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We used the protocol Crazy 8's to develop initial ideas.

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We found that with this driving question, our stakeholders were limitless! The team focused on the stakeholders they felt they would like to target the most.

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Norms the Team Created for the Best Experience!

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Norms the Team Created for the Best Experience!

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Because of the large number of important stakeholder with this driving question, students created smaller, individual empathy maps for the stakeholder they chose. They then presented what that stakeholder was saying, thinking, doing, and seeing to a small group.

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From the Crazy 8's protocol, students chose their top three ideas to share with the rest of the team. They then used dot voting to choose top ideas from Crazy 8 presentations. Each student had 4 dots and they could vote for one of their own ideas.

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We used a simplified NUFF test on the top ideas. Is each idea completely New, Usable, Feasible, and Fun? For this driving question involving furniture creation, we put more emphasis on the "new" aspect of the NUFF test. The starred ideas are those we plan on receiving feedback on from our friends at Fleetwood Furniture next week.

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Discussing ideas with their teammate at home!

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We are so so grateful to Mr. Matt, Mr. Alan, and Ms. Michelle from Fleetwood Furniture for their time and advice! Individual students and groups presented preliminary ideas to the trio and received feedback. They were given wonderful compliments and asked questions designed to deepen their thinking about their furniture.

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Students received some important advice to keep in mind as they move forward with their products. Create a problem list to help narrow what they are truly trying to solve. Also, decide what features of their furniture are essential, they should have if possible, and simply nice to have. Benchmarking was another tip to help the designers.

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Tuesday, February 12, our team headed to the CTC in Holland for feedback, revision, a tour, and fun! Groups were able to present to several high school students in various classrooms. The became more comfortable in their presenting and received very valuable feedback!

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This protocol was designed to help students work through feedback received from classroom visits.

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The team was able to learn about a variety of Careerline Tech Center offerings, including culinary, electrical, graphic design, and auto body repair.

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The team worked through some reflection questions in order to receive letters to unscramble. When they created the correct word, we received a fun goodie box to open back at DES.

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MICHIGAN DESIGN PRIZE 2026 CHALLENGE: FURNITURE
For the 2026 Michigan Design Prize Challenge, create a furniture concept that provides a solution for specific uses or problems, for individuals with unique needs, or for use in various environments (public spaces, private spaces, natural environments, business spaces, schools, industrial environments).

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We always begin our time with a quick community circle: greeting, sharing (usually tied to engineering, design, or toys!), and an activity. A Warm Wind Blows is a form of music chairs in which the kids get to know one another better.

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The kids had fun team building through a game similar to rock, paper, scissors.

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Thank you so much to our friends from Fleetwood Furniture:

Matt Marzolf, Alan Rheault, and Michelle Allard! We have been so fortunate to partner with you!

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We help students learn by creating effective learning environments

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The team explored DES, recognizing any type of furniture in different spaces, geared toward different students and adults. They noticed and questioned materials, shapes, and sizes of the furniture.

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Students interviewed stakeholders at home and at school for insight into their investigation!

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The kids were in awe of some of the clever designs they saw in this video of furniture designed for small spaces. It got them thinking about different types of problems furniture can solve.

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Genius Space Saving Ideas and Secret Storages - Smart Furniture ▶7

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Show through pictures, videos, examples of student work, and written documentation to reflect how teams were built, how students uncovered and understood the driving question, the standards covered, and the launch into the project.

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How lucky are we?!? Due to an inside connection with one of our team members, we were able to have Lindsay Henry and Abi Johns from Miller Knoll visit our team during our Feb. 10 session. They provided a different perspective to the design process, as they are on the marketing side of Miller Knoll. It was a perfect time to receive insight into how to create a successful pitch!

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I wonder how to clean it?

I wonder how to change the tread on the wheelchair?

How do you keep the Wheel Care clean and would that be hard for people on their own?

Would there be a massage component?

Storage seemed to be important!

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REFLECTION: What are you most proud of with your product?

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REFLECTION: What are you most proud of with your product?

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What are you most proud of with your product?

how we went from having all this fancy machinery to keeping it simple

how my product will reduce stress

will help people with space

we worked so hard on it

how we took it from too much stuff and toned it down

how we evolved it and were able to explain our vision and create our model

that it solved many problems

that we really thought about how it could change people's comfort

even though we weren't always together, we found ways to get along and solve it

how it was really customizable

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Also, a big THANK YOU to Lindsay Henry and Abi Johns from Miller Knoll!

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MillerKnoll Brand Collective | MillerKnoll

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MillerKnoll is a collective of dynamic brands that comes together to design the world we live in.