Design via Concept Board | Practical Studies

TELOS

Before product design it is crucial to outline the scope, purpose, and genesis for the influence purpose. Design and Development without structure wastes time. Using a collaborative tool (in this case Concept Board)teams can efficiently and effectively create.

Navigate to Concept Board and Log-in

Setting up the Board and Inviting Members

Senior ranking group member will select “New Board” and then add team members using the “Invite Users” setting. Team members need to set-up a free Concept Board account prior to execution.

Section Selection

Senior ranking group member will select
“Insert Section.”

Canvas Size

Senior ranking group member will then select “16:9” .

Template Selection

Senior ranking group member will select “Insert Template”

Concept Board Template Selection

Senior ranking group member will select “Design Model Canvas.” During the CULEX and in the operational force, use any of the other methods, but for today Design Model Canvas orients and focuses us to Concept Board.

The Team's Product Design Workspace

All team members will use this template together.

Note: You can create multiple of these boards individually to work off of and then have a "scribe" pull them all together.

Product Design Requirements

Fill in all boxes, export the final image to a presentation format (e.g., PowerPoint) and send it your Small Group Leader.

Bridging Analog to Digital

How can collaborative design efforts in the cyber domain be elevated from "Analog" to "Digital" while incorporating a human feel? How can designers, facilitators, and instructors improve instruction and teamwork with technological advances appropriate to their target audience without becoming mechanistic? Is this possible?

Yes, and Conceptboard is one of those programs that can satisfy that balance. I first worked with Conceptboard in a design class during the Fall of 2020, when most instruction was virtual. The facilitators used a concept board to foster professional collaboration.

For a month, our bi-weekly meetings yielded military planning products that re-conceptualized the operational and information environments using a suite of user-friendly tools inside Conceptboard, including Agile Methodology, product development, strategy, and many other templates.
Conceptboard's adaptability ensures that it will remain a valuable asset to teams that must coordinate over distance and need to move beyond the restrictions of the suite of Microsoft Products.

In 2024, as in the present, Conceptboard will continue to empower teams. Below is an example of how military units can use Conceptboard to create influence products. Follow the Gallery Guide Below and See how easy it can be:

Reflections on Conceptboard

As one can see, Conceptboard can host and support various collaborative planning and design efforts on a novel platform that breaks free of the typical Windows and Apple paradigms. Sometimes, learners and users need a fresh application to stimulate their minds. However, a concept board can be more than a fresh application for resuscitating comatose leaders. Critically, the conceptboard supports pedagogical, technological, and content efforts.

Content Application

Conceptboard builds products in a stripped-down fashion, enabling users to understand the principles and requirements for what they are building and why. It is not just moving on to the next slide or paragraph but having an entire canvas in front to account for the design process's intricacies.

For instance, a design team can simultaneously juxtapose various analytical models (e.g., 5, Why's, A3 Problem Solving, Kanban Board, and others) to avoid fixating on the singular tool, create a holistic view of the problem, and properly frame it. Shuffling between PowerPoint slides and Word doc pages is exhausting and time-wasting when the focus in the initial planning stages is a 40,000-foot view, a term used to describe a high-level perspective or overview of a situation.

Technology Application

Conceptboard is designed to be user-friendly and intuitive. Within just 30 minutes, all instructors, designers, developers, and student demographics can confidently navigate its features. It doesn't require an extensive online presence or a computer science degree to master. While complete expertise may take time, the versatility of Conceptboard templates and their open collaboration mean they have endless applications across different classes and courses in one's institution.

Conceptboard also works on every operating system. It does not require an extension or a particular application. Critically for my current work environment, it also works on the Department of Defense's Information Network (DODIN) Non-Classified Internet Protocol Router (NIPR). Many other collaborative or AI tools are off-limits for US military systems, but this is not.

For younger learners, a key affordance is the ability to incorporate relevant imagery and video shorts to make the education their own. Using these contemporary inputs, Conceptboard can not only help learners to visualize their data but make it more dynamic and interesting for them.

Pedagogical Application

Facilitators can provide instant feedback on students' work directly on any of the group projects in Conceptboard. Immediate responses assist students in understanding their mistakes and improving quickly. It also creates a shared space for instructors and learners, making the educational process far more collaborative than the traditional Prussian educational system that has been present in the United States since the 19th century.

Regarding assessments, Conceptboard also allows an instructor to have a full accounting of in-progress student group work as well as past work to account for and determine trends and provide key data that a developer will need for courseware improvement.

Also, if a course requires a distance learning component, the Conceptboard can accommodate it with appropriate and necessary instructor supervision. COVID-19 may not happen again, but snow days and other weather-related delays will. The best option is to be prepared.

Final thoughts on Conceptboard

Most critically, the Conceptboard was designed with the learner in mind. It provides numerous educational affordances to learners. Allows learners to participate in interactive online learning, flexibly use it in both online and resident environments, quickly receive feedback, and a clean platform for a previously cluttered brainstorming process into an organized online bureau.

If you need some assistance with how you might consider incorporating Conceptboard into your instructional material, contact me using the form below.