These tools make the same 5 questions accessible for different people and moments. Everything here is free to use. I only ask attribution and that you share your experiences with me and, if comfortable, with others. 

Use the <> buttons at the top right of each row to see more!

GRAPHIC RESOURCES

APPS

VIDEOS (click < > for more)

2 Short intros and several longer workshops from Ela Ben-Ur (also in this YouTube playlist).

Short stories people have contributed from schools, communities, and companies (also in this YouTube playlist).

AUDIO

INTERVIEW FOR DESIGN THINKING 101 PODCAST

Dawan Stanford, Director of Design Thinking at Elon University and I talk about making Design Thinking accessible. 

INTERVIEW FOR PODCAST JOURNEYS

Bogata-based educator Chris Davis got curious at the end of SXSW Edu in March 2017 about the background of design thinking and my work, and asked me to sit and chat with him for his podcast. Note: the sound dramatically improves at 16:08.

INTERVIEW FOR RESULTS MAY VARY PODCAST

Recorded in August 2015 for their Results May Vary podcast about what would happen if we used Design Thinking in our daily lives, Tracy Deluca and Chris Waugh ask great questions about the development of the compass. While it has evolved considerably since, the discussion is great and the core questions still hold. 

WRITING

BY ELA BEN-UR

Final chapter of Taking Design Thinking to school

I'm honored to have the last chapter "Developing Portable, Powerful Design Thinking: The Innovators' Compass" in the book Taking Design Thinking To School edited by Shelley Goldman and Zaza Kabayadondo of Stanford University’s Research in Education and Design Lab (Routledge, November 2016). I can't post it here, but will happily send you a copy.

COMPASS BLOG POST FOR MURAL.LY

Short blog post with practical tips, written for the design collaboration platform Mural.ly (online sticky notes!), which has kindly included the Compass as one of its framework templates (along with Business Model Canvass, Empathy Maps, and others). 

UP WITH COMMUNITY PASSION PROJECT INTERVIEW

In response to Nicola Chin's thoughtful questions, including: Tell me about your passion project? Who's shoulders are you standing on? Your greatest learning? Challenge? Fear? Risk? Fun? How are you organizing people for this project? 

HIGH SCHOOL and COLLEGE Course descriptions

More details and materials around Compass-based course: Caroline Meeks’ app design courses at Prospect Hill Academy Charter High School; and my design-with-an-older-adult course with anthropologist Caitrin Lynch, and design-your-life course, at Olin College of Engineering

BY OTHERS

TOM VANDER ARK & Justin AGLIO for EDUCATION WEEK & GETTING SMART

I’m honored and grateful that Tom VanderArk and Justin Aglio posted this lovely, short overview in Education Week and Getting Smart—sharing the Compass with many new educators!

Tara Martin's chapter about the Compass in her book Be REAL: Educate from the Heart

Tara Martin's wonderful book about using our human technology to educate includes a chapter about how she adapted and used the Compass to understand and support educators when she began as an administrator.  Thank you for educating from the heart, Tara, and enabling people to do so—including with Innovators' Compass!

Dan ryder on MEDIUM: DESIGN FOR BOOK CHARACTERS

Dan's Medium piece highlighting a a project he did with his English students using the Compass that bridged English and Engineering to design for characters' needs in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. 

ERIN QUINN on MEDIUM: CREATING CLASSROOM CULTURE

Erin Quinn's medium piece about working with a class to use the Compass, alongside other wonderful tools, to design their own, inclusive, culture. 

ARI YARES' BLOG ABOUT FAMILY MORNINGS

Psychologist and administrator Ari Yares wrote about the Compass to help his family co-design a way through the chaos of family mornings and lunch packing.

HILLARY GOLDTHWAIT-FOWLES’ BLOG ABOUT THE COMPASS IN ACTION

Assistive technology coach Hillary Goldthwait-Fowles shares her and other educators’ experiences with the Compass, along with the experiences of participants she helped co-facilitate at the Bates College May Conference 2018.

OLIN COLLEGE “THE WIRE” ON INNOVATORS’ COMPASS AT SXSWEDU

Anne-Marie Dorning wrote about Innovators’ Compass and its impact at SXSW EDU for the Olin College news channel.   

Trang Trem of Fulbright University Vietnam about heR EXPERIENCE

Trang Trem was part of a 1-week version of an Innovators’ Compass-based course at Olin, which Caitrin Lynch and I recreated for students and professors at Fulbright University Vietnam. Her writing about the experience in Fulbright’s blog deeply inspired us.

LICENSING 

INNOVATORS' COMPASS is a trademark and service mark owned by Ela Ben-Ur. The content of this website is protected by copyright.

Many years have gone into the tools shown here, with the aim of making a difference. These tools are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. You may use, copy, and modify the tools for your own use and not for resale, provided that you:

1. Label them with “INNOVATORS' COMPASS by Ela Ben-Ur, see innovatorscompass.org” clearly (beside and of similar size to any other label, inseparable from the graphic; or if using Innovators’ Compass verbally, give this full attribution right away). Do this every time you use/show/share/adapt them in any way (and note if it's an adaptation). When you share the original unmodified tools, keep or reproduce my copyright notice and trademark, INNOVATORS' COMPASS, on each copy.

2. Share back your uses and experiences either by tweet to #innovatorscompass or email to ela@innovatorscompass.org for me and perhaps others to learn from.

3. Remind others to do the two things above.

Please do use these tools to make anything better, including the work you are paid to do—just do the 3 things above. If you’re considering being paid specifically for teaching/using this tool, please reach out and talk to me.