Ashraful Hasan is a social entrepreneur who focuses on social impact and innovation through his various companies and projects. He is the founder & CEO of the innovation and evaluation consulting firm Impactrio, in addition to Impactraction, an impact management platform. Ashraful has also developed a number of platforms such as U-Impactify, Solutionally Speaking, and Impactribes that add to his list of inventive developments.
Students in the Interactive Media Management (IMMT) post-graduate program have been working directly with Ashraful in their Storyworks course. In their first semester, students are able to dive into real-world projects in their Storyworks course, which is not always the case for other programs that may have the course later in their program curricula.
Pamela Kostur, Program Coordinator and Instructor of IMMT, says that this immediate introduction to Storyworks is extremely helpful for her students. “The first semester is really a foundations semester where students learn a lot of the foundational knowledge and skills for interactive media, such as content planning, interactive strategy, and user experience design, and there’s a big emphasis on project management and problem-solving. Even though we do independent project-based assignments in all of the individual classes, Storyworks really brings the first semester together, and they get the opportunity to practice all of those skills in a really holistic way on a client project.”
Within the IMMT program, students are tasked with a final project that is presented in a self-directed tradeshow during their second semester. Pamela says, “The work that they do on their projects in the second semester is so much stronger since doing Storyworks because they are now used to managing a whole project and the collaborative process involved. They can apply the same problem-solving skills that they learned on their client project, so by the end of the program, they not only have this incredible client project that they did in the first semester, but they have an independent project that they’ve also done.”
As for the projects, students were split into several groups each of which focused on a specific business and project within Ash’s portfolio. For U-Impactify, an online learning and membership platform, some of the deliverables included: a report on the research, findings, and general design recommendation for the web application, as well as a prototype of the recommended design of the web application. This involved conducting interviews with potential customers or users, developing UX/IX/UI of the product, creating journey maps, etc. Another group worked on Impactribes, a virtual co-working space and community for social innovators. Students were responsible for many deliverables, such as user research and personas, wireframes and mockups of designs, and current state analyses. Lastly, a group worked with the project Wheel for Change, a web platform to connect social enterprises and social investors/funders. Similar to the other projects, some of the final deliverables included a report on research and design recommendations, as well as prototype recommendations for the application.
Pamela says working with Ashraful has been amazing, as he is a big fan of the program and is supportive of the students. “He has so many great ideas from a business perspective, and he really brings that business thinking. He gives students that business expertise and they are working with him on how to connect with the user environment, so they really feed off each other,” she adds. Due to the nature of Ashraful’s work, many of his ideas remain in the development process, which is where the students’ help comes in. Pamela explains, “In some cases for Storyworks, students are working with something existing and thinking of ways that they might improve it, but with Ash, he’s often just working on a concept for a service or a product.” This unique opportunity allows students to bring their expertise from previous experiences, along with what they are currently learning in the program’s material. This creates a great space for validation and feedback for the students and the client.
Ashraful has previously spoken about his experience with the Storyworks course, which you can read here. He has nothing but positive comments about the entire experience, and says that Storyworks helps students think differently, while acknowledging all of the stakeholders involved, which is key. Based in Ottawa, Ashraful has worked with students virtually, which has been very successful. He says, “I had lots of ideas, but there’s a lot that goes into turning ideas into a project. My approach to that was that I am going to work with students and learn from them as well.” This approach to Storyworks allowed for great collaboration and a successful experience for the students.
The work with Ashraful remains ongoing, and we are excited for current and future students to work with him and his impactful projects!
By: Alexandra Few - A 2020 graduate of the Communications – Professional Writing program at Centennial College who has first-hand experience with Storyworks and is an avid supporter of its push for experiential learning in the classroom.