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DEW2026 - Halifax

Athena’s Playground – Group 2

HFX26_Valentin -

Design Thinking Workshop in Halifax, Nova Scotia

Our Group! From left to right: Tiago, Valentin, Simon, Marrick, Martino (we had to edit in Martino because he was not there the first day)

Working on Real-World Challenges

As part of a Design Thinking Workshop in Halifax, Nova Scotia, our team worked on developing innovative solutions for a local project using the Design Thinking process: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test.

Participants could choose between two exciting projects:

  • Athena’s Playground – An online learning platform that helps adults explore new hobbies and skills in a supportive, judgment-free environment.
  • Dada Dunia – A social enterprise creating ethical remote work opportunities for African women while connecting businesses with talented professionals.

Our team chose to work with Athena’s Playground.

First notes we took after getting briefed to both projects

Learning Through Design Thinking

To understand the Design Thinking process, we attended lectures and workshops covering key concepts such as:

  • Empathy Mapping
  • Brainstorming
  • Mind Mapping
  • The Walt Disney Method
  • Personas
  • Scrum

These methods helped us better understand user needs and generate creative solutions.

Agile Teamwork in Action

Throughout the project, we applied agile methodologies to organize our work and collaborate effectively. We used:

  • Sprint Planning
  • Scrum Boards
  • Kanban Workflows
  • Retrospectives

These tools helped our team stay organized, adapt quickly, and continuously improve our work.

International Collaboration

One of the most valuable aspects of the project was working in an interdisciplinary and international team. Collaborating with Canadian students from different cultural and professional backgrounds brought diverse viewpoints and encouraged creative problem-solving.

Our mindmap for Athena’s Playground after deciding to work on their project

Developing Prototypes

Working closely with Athena’s Playground, we identified real challenges and developed concepts and technical prototypes to address them. Combining IT-focused solutions with ideas from our Canadian classmates allowed us to explore both technical and non-technical perspectives.

Prototyping Athena’s front end to fit their goal of making learning more accessible for beginners

Presenting Our Results

At the end of the workshop, we presented our findings and prototype at a project fair hosted by NSCC. Faculty members, project leaders, and stakeholders attended the event, giving us the opportunity to showcase our process, ideas, and solutions.

 

 

 

Reflection

This project strengthened our skills in Design Thinking, Scrum, project management, teamwork, communication, and problem-solving. It also provided valuable experience working in an international environment and presenting ideas to a professional audience.

Most importantly, it demonstrated how diverse teams can work together to create meaningful, user-centered solutions for real-world challenges.