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Currently no tool exists to promote work done by architecture students. Master of Architecture Urbanism asked me to have the students design a solution
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Architecture and product design are vey closely related so it turned out to be a smooth process, having the students craft a platform using Figma
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I applied the Design Sprint structure and had them design the basic setup and test it eventually
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The students learned a lot from setting this up. It was informative to the schools leadership. Tests showed the concepts were valuable.
A Design Sprint with Architecture Students at MAU.
Exposure for talent.
At MAU, I guided a group of architecture students in designing a digital product. MAU asked me to work with the students to develop a concept for an online platform to showcase their work. We had six days, which I structured according to the five steps of a Design Sprint, ending with a class presentation on the final day. Here follows a brief, light-hearted journey through the sprint..
Day 1: Understanding
Students can easily create a portfolio using existing platforms, but MAU wanted something that represented the school as a whole. Why? Because students' work is created within the context of a class and a school. Who are your classmates? Who are your tutors? An individual website misses that context. We started the sprint by exploring what already existed and what was missing. The fifteen students were divided into teams because, well, teamwork makes the dream work (and I couldn't handle evaluating 15 different versions without going a bit mad).
Day 2: Define
I wanted the students not only to be conceptual architects but also to learn how to conduct user research. Who is your user? What platforms already exist? What works well, and what doesn’t? They analysed user journeys of existing platforms and gathered everything in FigJam. The conclusion? A portfolio isn't just about a collection of works; it's about the story you tell, and that was often missing in existing solutions.
Day 3: Ideation
Four teams set to work on coming up with solutions. Two directions: one group looked at how they could use everything that already existed (using duct tape and creativity to fill in the gaps), and the other group focused on what didn’t exist yet. It was an enlightening exercise in understanding what’s possible, what’s already there, and what could be improved. Spoiler: both groups ended up with a healthy appreciation for the limitations of existing tools.
Day 4: Decide
After lots of post-its, discussions, and a few more cups of coffee than were probably good for them, the teams chose their best idea. No blank canvas, but working with what’s already there. The students learned to make choices, and that not everything needs to be designed from scratch (even architects can reuse things wisely sometimes).
Day 5: Prototyping & testing
Prototyping day! And yes, it didn’t come naturally to architecture students. Instead of building a cardboard model, they worked in digital tools to create a functional prototype. No time for perfectionism—just make it! The atmosphere? A mix of mild panic and genuine curiosity.
Day 6: Presenting
On the final day, the teams presented their concepts to each other and to some tutors. The results showed just how far you can get in six days: a concept for a platform that provides context for the students' work, makes their classmates and tutors visible, and approaches the architecture of a digital product in a systematic way. And yes, the tutors saw the potential!
MAU
