Learn and unlearn.
Hey there!
Sunny October greetings to you all. TGIF – and here’s a new issue of our newsletter just for you 🙌
Today, we’ll skip the AI experiments and instead lift the curtain and show you some more of our recent work. And we kindly invite you to join our study group so we can learn and grow together.
Let’s go!
Case: XING Innovation Camp × PONDER 💡✨
We last shared project work in June, so the next round is more than due. This time, we’d like to talk about our collaboration with XING.
XING is the leading professional network in German-speaking countries – similar to LinkedIn, but focusing more on “job orientation” and not just networking.
Our assignment: Help improve (and extend) XING’s product to become more valuable to younger audiences.
We know: If you want to improve your product, it is usually quite helpful to talk (and listen) to your target audience.
The basic approach would be to set up an online survey or interview some users. Or you could actually bring in the target audience and co-create new ideas with them. The latter is what we did.
So last month, Caro and Peter took the train to Hamburg to run a two-day “Innovation Camp” with a dynamic group of graduates and young professionals.
The question to solve: How can we help graduates and young professionals to …
- … discover what makes them happy in their careers?
- … find a job that offers them exactly that?
Based on a “best of” combination of Design Thinking and tried and tested Design Sprint methodologies, the workshop ran over two intensive days (instead of the usual 4-5).
First, the participants conducted interviews to explore user needs and translated those needs into tangible product ideas. Then, they transformed the most promising ideas into prototypes and presented those in front of a sizeable audience of XING leadership and product experts.
The outcome: exhausted but happy participants 😅 and an inspired audience.
We won’t share particular ideas at this point. Still, we’re excited for them to become a reality in future product updates.
By the way, our role went beyond running the workshop. It extended to many aspects of the project:
- Translate internal needs and strategy into the initial approach
- Map out the ideal participant profiles & support recruiting
- Develop a bespoke 2-day sprint format & all required methods and worksheets
- Facilitate internal communication around the initiative
- Lead the 2-day workshop
- Derive insights about the target group represented by the participants
We could go on and talk a lot more about this project, but (as they say) maybe we should leave off with an appetite.
Still want to know more? Or are you interested in running your own design sprint? Just drop Caro a message!
Pushing for Change: Become a Tech Steward! 👩🏻✈️💻
A while back (July), we introduced “All Tech is Human”. This week, their newsletter pointed us to an interesting learning opportunity: The Tech Stewardship Practice Program.
It is a 12hrs self-paced online course for anyone interested in “helping bend the arc of technology towards benefit for all”.
This may sound a bit stilted, but basically, it is about two simple questions:
- How can I develop a better awareness of the impact of technology (and my work with it) on society and the planet?
- How can I adapt my behaviours so that I contribute to positive development in the future?
As you might have guessed, these questions very much resonate with what drives our thinking at PONDER.
So, of course, we immediately signed up – and would like to invite you to join us!
The course is entirely free and still open for enrolment.
⏱ But you have to be quick: Signups close by the end of today.
“change is coming, but not without you!”
PS: Recently trying to develop a healthier relationship with LinkedIn; we’re absolutely not in it for the “Micro-Credential”, – but it might be a good excuse to free up some time in your busy work schedule.
Background: What is Tech Stewardship?Around the time of the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal, a coalition of diverse engineers, technologists and creators began meeting about how we can ensure that tech benefits all. Out of these conversations, they developed Tech Stewardship as professional identity, orientation and practice. The goal is to continuously discuss, refine and imagine new ways to shape technology towards positive outcomes for all. |
Weekend send-off
As a regular reader, you know what’s next – our inspirational weekend send-off.
After a bit of behind-the-scenes info and a bit of “homework”, we have some reading material for you to enjoy this weekend (maybe after coming home from a pleasant autumn stroll?):
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BOOK: Unlearn Just two years after their legendary “Starting a Revolution”, Naomi Ryland and Lisa Jaspers published another equally important book (this time, with Silvie Horch).
“Unlearn Patriarchy” is about challenging all those deeply internalised patterns and notions that we have previously taken for granted and now stand in the way of progress and true equality. Disclaimer: Despite the English title, this book is currently only available in German. What’s left to say: Go ahead and buy a copy at your local bookstore! |
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That’s it. Read you again in a month — or drop us a message whenever you feel like it!
Tschüss,
Your friends at Ponder
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