Navigating the transition to an art and design college can seem so daunting for most Chinese high-school students, that their families often hire an educational agency or consultant to guide them through the process. By some estimates, educational consulting in China is a booming industry – bringing in more than half a billion dollars a year. Yet in the midst of regular portfolio development courses, english tutorials and career consulting sessions, most high-school students, are still unable to discover their true sense of direction and purpose in life.

The New York Creativity Odyssey (NYCO) is an educational start-up, working to empower college-bound students who are interested in pursuing careers in art and design - by providing them with an opportunity to fuel their creativity, and the necessary tools to unlock their potential, define their goals and achieve their dreams.

Established in 2015, NYCO offers 14-day intensive programs to pre-college students from China and Taiwan. The program combines four immersive learning modules of Explore, Learn, Create and Discover, into the unique art and design context of New York City. Along with guided tours of the city, students visit renowned art and design colleges and companies, and receive intensive portfolio development training and personalized career counseling. By teaching participants the most relevant of 21st century skills - from critical thinking, creative problem solving, collaboration, and effective communication; NYCO also provides them with an opportunity to learn a human-focused, prototype driven design process that cultivates enthusiastic leaders, creative thinkers and collaborative doers.

How might we empower prospective art and design pre-college students to use their personal skills and knowledge to navigate their career options, make an informed choice and develop a roadmap for the future?

Stated in simple terms, we wanted our service offering to go beyond merely providing career based information to college-bound students, and instead design a service that would prepare them to triumph in todays' complex 21st century world. Through extensive on-site research we realized that the student's creative potential is bright, but their options for self discovery and expressing that potential is often limited.

Creative skills are increasingly being recognized as the skills that separate individuals who are prepared for increasingly complex lives in the 21st century, and those who are not. Design education teaches students to be creative, but also teaches them how to put it to practical use and produce results. Most importantly, it teaches methodologies for many of the academic and life skills of the twenty-first century. Our program therefore focussed on teaching creative skills to high-school students using the human-centered design approach, a methodology that is an integral part not only of the student's learning process, but also in the design of the NYCO program itself.

The NYCO program is endorsed by the Transdisciplinary Design program at Parsons School of Design, and our 14-day intensive programs are conducted at the Parsons campus in New York City.

PROBLEM DEFINITION

"My dream is to study design in the U.S. I am trying very hard to convince my parents, but they are unconvinced. They often ask me a lot of questions, to which I don't have the answers, like - What is the future of design? Is it a safe profession to consider? Do designers earn enough money? What work will you do as a designer?" - Yi Kai Chen, 18, high-school student from Hangzhou, China.

Kai is an only child, whose parents want him to take on the family business. Unsure about his options, Kai has for the last 2 years been preparing simultaneously for Gao-Kao, China's National College Entrance Exam, and the SAT. He has also been attending art class at a portfolio agency, english class at a coaching centre and regular meetings with a career consultant.

Navigating the transition to an art and design college can seem so intimidating that most Chinese family hire an education consultant. But in the midst of tutoring lessons, Kai, like most high-school students from China, is still unable to discover his true sense of direction and purpose in life.

RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

By some estimates, educational consulting in China is a booming industry – bringing in more than half a billion dollars a year. Our partner organization in China, Tangora Communications, commissioned a research of the Art and Design Education Market in China. The research was conducted in Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou. The methodology included 1. 600 face-to-face interviews with students 2. Consumer focus group discussion with 1 parent and 1 student group 3. Interviews with 10 industry experts 4. Visit to key market players 5. Secondary research of reports and government statistics.

We began by outlining the gap between the students expectations and the service provided by educational agencies. Our research findings helped us develop insights to better understand and define the problem.

OPPORTUNITY

How might we empower prospective art and design pre-college students to use their personal skills and knowledge to navigate their career options, make an informed choice and develop a roadmap for the future?

We wanted to go beyond merely providing career based information to students, and instead prepare them to triumph in todays' world, by helping develop their sense of direction and purpose. Empowering students would begin by guiding them through a journey of self-discovery, and providing them with the tools to make an informed choice.

Our Mission: We work to ensure every individual's success in this complex 21st century world.

We then created 5 core goals to guide our project - working to develop a unique service offering specifically for college-bound students interested in art and design careers.

Our 5 core goals:

1. To prepare students to triumph in the global skills race by teaching them the necessary and relevant 21st century skills

2. To create a safe learning environment, where students can increase their self awareness and discover their unique purpose in life

3. To introduce students to the fundamentals of the human-centered design process through real world challenges and hands-on training

4. To provide career guidance and mentorship by helping students navigate their career options and develop a roadmap for the future.

5. To create an inspiring and enjoyable New York City experience, by exposing students to the diverse art and design resources and culture.

OUR STRATEGY

Creative skills are being recognized as the skills that separate individuals who are prepared for increasingly complex lives in the 21st century, and those who are not. Design education teaches students to be creative, put it to practical use and produce results. Our program would therefore offer an innovative program for students who are interested in being empowered through design - teaching students how to unlock their creative potential through design thinking and collaboration.

OUR SOLUTION - NYCO

The New York Creativity Odyssey (NYCO) is an educational start-up, working to empower college-bound students who are interested in pursuing careers in art and design - by providing them with an opportunity to fuel their creativity, and the necessary tools to unlock their potential, define their goals and achieve their dreams.

NYCO OVERVIEW

Established in 2015, NYCO offers 14-day intensive programs to pre-college students from China and Taiwan. The program combines four immersive learning modules of Explore, Learn, Create and Discover, into the unique art and design context of New York City. Along with guided tours of the city, students visit renowned art and design colleges and companies, and receive intensive portfolio development training and personalized career counseling.

By teaching students the most relevant of 21st century skills - from critical thinking, creative problem solving, collaboration, and effective communication; NYCO also provides participants with an opportunity to learn a human-focused, prototype driven design process that cultivates enthusiastic leaders, creative thinkers and collaborative doers.

WHAT THEY'LL DO

Participants work collaboratively in teams of 2-4 members each, mentored by NYCO instructors and guest experts, to complete the training through real world design challenges and hands-on training. In this program, participants will:

Explore - Experience New York City through guided tours with experts, and be inspired by the vast art and design resources - from museums, art galleries, shows, events and public spaces. Some activities: Museums and Galleries - MoMA, Cooper Hewitt, Chelsea Galleries; Shows and Events - Broadway Show, Sleep No More; Shopping - boutique stores in SoHo; Public Spaces - The High Line, Grand Central Station, Brooklyn Bridge

Learn - Learn critical thinking and creative problem solving methodologies, and work collaboratively in teams to conduct research, develop insights, learn the art of ideation and practice rapid prototyping. Some activities: Design Research - Observation, Documentation and Interviews; Insights - Mood Board, User Journey Map, 5 Why's Exercise; Ideation - Clustering; Prototyping - Rapid and Refined

Create - Transform unconventional thinking into impressive work, by building a NYCO project portfolio, and utilize storytelling and effective communication tools and methods to craft a compelling final presentation for design experts. Some activities: Portfolio Development - Format, Content, Organization; Effective Presentation - Pitch Deck, Story Arc, Storytelling

Discover - Visit renowned art and design companies and colleges, and increase self awareness by identifying personal strengths and weaknesses, and discover ideal career options through personalized career counseling and mentorship. Some activities: College and Company Tour - Parsons School of Design, Pratt Institute, Design and Innovation Companies; Career Exploration and Development - Personality Test, Self Discovery and Awareness, One-on-one Consulting

WHAT THEY'LL GET

- A guidebook with the program overview, activities and resources

- A certificate of completion for participants, and a reference letter for outstanding students

- A detailed personalized report summarizing the student's strengths and potential career paths (add-on package)

- A personal portfolio designed by the student, of creative works completed during the NYCO program

RESULTS AND VALUE

"NYCO's creative coding session allowed me to see the latest trend in creative industry. I have decided to pursue interaction design. Thank you NYCO. I found my path through this program." - Kai, High-School Student, and NYCO Program participant

Based on what we observed from our participants, as well as feedback we received, we understood what works & what improvements could be made.

Our project creates value for the student, by:

- Preparing them to triumph in the world, by teaching them the relevant 21st century skills

- Helping increase their self awareness, by discovering their unique purpose in life

- Navigating their career options, and developing a roadmap for the future

- Creating an inspiring and enjoyable New York City experience

- Helping them to effectively communicate their career options and interests with others

OUR TEAM AND APPROACH

Timeline

Field Research: February - March 2015

Synthesize Findings and Develop Insights: April 2015

Generate and Refine Ideas: April 2015

Develop Design and Prototype: May - June 2015

Design Test: NYCO Summer Program (July 19 - August 01, 2015)

Reflect and Evaluate: August 2015

Evolve Design and Prototype: November 2015 - January 2016

Design Test: NYCO Winter Program (February 10 - 23, 2016)

Reflect and Evaluate: March 2016

Nelson's (Founder of NYCO) initial interest in this problem was sparked by conversations with creative professionals from China. He then designed the program in partnership with fellow MFA Transdisciplinary Design alumni from Parsons School of Design - a program that works to address complex problems by turning them into design possibilities, using a systems-oriented approach to social innovation and service design.

We partnered with Tangora Communications, a brand strategy firm based in Shanghai, to create the NYCO. Based in New York City and Shanghai, the NYCO team consists of professionals with diverse experiences, including talented educators, service designers, community development experts, architects, filmmakers and more. The NYCO team used a human-centered design methodology and service design tools to understand and define the problem, propose a solution and ultimately implement the project.

Our program is endorsed by the Transdisciplinary Design program at Parsons School of Design, and our 14-day intensive programs are conducted at the Parsons campus in New York City. Having successfully completed two batches of the training program, we are currently conducting info sessions for our Summer Program, scheduled for July - August 2016.