxonomies, part 1 of 4: Bloom’s Taxonomy (with revisions)

To prepare effective, logical, and natural learning experiences, teachers and Instructional Designers alike would seek help in learning taxonomies – frameworks that provide guidance for such. The below will be a dive into the three domains of learning according to…
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Tool: Elephant in the Room (warm-up)

This exercise is a whole ton of fun! It can be a great break exercise, but it also serves a purpose, quite a few actually: + Helps to take the mind of the current issue. + Introduces a little bit…
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Inspiration: Anna Akana (YouTube videos)

One of my favorite YouTubers is Anna Akana and her comedy/life commentary channel. It’s not a vlog or a skit channel, but it deals with life and laughter via short videos or short films. Anna focuses on dealing with simple,…
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Horrible buzzwords

There are a few words that I absolutely hate. I hate them because they send the wrong message, because they divide people instead of bringing them together, because they create this irrational idea that „one is better than other” and…
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Bookshelf: „A Book of Brilliant Ideas” by The Brothers McLeod

„A Book of Brilliant Ideas” by The Brothers McLeod is one of the „fill it up with your scribbles” books. It doesn’t have a plot, characters, emotions, development… or maybe it does? The premise is simple: each page contains a…
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What happens when people start using design thinking?

Right, so I have babbled, preached, and shouted about design thinking, both on my blog and in my life (where I try to plug it everywhere because I literally love it). I mentioned why I think design thinking is different,…
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Tool: Five Whys (root causes analysis)

The story behind this technique is really simple. Anyone who has kids already knows this, and if you do you probably smirked at such a situation at the shops one time or another. For some reason the older we get,…
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Quality or quantity, that is the question!

Of course, you probably guessed – it depends! Masterpiece – quality. Books – quantity (haha). Friends – definitely quality. But I would like to focus on the „quantity over quality” rule that is everpresent in design thinking, brainstorming, design sprints,…
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Life lessons from a baking show

I feel like in the world of the kitchen there are three types of people: + The Burners – „I’ll burn your house trying to boil some water!” + The In-Betweeners – „Eggs and beans on toast, and Cup-a-Soup, heck…
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Don’t code the (eLearning) content – soap! 2019 techcomm conf

I love giving workshops and the tradition continued with me teaching people how to use Lightning Decision Jam (affectionately called LDJ) – a creative, but structured process to solve problems quickly and without useless discussion. Read more about it, and…
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Tool: Lightning Decision Jam (problem-solving)

I’ll risk saying there is no one who never suffered through a lengthy and disorganized brainstorming meeting that, all in all, ended up with no decision at all. Rings a bell? Yeah! And even with me using design thinking (what…
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Podcasts about design thinking (List 4)

Pretty straightforward. Below is a list of episodes that talk about design thinking. The bad, the good, all. Welcome to list number four! Sigma Nutrition Radio – SNR #248: Kyra Bobinet, MD – Behaviour Change Through Design Thinking
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Podcasts about design thinking (List 1)

Pretty straightforward. Below is a list of episodes that talk about design thinking. The bad, the good, all. Welcome to list number one!
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Tool: I Like, I Wish, What If (retrospective activity)

A clever way to get feedback without lots of negative feelings. Instead of asking about positives and negatives, which usually puts pressure on people, halts their thinking, moves them forward negativity. This tool helps to bring feedback in the same…
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Tool: Empathy Map (research, empathy)

Empathy maps are yet another tool to exercise empathy and understand someone on a deeper level. Paired with other tools – personas, for example – present a powerful compendium of the user/target group. Using empathy map can be a bit…
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Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in a nutshell

I have a feeling that in today’s world this theory has been forgotten in favor of quick turnaround, ROI, or other business-crappy needs. Which is even weirder because we have such great research available! Developed in 1943 by an American…
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Inspiration: Matt D’Avella and The Ground Up Show

„The Ground Up Show” is a podcast for those bold enough to take the small steps – as the author Matt D’Avella says himself. And I like it! I like it because this tagline doesn’t put pressure on big names,…
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Teaching design thinking to college kids (in Northern Ireland)

I’m so happy to see that the idea of creativity, „alternative” approaches to life, and cultivating curious minds find their way to schools and kindergartens. I’m solely behind the idea of letting kids and teenagers act on their ideas, supporting…
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Asynchronous conference iDesign Learning 2018

I love all initiatives, especially the ones where I can dish about design thinking! iDesign Conference was an event held totally online, devoted to all things eLearning, and using one of the eLearning tools (Canvas Instructure). What a great idea…
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School systems in New Zealand and Poland

There are a few things that can expand your horizons like no episode of „Friends” will. Playing board games with your family and friends. Reading. Building stuff from Lego blocks. Falling on your butt when jumping over a bench. Traveling.
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Girls-in-Tech Week in Derry, Northern Ireland

Derry/Londonderry is not a tech city, about 90% of any tech or startup-related events happen in Belfast and Dublin (Google much?). If you add the general approach of „tech if not for girls” to the mix (something that still exist!)…
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What makes design thinking different, untrivial, and so interesting?

Quite recently, I’ve had an interesting albeit short exchange about why design thinking is the shizz for me. As I’m a bit of a flowery speaker/writer, I knew I wouldn’t have been able to cram my answer into 280 characters,…
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[Polish] Narzędzia w eLearningu (Letnia Szkoła eLearningu 2018)

Siema! No i tak, znowu to zrobiłam! Znowu gadam w podkaście Letnia Szkoła eLearningu 2018! Tym razem rozmawiamy o przydatnych narzędziach/ćwiczeniach/technikach jakich możecie używać podczas procesu tworzenia szkoleń online lub w innych sytucjach. Ja skupiłam się na narzędziach, które wykorzystuję…
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[Polish] Design thinking w eLearningu (Letnia Szkoła eLearningu 2018)

Cześć! Jeśli trafiliście tutaj z podkastu Letniej Szkoły eLearningu 2018, to cieszę się, że zainteresowałam Was tematem design thinking! Fajnie, że chcecie więcej. Jeśli nie trafiliście tutaj z podkastu, ale z innego źródła – nic to! Też Was witam, bo…
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So you brainstormed… now what?

Well, there you are. You’ve just run a successful (or was it… buahahaha [insert evil laugh]) brainstorming session (and you can read about my semi-hatred towards brainstorming, just click here, lol) that saw no arguments, no bias, but tons of…
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Brainstorming SUCKS. Is there something better?

Well, OK, „SUCKS” in all caps might be a strong word. But there, I said it: I do not like brainstorming, almost „hate it with the fire of a thousand suns.” This widely used technique, advertised and encouraged by the…
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Design Thinking Week 2014 (1st edition), Krakow

The year I started my adventure with design thinking was the first year that Design Thinking Week was organized, and not only in Krakow but many cities across Poland.
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soap! conf 2017 – the only techcomm conference in Krakow

When I started my adventure with tech there wasn’t a lot of events happening for people who were interested in technical communication, online solutions, or technology business. Hell, back then the word start-up existed only in Silicone Valley (even though…
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Design thinking – this is where it starts!

Have you ever had that moment in your life when you think, „Hmm, maybe there’s more…?” Yes, that one! I had a few of them, one of them being my first workshop devoted to the the-unknown design thinking methodology, given…
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