Learn Design Thinking in 30 minutes: Origami Gift Exercise

Learn Design Thinking in 30 minutes: Origami Gift Exercise

Here’s a rapid Design Thinking practice exercise that I do in my training sessions. It’s really simple. You pair up in buddies and by gifting each other an origami craft, you can go through the full empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test stages in just 30 minutes.

Origami Gift Exercise

  • Form pairs
  • Take turns interviewing each other; learn who your neighbor is, what they like, aspire etc. (Empathize)
  • Your gift to your neighbor will be something that represents them. What makes her/him/them special? Think of values, characters and other unique things about them. (Define)
  • Ideate what kind of paper craft you can build to represent that something about your neighbor. (Ideate)
  • Build your paper craft (Prototype)
  • Exchange the gifts and tell what you built, and the story behind it. (Test)

It’s a great introductory exercise to experience Design Thinking, so find someone nearby and give it a try. It’ll be fun and pleasant for both you and your experiment partner.

  • Join the Mental Model Dōjō Learning Community

    Upcoming Community Forums

    Post COVID Reflections on Teamwork: Synchronous & Asynchronous Communication

    Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing of Agile Teams

    Community Sign-Up

    Join our Mental Model Dōjō learning community and receive Knowledge Base and YouTube channel updates and invitations to community events.

    Joining the the Mental Model Dōjō learning community is free. Agile Organization Development, managed by Lifecycle Pte. Ltd., is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy, and we’ll only use your personal information to administer your account and to provide the products and services you requested from us. From time to time, we would like to contact you about our products and services, as well as other content that may be of interest to you. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For more information on how to unsubscribe, our privacy practices, and how we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy, please review our Privacy Policy. By clicking submit, you consent to allow Lifecycle Pte. Ltd. to store and process the personal information submitted.

Follow Coach Takeshi:

Takeshi Yoshida, Founder & Chief Coach, Agile Organization Development

About Agile OD: We are a tribe of learning professionals that help organzations succeed in change, transformation, innovation | Coach Takeshi bio & credentials