On the afternoon of Sunday, January 11th, as part of the Pay It Forward program, the F14 generation students from the Southern region participated together in a training session on Design Thinking skills, creating an inspiring learning journey where each student gradually learned how to turn initial ideas into more meaningful and feasible projects. The session was accompanied and guided by Ms. Thom Tran - Co-founder & CEO of @khơii, Host of the 99 Do program, former leader at Vinmec, Lazada, Unilever, and also a long-time mentor of VietSeeds.  

At the beginning of the training, the Seeds clearly distinguished between “idea” and “project.” From there, the Lean Canvas model was introduced as a tool to help them step-by-step structure their thinking and build projects more sustainably.  

Delving into the core content, the participants were introduced to two important steps in Design Thinking: Empathize and Define, through which, with practical activities, they somewhat learned how to correctly identify the target customers, delve into specific contexts and people to clearly build and articulate the problem. The discussions helped participants realize that without truly understanding the users’ desires, all solutions remain merely assumptions.

Next is the Ideate - Assess - Choose, where they all brainstormed about many solution directions, then evaluated them based on three criteria: Desirability - Feasibility - Viability. Not only stopping at ideas, they were also guided on how to build an operating mechanism, the project's differentiating points, as well as the Key Metrics system (Input - Output) to measure impact clearly and effectively.  

The training session concluded with profound lessons on the benefits that continuous learning and exploration can bring. This is the important foundation for Seeds to complete projects not only with available data but also with enthusiasm and effective strategic thinking.  

VietSeeds sincerely expresses our gratitude towards Ms. Thom Tran for her many insightful, practical, and inspiring shares. Thanks to the positivity and learning spirit of all the students - those who contributed to creating a fulfilling and energetic afternoon of learning.