Introduction
To ignite the passion for synthetic biology and space traveling in more people, NCKU_Tainan human practices team decided to hold a workshop this year. We could see how different people think about space, how they imagine it, or what solution they would propose for solving space problems. About 20 NCKU students from different departments and countries (Taiwan, India, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia) of different ages and gender participated in MerShop. Through MerShop, the participants could think about the roles that are influenced by the issues, exchange ideas, and understand how people from different communities think through the discussion. MerShop is where different ideas tangle with each other and where people are inspired. #To the infinity and beyond ＃共に無限の彼方へ＃우리 함께 무궁무진한 우주를 향해 나아가자 # Vers l'infinit et au-delà #У нескінченність і до зірок #Bis zur Unendlichkeit und noch viel weiter
Schedule
Let’s Start Our Adventure!
All the participants were divided into four groups. We arranged this workshop into four stages: determining the problems, analyzing the stakeholders, ideation, and group presentation.
Stage 1. Determine the Problems
- For this stage, we proposed four questions:
- How might we solve astronauts' mental problems?
- How might we ease astronauts' physical discomfort in space?
- How might we reduce luggage weight when going to space?
- How might we prevent people from running out of daily necessities in space?
These four questions were designed to lead the participants to think about different aspects of space travel, including astronauts' mental and physical problems, space shipment problems, and daily necessities deficiency problems.
To determine the problems, the participants needed to list out the negative aspect (what disadvantages does this issue bring) and positive side (what are the benefits after solving this issue) of the question their group was assigned in advance.
Stage 2. Stakeholders
After analyzing the pros and cons, the participants could know more clearly what to deal with. For the second stage, the participants had to figure out the communities that are influenced or can influence, which are the stakeholders. To list out all the possible stakeholders, we used the stakeholder map in which the participants could determine the stakeholders by analyzing whether the community has high or low interest in the issue or high or low power in controlling the circumstances.
During this stage, we surprisingly found out that our participants cared about not only the astronauts themselves but also how their loved ones would feel if astronauts ran into danger in space. Moreover, since space is filled with uncertainty, the astronauts might feel anxious because they do not know whether they will accomplish the mission or even survive during the mission. Subsequently, after the participants listed all the stakeholders, each team chose one of the stakeholders strongly correlated to the issue. Then, they went through an empathy map, where they could empathize with how the stakeholder might think, feel, see, hear, say, and what their pains and gains are.
Eventually, they could understand the person's difficulty, thus building up a more specific solution.
Stage 3. Ideation
The third stage is ideation, where the participants had to think about what they could do to help their chosen stakeholders while cosplaying four different roles: government, space agencies, academic organizations, and private companies. In this section, they listed all the possible solutions that the role could do. The solution could be creative, practical, or even imaginative if it is a good solution to the issue.
After brainstorming, each team would choose the best solution to help the stakeholder, allowing them to apply their idea or product to the stakeholder. Finally, in the last section, to see how the solution helped, the customer journey canvas would be necessary. It allowed each team to realize how customers might feel, see, and think about the product when they use it.
With the help of the customer journey canvas, the participants came up with surprisingly compact solutions customized for the chosen stakeholder. For example, as the government, one team proposed establishing a department for astronauts' mental issues, where they can bond with and look out for each other, reducing the loneliness during longtime space missions. Moreover, they even designed a program of a care-share group for astronauts who have just returned to earth from a space mission.
Stage 4. Group Presentation
Finally, all of the teams had fun presenting their results to each other. They acted as one of the stakeholders, leading the audience through all the problems and ideas and providing us with some brand-new thoughts for our final presentation during the iGEM Grand Jamboree.
Our Work
Feedback from the participants
Conclusion
During this workshop, the participants gave us a lot of ideas on how we can make space a better place for people to live or improve the quality of space travel.
In conclusion, we guided more people into the realm of space and lowered the barrier between the public and space. We also understood what people from different departments and fields think about our project; most importantly, through exchanging ideas with them, we were able to have more inspiration.
