Maira Kalman wrote and illustrated a book about democracy. It has pictures of pie, Abraham Lincoln, and this girl (below) at a student council meeting. At the meeting, students discuss being role models. Kalman notes, “Some children couldn’t take the pressure, so they quit. Some have found it boring. Not this girl. Not at all.”
Image by Maira Kalman via New York Times
It’s a tidy snapshot of personas. (Kalman observed. Interviewed. Jotted down prevalent attitudes.) Now imagine making a site to promote role-modeling (awesome site, right?). The ‘girl’ is already there. But how to remove ‘the pressure’ and heighten the excitement for the quitters? That’s design thinking right there.