Tikissä

Author is a design thinking enthusiast and a service designer, who has designed, organised or taken part in three different types of innovation events: Hackathons, Service Jams, and Design Sprints. These topics are covered in the subsequent parts of this series, they can be read in any order. Find the introduction post on Tikissä. So, you may have wondered what is the difference between a Hackathon, a Jam, and a Design Sprint? These words swirl around with an assumption that people know what they are and what the difference is. All three of these events are what I would call innovative learning by doing events. They all require a new way of thinking and working and they will all have the participants learning at an intense rate. Service Jams were the very first of this type of event that I was introduced to back in 2014 and it was mind-expanding. The very fact that we could go from no team, no idea (even less than a blank sheet of paper) to a whole service or product concept that we could demonstrate and explain within two days, was almost like magic. It introduced me to the concept of “serious play”. With this in mind, let’s look at what service jams as an intensive learning by doing events can offer to participants. When a hackathon is really a Jam There are many events that people end up calling hackathons. Lots of times this is done for a few reasons: Hackathon is a very trendy word and it makes their event sound cool and edgy or, the person has only heard of hackathons. But not all of these events are Hackathons. In this article we explore an event that would be called a Jam or a Service Jam. A Jam, in this context, like the Global Service Jam, is an event that is based on service design methodology to encourage collaborative service development/co-creation. The goal is to learn the service design methodology while participating in a hands-on, less talking and more doing process. Therefore, a Jam is not a competition as such, it is more of a community-building event. Often these are 2-3-day events run over a weekend so that anyone can participate. These can also have a competitive element to them but it is more about the process than the outcome. Why Jam? One of the founders of the Global Service Jam, Adam St. Lawrence, has stated that the desired outcome of a Jam is “more innovators rather than more innovations”. When I think of a Jam, I am thinking of a bunch of people coming together to create something that they could not have created on their own. Jams are not as well known as Hackathons, and it is perfectly possible that someone who is using a Jam approach is still calling what they are doing a Hackathon. In my mind, there is a difference but it isn’t one that is worth arguing over. Some people call events Hackathons because that name is recognisable or because it is cool. And to be honest, they are more similar than they are different. But here I want to explore the Jam as its own kind of event because they can be quite different in some fundamental ways. So the most famous, and possibly the only, Jams come from the organisation Global Jams. Global Jams was initiated by Markus Hormess and Adam Lawrence of WorkPlayExperience back in 2011. There are now 3 Jams that are administered by Global Jams - Global Service Jam, Global Gov Jam, and Global Sustainability Jam. Each of these is held at different times of the year on an annual basis and may have slightly different formats. How Jams work? Jams are an intense, time-bound co-creation event based on design thinking and service design methodologies. This event is intended to be low on talking and high on doing and it is highly possible that you will see posters or badges or t-shirts that say “Doing Not Talking”. You have just 48 hours to go from no idea to prototype with a team of people you just met (Global Gov Jams can take longer and be placed mid-week so that government employees can incorporate it into their workweek). During the event, the organisers will weave in short teaching moments that will guide you step-by-step in the service design process as you need them (not all at once). This is incremental knowledge through the 48 hours to keep you on pace and to keep you moving forward. It is this knowledge that will help you tackle the secret theme - a secret that is kept until the official unveiling. What are the outcomes? There are some fundamental outcomes to learn that you can move a project forward far faster than you ever imagined - by getting you to engage an entrepreneurial mindset to teach more people about the service design process to build something that you could not have built alone a willingness to experiment to meet and work new people almost the most important thing, is to have fun! One way to sum this up is going back to the quote “the Jam is about making innovators and not innovations”. How teams are created? One of the few rules of the Jam is that you should only bring an open mind...not a team, not an idea, or even a plan. Teams are only created at the event after it starts. Once the theme has been revealed, teams can be organised around ideas presented by individual participants. What skills are needed? As you are not expected to bring anything with you, there are no specific skills needed to participate in a Jam. The only ‘skills’ you need to have is an open mind along with a willingness to learn, experiment, and co-create. What makes the best Jam teams? “The best teams” are quite subjective. As mentioned above, a Jam is not necessarily a competition, it is more of a community-building event. It is suggested by the organisers that if you are going to have prizes that they can be for things not related to ‘hard outcomes’ such as the actual solution. They will be more along the line of “best team spirit” or funny ones such as “most wall space used” or “most props used”. What connections are made? There are so many people to connect with at a Jam. There are your new teammates that you will intensively work with, there also might be fun breaks worked into the schedule where you interact with others at the event, and then there will be the mentors and the organisers. Where would you find a Service Jam? A Service Jam is really handy for teaching the service design process or design thinking methodology. It is a learning-by-doing experience where that is the main objective. This can also be used as an approach to try out a design challenge. This can be used as a standalone event. The Global Service Jam (globaljams.org) and the sister events GovJam and Sustainability Jam are usually held over 3 or 4 days, depending on who the target audience is. Author Pamela Spokes works as a Service Designer in Metropolia’s RDI team. Originally from Canada, Pamela has years of experience in university admin focusing on international recruitment, marketing, and the international student/staff experience. With a Bachelor’s from Canada, a Master’s degree from Sweden, an MBA in Service Innovation & Design from Laurea, and her AmO from Haaga-Helia, she is interested in purposefully designed experiences that are centred around the user. Don’t be surprised if she knocks on your door to talk about learning co-creation methods through intensive learning experiences. Are you wanting to teach or learn these skills? Could you use this in a project or a course that you are a part of? A service jam is a soft landing in the intense innovation learning-by-doing event. You can reach out and ask for advice. I am happy to hear from you!

Author is a design thinking enthusiast and a service designer, who has designed, organised or taken part in three different types of innovation events: Hackathons, Service Jams, and Design Sprints. These topics are covered in the subsequent parts of this series, they can be read in any order. Hackathons, Service Jams, and Design Sprints are design methods and innovative learning-by-doing events. They aim to produce new, innovative solutions to identified challenges such as “Creating Stronger Communities” or “AI and Working Life” and to teach modern methods of problem solving. Regardless of the chosen method, all three are great ways to engage participants in a useful and mutually beneficial way. All three require a new way of thinking and working and they will all have the participants learning at an intense rate. It is also important to note that intense learning-by-doing experiences can shift and change to meet the needs of the problem at hand. So, let’s look at what these intensive events can offer in an educational environment to participants, teachers, and companies. Entrepreneurial Mindset The first thing that is required by everyone involved in any of these events is an entrepreneurial mindset or an interest in developing one. This mindset includes things like valuing and enhancing creativity increased tolerance towards uncertainty a higher willingness to take risks being intrinsically motivated through curiosity and, very importantly, a willingness to accept failure as not only a valid outcome but viewing it as a learning experience. During the event, the participants will be practicing and enhancing this mindset as well as learning new tools and methods for problem-solving. In essence, they will be reinforcing the entrepreneurial mindset by learning tools and methods that allow them to use it in the future. This means that each group involved - the teacher, the participant, and the company representative - has to be open to and to embrace this way of working. Teachers have to allow and encourage curiosity, uncertainty, creativity, and even failure as a viable option. Same with companies. This can be a challenge. For teachers, it can also be hard to grade. This is why the European Union has created an assessment framework for the entrepreneurial mindset - EntreComp. All participants welcome One of the most important aspects of co-creation and innovative learning events is that they include and bring together participants from different disciplines. This allows for different lived experiences, knowledge, skillsets, and other things that enhance learning to come together. This in itself is a learning experience for participants who have not worked on a project with someone outside their area of interest or expertise. Following a set framework These methods of learning-by-doing are guided by a framework that is both flexible and modern. While the students are working in teams with the challenge-providing companies, everyone is able to follow where they are in the process and what is expected of them next. This allows the companies to feel secure that their time is not being wasted or that it is not too chaotic to follow. While the participants are learning and using a reusable set of methods that they can apply elsewhere once the event is over. The teacher also has a framework which to base learning progress and assessment on. However, none of these events is set in stone. That is not the purpose of this type of learning. It is quite the opposite of the intention. Having an open mind is the number one requirement for any innovative co-creation methods and processes. Being able to use these methodologies and to embody an entrepreneurial mindset package of behaviours and attitudes is what will propel individuals and teams forward to take on the challenges of the future. Some parts of a process may be shorter or longer depending on the information available. You may have research already that you can draw on so the research segment is shortened, etc. You may find it hard to reach real customers to test your prototype on so that needs to be extended to meet their schedules. Where to find intense innovative learning events When you read the other posts, you will see that in each of these types of events, we looked at the intended outcomes, how they are conducted, how good teams are created, what kind of connections are made, and how they might look for in the education field. It is important to note upfront that for each of these kinds of events, there are multiple learning outcomes, some overlapping and some exclusive. In other words, while the events are different in many ways, they can also blur into each other at times. The next question becomes, where can you find these events? These events come in many different shapes and sizes. You can find these in: Credit-bearing classes Private companies In-house events at companies and organisations Competitions Paid for events Free events Events that pay the participants There are so many ways to access these events and if you are thinking about running one of these events, it is probably best to try one as a participant first. The best way to understand the value of this intensive experience is to be involved. How to find this kind of event at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences? If you are interested in getting involved in an intensive learning event, then you can check out the 10 Days 100 Challenges design sprint that takes place in the end of May or beginning of June and coordinated by the 3AMK team in the Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) unit. This event brings together students and teachers of Metropolia, Laurea, and Haaga-Helia. It also allows a variety of students to work with real companies and demonstrate what they are capable of. As a service designer who has organised and run this kind of event multiple times, I can say that participants almost always come out of these experiences changed in some way. Author Pamela Spokes works as a Service Designer in Metropolia’s RDI team. Originally from Canada, Pamela has years of experience in university admin focusing on international recruitment, marketing, and the international student/staff experience. With a Bachelor’s from Canada, a Master’s degree from Sweden, an MBA in Service Innovation & Design from Laurea, and her AmO from Haaga-Helia, she is interested in purposefully designed experiences that are centred around the user. Don’t be surprised if she knocks on your door to talk about learning co-creation methods through intensive learning experiences.