collaboration
techniques that
really work
leisa reichelt
disambiguity.com
web 2.0 expo berlin - 21 October 08

are there any morning
people in the room?

logistical stuff

the ‘back-channel’
twitter:
#w2e_ux (design & UX) or
#w2e (entire conference)
webexberlin2008.crowdvine.com

think about how much
time you spend with
your computer today

our schedule:
8.30am: we start
about collaboration, why it’s good, collaboration basics & brainstorming activity
10am-ish: coffee break. yay!
war stories and examples, consensus activity, Q&A
11.30am: we end

introductions
- your name
- what you do
- where you’re from
- three tags

me
- leisa reichelt
- freelance user experience consultant
- Australian, living in London
- sleepless, sun, opensource
disambiguity.com
leisa@disambiguity.com

and you?
- your name
- what you do
- where you’re from
- three tags

what is collaboration?

Collaboration is a recursive process
where two or more people or
organizations work together toward
an intersection of common goals...by
sharing knowledge, learning and
building consensus (Wikipedia)

Collaboration is NOT inviting a bunch
of different people to a meeting at the
beginning of a project

Collaboration is NOT working
separately on the same project

why collaborate?
• team building & morale
• communication
• cross disciplinary skills
• cross disciplinary insight
• more heads/eyes/perspectives
• team & stakeholder buy in
• fun!

how do you collaborate now?
(do you?)

who to collaborate with?

. turn ‘stakeholders’ or a ‘customers’ into a
collaborative partners
. build collaboration into your project
methodology - collaborate regularly with your
project team
. collaborate with your peers (people who do
the same thing as you) invite other expert
perspectives
. consider wildcard collaborators from outside
your field, think tangentally (what other kind
of person might have a useful perspective?

does fun matter?

when to collaborate?
• at the beginning of a project
• not JUST at the beginning!
• when you’re stuck (trouble shooting/
problem solving) - narrow focus
• when you’re looking for inspiration -
broad focus
• regularly!

collaboration tools?
• people (the right ones!)
• sticky notes & marker pens
• whiteboards/flip charts
• fun stuff (stimulus)
• sugar (if it’s the afternoon)
• an objective
• techniques!!

first.
lets get this room
collaboration - ready

technique one:
brainstorming that works!

what’s been your experience
with brainstorming?

why brainstorm?
• team building & morale
• communication
• cross disciplinary skills
• cross disciplinary insight
• more heads/eyes/perspectives
• team & stakeholder buy in
• fun!

making brainstorming work
• the right people
• the right preparation
• ‘the rules’
• the tools
• the environment

the importance of a good faciliator
don’t brainstorm without one.

the (usual) brainstorming rules
• what’s the problem/question
• appoint a facilitator & a scribe
• listen more than you talk
• listen for your own ideas
• add value to others ideas
• suspend judgement
• have fun....

one very important
brainstorming rule
NO QUESTIONS.
none. no exceptions.

another very important
brainstorming rule
ideas must start with the words:
‘i wish....’ or ‘how to....’

i know it sounds dumb.
try it anyway.

sticky note basics
• one idea per sticky note
• a sticky note must be able to ‘stand alone’
• use colours coding and other coding for ‘traceability’
• make sure your sticky notes photograph well by:
• choosing the right marker for your sticky note
• writing in capital letters

an exercise
brainstorming that works!

the brief
your client is a pizza restaurant chain
who wants to develop an iPhone
application that will help either grow
their sales or reduce their costs.
as a team, brainstorm ideas to meet
their brief that you might develop
into a product pitch to them.
(note: any excellent ideas are all
yours to keep, but feel free to give me
5% of profits. That would be nice! )

brainstorming rules
• what’s the problem/question
• appoint a facilitator & a scribe
• listen more than you talk
• listen for your own ideas
• add value to others ideas
• suspend judgement
• NO QUESTIONS
• ‘I wish...’ or ‘How to...’
• have fun....

debrief:
brainstorming that works!

coffee time!

welcome back!

things you’d like to cover before
we’re done today.

ways I use collaboration

collaborative analysis

design consequences

drupal.org redesign project

technique two:
the KJ Method for Consensus

the method
1. determine the focus question
2. get ‘opinions’ / ‘ideas’ etc. onto stickies
3. affinity sort into groups
4. name groups
5. vote on group importance
(three votes)
6. rank groups (two by two)

affinity sorting

voting on groups

an exercise
the KJ Method for Consensus

the brief
take your ideas from the brainstorm
(for the pizza restaurant). You need to
decide what to pitch to your client.
Affinity sort your ideas to consolidate
into a concept, then vote and rank
using the KJ Method for Consensus to
decide which are the top concepts to
develop.

the method
1. determine the focus question
2. get ‘opinions’ / ‘ideas’ etc. onto stickies
3. affinity sort into groups
•
4. name groups
5. vote on group importance
(three votes)
6. rank groups (two by two)

debrief:
the KJ Method for Consensus

questions&discussion?

thank you :)
contact me:
leisa@disambiguity.com
disambiguity.com
twitter.com/leisa