Phase 2 Recap

Equipped with the design constraints and point of view developed in Phase 1, the Phase 2 Design Team distilled 100 Big Ideas, 30 common features, and 30 common benefits into a handful of prototypes. Those raw, unedited ideas can be found here: PDF of PPT.

This document provides the raw, unedited prototypes created by the Phase 2 Design Team. At the end of Phase 2, these prototypes were tested for resonance and clarity with small groups of faculty, staff and students. The testing revealed there was great promise in identifying the most compelling parts of each prototype, and reconfiguring those into a single, stronger Big Idea.

As a result, the Think Big rethought Phase 3 process. It quickly reconfigured the prototypes into 33 distinct ideas to be presented to the university community:

  • 13 Outcomes: What are the results we are looking for?
  • 12 Delivery Mechanisms: What is the space, concept, program, etc., that delivers the outcome?
  • 8 Enacted Behaviors: What are the behaviors that the WMU community will need to enact if we are to be successful?

Review the 33 ideas presented to the campus community in Phase 3 here: PDF of testing cards

A note about culture

Early in Phase 2, the design team determined that cultural change is a necessary condition if the Big Idea is to be successful. Initial thoughts about how to enhance the WMU culture is presented in the Team Waldo section at the end of raw, unedited prototypes. These ideas were crafted into the 8 possible Enacted Behaviors that were presented to campus in Phase 3.

In spring 2019, the University also conducted the WMyou Employee Engagement survey. Inquiries about culture were also included in the faculty and staff portion of the Think Big marketing research.

Creating a positive and productive culture is a top priority for WMU leadership.

 

Phase 3 Recap