MS2 - Design Thinking Process Practice

1. Selected Problems

#	Problem	Brief description / justification
1	Wellness Made Fun	Usually when it comes to wellness and mental health the most difficult part comes from putting on the work to change and adapt new habits, a fun idea to make abilities and habits more palpable sounds really interesting
2	Side-Quests: Breaking out the routine	People often struggle to break out of their routines and find the motivation to try new things. They may want to explore new activities, experiences, or situations, but staying within their comfort zone feels easier and more familiar, making it hard to introduce variety and spontaneity into everyday life. Incorporating "side-quests" across multiple categories (food, art, sports, social events, nature) could encourage people to step outside their routines through a playful, game-like dynamic. As a complement, we proposed adding a calendar of events happening in Bogotá, fed by activity accounts on Instagram, so users always have access to the latest plans without needing to actively search for them.
3	Smart Food Management	Many students and young people live on their own. Because of their busy daily routines, they often don't have time to check their fridges or manage their food. We believe this is a common problem in university communities, especially for students who move from other cities to start living alone.
4	Girl Math	Not many people actually has financial education and that comes with challenges itself, girl math is a trendy way of calling a problem that many young adults come across when they star to manage their own money

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2. Interview Structure

Interview 1 - Conducted by: Juan David Gutiérrez Rodríguez

• Interviewee: Mariana Medina (university student, lives alone)
• Problem addressed: Smart Food Management
• Date / Duration: August 13th, 2026 - 10 minutes

#	Question	Purpose
1	Do you live alone or with someone else? Who usually cooks at your place?	Icebreaker / understand her context
2	What's your usual routine for grocery shopping or buying food?	Understand her current routine
3	Tell me about the last time you opened your fridge and weren't sure what you had	Detect if she experiences the "not knowing what's available" problem
4	Has it ever happened that food went bad or expired without you noticing? Tell me about that time	Validate the food expiration problem
5	When that happens, how do you feel? Are you annoyed, does it not bother you?	Explore the emotional response
6	What do you usually do when you don't know what to cook with what you have at home?	Understand how she currently solves the problem
7	Have you ever used an app, list, or notes to keep track of your food?	Find out if she already uses or has tried existing solutions
8	If you had something that warned you when food was about to expire, would you use it? Why or why not?	Validate interest in the proposed solution
9	What frustrates you the most or takes up the most time in your routine when it comes to food at home?	Trying to reveal problems not yet considered

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Interview 2 - Conducted by: Sharik Paola Galviz Meza

• Interviewee: Carolina Ceballos
• Problem addressed: Side-Quests
• Date / Duration: August 14th, 2026 - 4 minutes

#	Question	Purpose
1	What does a typical day look like for you, and how do you usually spend your free time?	Understand their routine and context
2	When was the last time you wanted to do something different from your usual routine?	Identify the need to break out of routine
3	What did you do, and how did you find that activity?	Understand how they currently discover new experiences
4	Have you ever wanted to try something but ended up not doing it? Why?	Identify barriers and frustrations
5	What usually motivates you to try a new activity?	Understand motivations
6	If you wanted to find something new to do in Bogotá, where would you look?	Identify current ways of discovering events and activities
7	Have you ever missed an event or plan because you found out about it too late?	Validate the information/discovery problem
8	Would you use an app that suggests small activities or “side-quests” based on your interests, time, or location? Why or why not?	Explore interest in the proposed concept
9	What would make you actually use an app like this regularly?	Identify key requirements and opportunities

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Interview 3 - Conducted by: Manuela Galarza

• Interviewee: Tomás Galarza
• Problem addressed: Side-Quests
• Date / Duration: August 14th - ~4 minutes

#	Question	Purpose
1	Tell me a bit about yourself: what do you do and what does your typical week look like?	Get to know the interviewee and their context
2	On a normal day, how varied would you say your routine is?	Soft entry into the topic
3	When was the last time you did something different from what you usually do? Tell me about that experience.	Check whether the problem shows up in practice
4	Would you like to do more different things than what you normally do? Why don't you do it more often?	Identify perceived barriers
5	What does it feel like when you think about stepping out of your routine?	Understand the emotional dimension
6	What holds you back the most from trying something new?	Identify root cause of the problem
7	When you do feel like doing something different, how do you find out what activities are available?	Validate the calendar/discovery complement
8	Has there ever been an event or plan you missed because you didn't find out in time?	Look for concrete evidence of the discovery problem
9	If an app suggested "challenges" or "quests" to get you out of your routine, would that appeal to you?	Validate the gamified side-quest concept
10	What categories of activities would interest you most?	Gather design input
11	If there was a calendar with the latest plans/events in Bogotá in one place, would you use it?	Validate the calendar idea
12	Is there anything else you'd like to add?	Leave room for extra insights

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Interview 4 - Conducted by: Catalina Villacris

• Interviewee: Sebastian Salazar
• Addressed problem: Girl Math
• Date / Duration: August 14 2026 - 4 minutes

#	Question	Purpose
1	How do you usually manage your spending or daily budget?	Introductory question
2	Do you usually use an application, like Excel, or do you do it mentally?	Introductory question
3	How often do you or your friends use jokes or creative reasoning to justify a purchase you knew you didn't need? Can you give me a recent example?	Exploration of the hypothesis
4	At the end of the month, have you ever been surprised to see how much you spent in total?	Impact of the problem
5	Do you think these small mental justifications affect your actual ability to save or meet long-term financial goals?	Impact of the problem
6	Did you feel stressed or guilty when you realized that the mental calculation you made did not reflect the reality of your finances?	Impact of the problem
7	If there were a digital tool or mobile app that could help you visualize the cumulative impact of these "small, justifiable expenses," would you like to use it? How would you prefer it to alert you without feeling judgmental or scolding you?	Opportunities and solutions

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Interview 5 - Conducted by: Manuela Ragua

• Interviewee: Karin Guerrero
• Addressed problem: smart food management
• Date / Duration: August 14 2026 - 4 minutes

#	Question	Purpose
1	What do you do and who do you live with?	Introductory question
2	How do you keep track of the food you have at home?	Understand her habits
3	Can you remember a situation when you forgot about some food you had at home?	Identify experiences
4	What do you do to keep track of food expiration dates?	Understand her habits
5	Have you ever had to throw away food because it expired or went bad?	Impact of the problem
6	What is the most frustrating part of managing the food you have at home?	Identify main sub-problems
7	Have you ever tried using an app, notes, or reminders to solve this problem?	current solutions and their limitations
8	How do you usually decide what you are going to eat or cook?	Understand habits
9	If there were a mobile app where you could keep track of the food you have, receive expiration notifications, and get recipe suggestions, do you think it would be useful?	Validate the solution
10	What would make you use this app regularly?	Identify factors for continued use
11	What other features would you like the app to have?	Identify user needs and opportunities

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Interview 6 - Conducted by: Daniel Reales

• Interviewee: Mateo Reales
• Addressed problem: Girl Math
• Date / Duration: August 14 2026 - 6 minutes

#	Question	Purpose
1	How do you manage to organize your personal finances and personal financial goals?	Introductory question
2	How do you budget for your expense categories?	Introductory question
3	Do you feel that you are already in control of your personal finances?	Exploration of the hypothesis
4	Do you personally feel that you run out of money or that you would use it differently?	Impact of the problem
5	What financial decisions hurt you or you feel remorse about?	Impact of the problem
6	Do you think finances are relevant for young students such as yourself?	Impact of the problem
7	What would you find compelling about a system that allows you to understand the implications of your financial decisions?	Opportunities and solutions

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3. Interview Summary

Key Excerpts

Interview 1 — Mariana Medina (Smart Food):

"Abro la nevera y hay unos tarros por ahí que ni me acuerdo qué es, entonces toca destaparlos para saber qué es." "La verdad no me da como rabia, más bien como culpa, porque uno piensa 'uy, boté comida y eso es plata perdida'."

Interview 2 — Carolina Ceballos (Side-Quests):

"Cuando siento que ya mi vida está como muy monótona, o sea como que todos mis días son iguales..." "Definitivamente [usaría la app], porque reúne todo lo que uno a veces busca en diferentes redes sociales y tenerlo en un mismo lugar facilitaría mucho las cosas."

Interview 3 — Tomás (Side-Quests):

"Mi rutina no es variada, pues lo que hago repito las mismas materias semanalmente." "Si la aplicación lo hiciera por mí, no tuviera que hacer más cosas. Sería bastante interesante."

Interview 4 — Sebastián Salazar (Girl Math):

"Compro a veces cosas que sé que no son importantes sino que son impulsivas más que nada... si veo algún saco que me gusta mucho, lo compro sin pensarlo mucho." "Con misiones tipo Duolingo, que no me ataque ni me juzgue, sino más bien que me motive a seguir intentándolo."

Interview 5 — Victoria (Smart Food):

"Lo más frustrante es no saber exactamente qué tengo en la nevera... termino comprando cosas que ya tenía." "Tendría que ser muy fácil y rápida de usar porque si tuviera que ingresar manualmente cada alimento, probablemente no la usaría."

Interview 6 — Mateo Reales (Girl Math):

"My first paycheck was like 600,000 and just went in like a 30 second purchase which hurt a lot." "I do not have a financial planner. I think it would be beneficial. I do not use it right now."

Audio Excerpts: To complement the written quotes above with verifiable audio evidence, we compiled the corresponding clips (with the question) from each interview into a single audio file, preserving the original tone and context of each response. 🎧 Listen to the compiled audio excerpts

Podcast

• 🎧 Podcast-style audio summary: Link

Full Interviews

Interviewer	Interview
Juan David	Transcript
Catalina	Audio / Transcript
Manuela Ragua	Audio / Transcript
Manuela Galarza	Audio / Transcript
Sharik Galviz	Audio / Transcript
Daniel Reales	Audio / Transcript

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4. Situations

Situations - Interview 1 (Mariana Medina)

Situation	What?	How?	Why?	Who?
1	She opens unlabeled containers in her fridge just to see what is inside.	She laughs it off as a normal annoyance instead of getting upset.	She forgets what she bought because she lacks a system to track her food.	University student living alone who is relaxed about small daily problems.
2	Sauces and yogurt stay in her fridge for too long and often expire.	She ignores the sauces until they spoil, but checks expiration dates on yogurt.	Sauces get pushed to the back, while she knows yogurt spoils much faster.	Independent student who manages her own groceries with inconsistent effort.
3	She feels guilty when she realizes her food has gone bad.	She feels regret instead of anger, seeing wasted food as wasted money.	She connects food waste to financial loss and blames herself for poor planning.	Budget conscious student living independently who feels responsible for her management.
4	She orders delivery food when she does not know what to cook.	She feels frustrated with herself for not coming up with recipe ideas.	She cannot see her ingredients clearly, so ordering delivery becomes the easiest choice.	Busy university student who chooses convenience when meal planning gets hard.

Situations - Interview 2 (Carolina Ceballos)

Situation	What?	How?	Why?	Who?
1	She spends most of her free time at home watching TV, using her phone, or reading.	She follows the same routine after spending most of the day at university.	She has very little free time, making familiar activities the easiest option.	University student with a busy schedule who spends most of her day at university.
2	She joins activities she would not normally do when she is with her student group.	She participates in plans with the group and tries new experiences with them.	Having other people around makes it easier for her to break out of her usual routine.	Social university student who enjoys trying new things but benefits from having company.
3	She often decides not to try activities she is interested in.	She avoids doing them when she cannot find someone willing to go with her.	She does not want to experience new activities alone and feels that others may not want to change their routines.	Student who wants to try new experiences but depends on having company.
4	She looks for new activities mainly through TikTok and social media.	She watches recommendations and experiences shared by other people.	She wants to escape a monotonous routine and finds it difficult when activities are far from where she lives or when she discovers events too late.	University student looking for personalized and accessible ways to discover new experiences.

Situations - Interview 3 (Tomás)

Situation	What?	How?	Why?	Who?
1	He follows nearly the same weekly schedule (university Mon-Fri, work, resting on weekends) with little variety.	He doesn't actively seek out anything different, sticking to the same subjects and routine every week.	He feels too busy and doesn't think he has time to add new things.	Busy university student who studies and works at the same time.
2	He has missed several concerts of bands he likes because he found out too late.	He relies on social media and recommendations from friends to hear about events.	He lacks a centralized, timely way of finding out about events he cares about.	Someone interested in music and events but passive about seeking information.
3	When he does have free time, coordinating plans with friends is difficult because they are busy too.	He waits for everyone's schedules to align instead of doing something on his own.	Coordinating with equally busy people limits his chances to break his routine.	Social student who prefers doing activities accompanied rather than alone.
4	He'd be willing to try a "quest" suggested by an app without putting in extra effort himself.	He sees it as appealing precisely because the app does the searching for him.	He wants variety but doesn't want to spend time researching options himself.	Young student open to novelty but time-constrained and effort-averse to planning.

Situations - Interview 4 (Sebastian Salazar)

Situation	What?	How?	Why?	Who?
1	He tries to keep track of his daily expenses and budget entirely in his head.	He struggles to maintain the routine and ends up losing track of where his money goes.	He lacks a formal backlog or system to log purchases consistently.	University student living independently who relies on mental math for his finances.
2	He purchases clothes or non-essential items impulsively because they fit his personal style.	He buys them immediately without thinking much about whether he actually needs them.	He uses spontaneous emotional triggers to justify unnecessary spending.	Young adult who is vulnerable to impulsive buying habits due to poor financial organization.
3	He acknowledges that his spending habits affect his long-term savings and emergency funds.	He feels regretful about overspending, but does not panic or get overly stressed.	He connects his lack of tracking to a real risk of lacking money for emergencies or required purchases	Budget-conscious student who feels responsible for his lack of financial discipline.
4	He looks at digital tools that could help him visualize cumulative non-essential spending.	He evaluates app features carefully, preferring engaging mechanics over strict warnings.	He wants to build micro-habits without feeling judged, attacked, or scolded by the system.	User seeking supportive, gamified guidance to improve money habits.

Situations - Interview 5 (Karin Guerrero)

Situation	What?	How?	Why?	Who?
1	She checks her fridge when she needs something instead of keeping an inventory of her food.	She relies on memory and forgets the products she already has.	She doesnt have a system or tool to keep track of her food	University student living alone who is responsible for managing her groceries.
2	She forgets about food like vegetables and fruit in the fridge, causing them to go bad.	She notices days later when she checks the fridge again.	Food can be forgotten when its not visible, especially when she is busy with university.	University student who manages her food but does not regularly check all she has.
3	She throws away fruits, vegetables, and dairy because they expire.	She feels frustrated because she ended up forgetting the food and loses it and the money.	Her responsibilities make it easy to forget about food before it expires.	Independent student who is responsible for her own food management and wants to avoid wasting money.
4	She chooses a simple meal or orders food when she doesnt know what to cook with what she has.	She looks at what she has, but if she cant think of a recipe she chooses another option.	She has difficulty knowing what she can prepare with the ingredients at home.	University student with a busy schedule who values convenient and easy meal options.

Situations - Interview 6 (Mateo Reales)

Situation	What?	How?	Why?	Who?
1	He earns additional money by working as an English tutor at the university.	He uses his tutoring income for personal expenses instead of relying entirely on his parents.	Earning his own money gives him greater financial independence and freedom when deciding what to buy.	Engineering student who still receives parental support but is beginning to generate his own income.
2	He spent his first tutoring paycheck on clothes almost immediately.	He completed the purchase in about 30 seconds and later regretted how quickly the money disappeared.	He wanted to use his first personal earnings to buy something for himself, but did not have a spending plan or budget.	Young student and first-time earner who is vulnerable to impulsive discretionary spending.
3	He prepares lunch at home and takes it to the university instead of buying food on campus.	He changed his routine after noticing that purchasing lunch at the university was significantly more expensive.	He wants to reduce a frequent expense and make his available money last longer.	Budget-conscious university student who adapts his habits when he identifies opportunities to save.
4	He manages his finances week by week without using a financial planner or budgeting application.	He keeps general saving and investing guidelines in mind, but does not consistently track expenses or plan toward specific goals.	He and many students his age are not fully conscious of the long-term impact of financial decisions and tend to view saving and investing as concerns for older adults.	Financially curious young adult who recognizes the value of planning but has not yet adopted a structured system.

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5. Journey Maps

Journey Map 1 - Mariana Medina

Problem/process: Deciding what to cook with what's available at home

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Journey Map 2 - Tomás

Problem/process: Trying to break out of his routine and find something new to do

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6. Brainstorming Process

Methodology used: How Might We (HMW)

Followed procedure:

1. Reviewed the situations, journey maps, and interview insights collected for each problem.
2. Selected two problems to focus on: Smart Food Management and Side-Quests, based on the strength of the evidence gathered in the interviews.
3. For each problem, defined a vision statement and translated key pain points into "How Might We" questions.
4. Each team member individually generated 2-3 solution ideas per HMW question on sticky notes (Canva board).
5. As a group, grouped similar ideas together and discussed them.
6. Voted using dot voting to select the top solutions.

Process evidence:

Generated Solutions (top voted)

#	Solution	Source Situation / Interview	Brief description
1	Random "mystery quest" button	Interview 3 (Tomás), Situation 4	A slot-machine-style button that instantly assigns a quest to the user, removing the need to browse or decide, appealing to users who want variety without extra effort.
2	Gamification: points & streaks system	Interview 2 (Carolina) & Interview 3 (Tomás)	Users earn points for completing quests and build a weekly "streak," turning breaking the routine into a game-like, motivating habit rather than a chore.
3	Events calendar (fed by Instagram accounts)	Interview 3 (Tomás), Situation 2; original problem complement	A centralized calendar showing the latest plans and events in Bogotá, solving the recurring problem of finding out about events too late (e.g., missed concerts).
4	Filter by energy level and interests	Interview 3 (Tomás), Situation 1	Users set their interests and available time/energy, and the app only suggests quests that match, addressing the barrier of feeling "too busy" to plan something new.

7. Low-Fidelity Prototype

Tool used: Google Stitch (AI-assisted UI design tool), used to generate a low-fidelity, playful prototype of "Side Quests" based on the solutions selected during our brainstorming session.

• 🎥 Video link: Link

• Presented solution: Side Quests — a gamified app that suggests personalized "side quests" to help users break out of their routine, combining random quest suggestions, a Bogotá events calendar, and a points/streaks gamification system.

Video content includes:

• The proposed solution and how it works
• How each screen emerged from the brainstorming process (How Might We + voted solutions)
• Evidence of each member's individual contribution

Individual Contribution Evidence

Member	Screen designed	Contribution
Sharik	Welcome / Onboarding	Designed the interests & energy level onboarding screen and narrated the intro in the video
Victoria	Home / Random Quest	Designed the home screen with the Random Quest button and Quest of the Week card, narrated its section
Juan David	Quest Detail	Designed the quest detail/accept screen, narrated its section
Manuela	Calendar / Bogotá Events	Designed the events calendar screen, narrated its section
Catalina	Profile / Points & Streaks	Designed the profile screen with points, streaks, and achievements, narrated its section
Daniel	Quest Completed	Designed the quest completion/reward screen, narrated the closing section

All screens were generated using Stitch prompts crafted by the team, following a consistent color palette to keep the prototype visually cohesive across all 6 screens.

How Each Screen Ties to the Brainstorming Process

• Welcome / Onboarding (Sharik): Comes from the HMW question "How might we take into account the person's interests and time availability?", and directly implements the voted solution "Filter by energy level and interests."

• Home / Random Quest (Victoria): Comes from the HMW question "How might we make trying something new feel like a game instead of extra effort?", implementing the voted solution "Random mystery quest button."

• Quest Detail (Juan David): Comes from the HMW question "How might we make trying something unfamiliar feel low-risk?", allowing users to accept or skip a quest with no commitment, addressing the coordination/effort barriers found in the interviews.

• Calendar / Bogotá Events (Manuela): Comes from the HMW question "How might we suggest a new plan to someone without them having to search for it?", implementing the voted solution "Events calendar fed by Instagram accounts."

• Profile / Points & Streaks (Catalina): Implements the voted solution "Gamification: points & streaks system," reinforcing the same HMW question about making routine-breaking feel like a game.

• Quest Completed (Daniel): Closes the gamification loop from the Home and Profile screens, reinforcing the points/streaks mechanic that came out of the same brainstorming solution.

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