Traditional Market Revitalization & Sustainable Realignment Using Design Thinking Methods & Sense-Making

Abstract

The aim of this article is to examine the ‘Eonyang traditional market revitalization’ project in Ulsan, South Korea, using design thinking methodology for sustainable local markets. The results present visualized outcomes of varied products including media, signage and packaging. The project involved academic-industrial cooperation between a local market foundation and a ‘design & creativity’ class at UNIST(Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology). It provided ‘design thinking’, the ‘double diamond' model and ‘sense-making’ as philosophical frameworks for students from various multidisciplinary backgrounds, including natural science, applied science, chemistry, and business administration. Students engaged the steps 'Discover-Define-Develop- Deliver' from the double diamond model, with divergent and convergent stages of the design process. The various outcomes of this project included a display stand, a bundle for hiking , an artistic touch on the traditional store shutter, and－as new product development－a guesthouse conceptual design. In the product design, there is a package design for Eonyang water parsley sweet jelly, Eonyang jam, and Eonyang sesame oil. For the tourism design, a hiking package, market guesthouse, market maps, and signage were developed, with a post-it art shutter also created as an artistic touch. To achieve these results, the author not only transferred knowledge, information, and tactics to the students but also encouraged them to draw on their creativity using certain processes and techniques from the design-thinking method and sense-making process. Students collaborated in a number of different ways in visualizing their own idea as a team project. Techniques they used were 3D printing, CAD, Web-design/graphic design/motion-picture editing tools. In this creativity- focused learning, the author argues that students learn more effectively in pedagogical practices that emphasize ‘active learning and direct observation on site’ through design-based integrated education. The author also conducted qualitative research using in-depth interviews for generating results. With this process, students had chances to learn and experience how proper design- thinking methodology can change a local economy in theory and practice. The author belief is that the methods explored in this article represent the seeds of a new model of design education based on creative and applied learning.