The Innovation Problem Finder Dartboard: Embedding Critical Design in the Engineering Workflow

This paper introduces the “Innovation Problem Finder Dartboard" (IPFD), a generative critical design-inspired pedagogical tool for ideating on the potential uses, misuses, and alternative contexts of a given technology. In a first year Engineering Communication course, students used the IPFD, accompanied by a brief worksheet they completed in groups, during the problem definition stage of their term project. The aim of employing the IPFD activity in this context is twofold: students will 1) generate ideas about how equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and social and environmental justice factor into an engineering design problem and 2) think critically about existing and potential engineering contexts, cultures, and practices.