Digital Skills Consulting
Design Workshop: Greater Manchester Police x Sixth Form Students
OVERVIEW
This was one of my most rewarding design thinking experiences to date.
I was invited to lead a one-day workshop bringing together eight sixth-form students and three members of Greater Manchester Police. The brief: “Addressing young people’s perception of the police.”
It was a human, timely, and poignant challenge — and an opportunity to use design as a tool for dialogue and understanding.
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My role included:
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Creating a safe space for open conversation between young people and the police
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Explaining the fundamentals of design thinking in an accessible way
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Guiding the group’s ideas into a clear shared direction
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Using the AI prototyping tool LOVEABLE to bring the students’ concept to life (see working prototype here)
KICK OFF
Setting an inclusive tone
The words “young people” and “police” carry weighty stereotypes and often spark tension. To encourage openness, I framed the workshop as a safe space for honesty, creativity, and teamwork — where no idea could be ‘wrong.’
Icebreaker
To spark conversation and explore existing perceptions, I asked the sixth-form students:
“If the police were a person, how would you describe them?”
I then flipped the question to the police, asking both groups to note where they thought these perceptions originated.​​
Goal
We weren’t aiming to solve problems at this stage. Instead, the focus was on surfacing insights and building shared understanding.
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QUICK FIRE RESEARCH
Uncovering truths from both sides
I invited group members to generate questions that would uncover perceptions and experiences on both sides. Together, we explored prompts such as:
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“What’s the hardest thing about working with young people?”
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“When have you had a positive interaction with a young person?”
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“What would a better relationship look like to you?”
To ensure every voice was heard, I encouraged quieter participants to share their thoughts. I rapidly captured these insights on sticky notes, which we then clustered into common themes.
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This collaborative process revealed not just surface-level opinions, but deeper shared concerns and aspirations, setting the foundation for the design work that followed.
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A key insight that surfaced was that negative stories about the police often spread further than positive ones.​​
​Image: insights captured on post-it notes.
PROBLEM FRAMING
How might we show the GOOD work?
To set the stage for ideation, I posed a How Might We question to the students: “How might we show the GOOD work of the police?”
I guided the students through a Crazy 8’s exercise, encouraging them to think laterally and reminding them that no idea was too small or too wild.
By stepping back and creating space, I watched as the group’s creativity flourished — ideas quickly filled the paper and energy built around possibility.
​Image: students preparing for an ideation session.
RAPID PROTOTYPING
Bringing ideas to life with AI
After each student pitched their top idea, and with just one hour remaining, I introduced a dot voting exercise so the group could quickly decide which concept to take forward.
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From there, I guided the students in translating the chosen idea into rough paper wireframes. At the same time, I used prompt engineering to build a working digital prototype in the AI tool LOVEABLE. View this working prototype here.​
​Image: paper wireframes.
​Image: AI prototype created with LOVEABLE.
​This rapid process allowed students to see their thinking materialise in real time — moving from sketches to a functional prototype within the space of a workshop.
COMMUNICATE
The students presented their work
To close the workshop, the students presented their research, insights, and prototype back to the wider group, including members of Greater Manchester Police.
Beforehand, I coached them on public speaking, encouraging them to speak slowly and clearly, and to frame their presentation from the perspective of a first-time user.
For many, it was their first time presenting in a professional setting, and it was hugely rewarding to see them rise to the challenge with confidence.
