GID Lab in Review: Spring 2025

In Spring quarter 2025, the UW Tacoma Global Innovation and Design (GID) Lab hosted seven community design thinking workshops for clients in business, healthcare, non-profit, and social justice sectors, as well as the Tri-Campus NextGen Civic Leader Corps Community of Practice. 

First 5 Fundamentals

On March 18, First 5 Fundamentals Executive Director Maile Hadley and staff, advisory board members, and community partners gathered in the GID Lab for two back-to-back workshops using the design cycle to refine their organizational infrastructure and partnership support.

Multiple rounds of ideation and prioritization followed the abductive model of reasoning which places “value” as the first step in the problem-solving process. The group produced a “North Star” and three prototypes for iteration.

The workshops were facilitated by Dr. Divya McMillin and Drew Bamford, CEO of Studio Bamford. Assisting from the GID Lab were Program Coordinator Maria Babko, IIGE Program Administrator Sarah Newell, Web Developer Sanjay Vuppugandla, and intern Cathy Jackson.

UW CoLab for Community and Behavioral Health Policy

In early April, the GID Lab embarked on a series of three workshops with UW CoLab for Community and Behavioral Health Policy help reimagine structures and operations to better support staff and clients.

Over the first two workshops in the GID Lab, the leadership team shared and deepened knowledge of core operations and prepared a point of entry for the staff team to co-design prototypes to accommodate modalities of work and reimagine workflows. The final workshop took the GID Lab on the road to the UW Tower for a packed and exciting session.  Staff members engaged in cycles ideation, prioritization, prototyping, and feedback. 

The workshops were facilitated by Dr. Divya McMillin and Drew Bamford, CEO of Studio Bamford. Assisting from the GID Lab were Program Coordinator Maria Babko and IIGE Managing Director Saralyn Smith.

Institute for Black Justice Thrive Center

A hallmark of equitable community engagement is the ability to build and sustain long-term partnerships, such as that between the GID Lab and the Institute for Black Justice (IBJ). The GID Lab has had the opportunity to partner with IBJ since its inception in 2021, facilitating design thinking workshops through its visionary interventions in key community areas of need. On April 18, IBJ founder Carol Mitchell and key stakeholders gathered once again at the GID Lab (in-person and via Zoom) for two design thinking workshops to build on past work and build a stronger foundation for its current project. 

Participants brainstormed ideas using sticky notes, markers, whiteboards and virtual tools. Iteration of prototypes marked a significant difference in the IBJ project compared to other community clients, with its advantage of engaging the GID Lab for the long term. Participants valued the centering of voices and codesign of programs with users and those in most need. While physical prototypes are usually made from items like yarn, wood, pipe cleaners and even sponges, the hybrid nature of this workshop meant the virtual participants made their prototype on Miro using colorful pictures, icons, shapes, words, and drawings to get their idea across. All workshops provide a tremendous learning opportunity for interns who assist with hospitality, note-taking, photographing, and in the case of the IBJ project, tech assistance for the remote participants. 

The workshops were facilitated by Dr. Divya McMillin. Assisting from the GID Lab were Program Coordinator Maria Babko, IIGE Managing Director Saralyn Smith, and interns Jack Cheung, Primitivo Bambao, and Káren Bedoya Álvarez.

The GID Lab staff thanks all its partners for entrusting its team with the discovery and design process. We extend a special thank you to our wonderful GID Lab Interns and other IIGE staff for their incredible support across workshops.