Embracing ambiguity at Studio

Cornell Tech’s first Designer-in-Residence Leland Rechis gave the standup lecture in Studio today to talk to students about breaking old habits and tackling the unknowns they face in their company projects.

It’s just week two of the students’ company project work, and while they don’t have to have a concrete plan in place at this early stage, it’s time to start drilling down on what problem they are going to solve through their project.

Rechis talked to the students about navigating their unknowns without falling back on ideas and practices that they are already comfortable with. Rechis helped students understand how to have productive conversations with their company mentors on project scopes and deliverables, and how to talk to their potential audiences about the issues they face to figure out how their project can add value. Rechis said the students have to keep asking themselves: Am I solving the right problem?

For example, a group of two MBA and two MEng students were challenged by IMAX to come up with a new music application.

While they went into the project laser-focused on one idea for the app, their minds changed after researching and talking to potential users. They listened to their audience and the team is now working on a mobile app for IMAX that will give people a new way to discover new music.