Students have challenges to combine theoretical and practical learning. What would it be like to gain work experience during your studies? How to become more professional while work studying? Laurea has responded to these challenges for students. Laurea has found a new way to combine academic and real-life learning. P2P is a great way to combine academic and practical learning. P2P learning gives you the benefits of real-life work. Thus, our project team was tasked to create a website for this educational export product using service design.
In autumn 2022, our project team started the project “Service Design International Minisite for Export of Education Concept”. The project partner was Tero Uusitalo, lecturer at Laurea UAS, who represents the international development work of Laurea UAS. Our project was guided by lecturer Marja Isokangas. The aim of our project was to create a minisite that would enable us to market our effective academic learning model internationally. As the project progressed, the target audience for the site was mainly determined by universities and their lecturers.
How did it all start?
We started with our project team at the end of August 2022. We had five Finnish students and two exchange students in our team. Our exchange students came from Hong Kong and Mexico City. The aim of the project was to produce a minisite, which was implemented through service design. Service design is a great way to develop and improve a service, using the needs, wishes and experiences of the users. Our team also liked the service design practices, as service design offers different tools, aids, and development steps. Service design also tends to use visual and illustrative models, which often make understanding, learning, and achieving results more imaginative and productive.
Research behind the website
To make the website possible, our team had to make a variety of decisions. We started with a research phase to carry out a background analysis and to search for and internalize theoretical knowledge. Our team went into this with a lot of drive. We also prioritized the acquisition of background knowledge right from the start of the project.
From the research phase, we moved on to the definition phase, where the project team focused on drawing conclusions and analyzing the results. The purpose of the definition phase was for the team to create concrete development steps for the project to move forward. In our project this meant creating teams to build the website according to our project capacity, which included copywriting, web design, media production and all the rest. It probably sounds crazy, but even with this configuration you can create something this amazing.
Well planned is half done – or is it?
The definition phase is followed by the development phase, and we would say it is a working phase. This is where the work has the most weight. While the copy team was hard at work producing textual content, the web design team was struggling with technological innovations and difficulties. In addition, we also had to remember communication and teamwork. Fortunately, our team was able to communicate with a good team spirit and dared to challenge each other to achieve the best website.
In this project, our team is heading towards the final stage. But as is the way of service design, this does not mean that the website is finished. Therefore, this project is also becoming a follow-up project, which will only further improve our work for the better. Wow!
Greetings from the team
Our exchange students have enriched internationalization by providing an international perspective on the marketing of an export product. Exchange students’ experience of the P2P model: “It provides a more practical view of high-level tasks for each individual assignment to achieve the client’s objectives”.
Team member’s comment on the project: “Our project is a good example of how the P2P model can help us learn from a workplace perspective. This project has taught me a lot of skills needed in the workplace, such as internationality, communication and flexibility”.
Greetings from the project manager: “As a project manager, the project offered a wide range of activities from team management to service design. As we had a large team of experts, the project really challenged us managers to think about agile ways of working and stay on schedule in everything we do. The team spirit was good throughout the project, and I am delighted with the flexibility and professionalism with which our team managed this project. The constructive feedback from the client and the teacher played an important role in the success of the project”.
Interested in this topic? You can find the website here, where you can follow the progress of the P2P model export journey!
Suurin osa Showcasen blogeista on toteutettu osana Laurean opintojaksoja. Koko koulutustarjontaamme voi tutustua nettisivuillamme. Tarjoamme kymmenien tutkintoon johtavien koulutuksien lisäksi myös paljon täydennys- ja erikoistumiskoulutuksia sekä yksittäisiä opintojaksoja avoimen AMK:n kautta!