Kelani Nichole, Sr. UX Strategist at Big Spaceship, shares her thoughts on collaborative design workshops for the IA Summit 2013.

1. IASummit2013
COLLABORATIVE DESIGN
04.05-07.2013
Monday, April 8, 13

2. 04.05-07.2013
HELLO.
Monday, April 8, 13

3. 04.05-07.2013
@KELANINICHOLE
Monday, April 8, 13

4. Back home in Brooklyn
Director ProductStrategistsUserExperienceDesigners You?
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5. Sketch
Refine
Critique
Present
DESIGN STUDIO
Monday, April 8, 13

6. What about
when you don’t
know what all
the pieces are?
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7. Or what you
want to build?
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8. Or want to take
your product in
a whole new
direction?
Monday, April 8, 13

9. IT WORKED!
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10. An effective and
actionable means to build
strong relationships
across mixed client/
agency teams.
Whatwefound...
Monday, April 8, 13

11. A natural fit with our
working style, and a
great way to invite
clients into our culture.
Whatwefound...
Monday, April 8, 13

12. A way to get clients out
of their typical
environment and
engaging across internal
walls.
Whatwefound...
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13. A means to create shared
ownership in envisioning
new products, services
and digital platforms.
Whatwefound...
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14. 1. What does new product X look like when you login?
2. How can we reinvent this customization tool?
3. What is the new homepage experience on site Y?
4. How can a new search and directory tool help
connect people?
5. How can we create a social shopping experience on
this eCommerce product page?
How we’re using collaborative design:
Monday, April 8, 13

15. 1
WHAT IS DESIGN STUDIO?
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16. How it Works
Present CritiqueSketch Refine/Repeat
321 4
Group provides
positive and negative
feedback
Steal the best ideas –
incorporate feedback
and refine concepts
Present ideas to your
group from a user-
focused POV
Generate ideas
through quick rounds
of sketching
Monday, April 8, 13

17. • Generate eight ideas in 8 minutes – they should be
distinct concepts, and can be very rough.
• Present & Critique with your group – 5 minutes each.
Round 1
Monday, April 8, 13

18. • Steal the best ideas from your group – combine them
into 4 refined concepts, with a little more detail, in 10
minutes.
• Present & Critique with your group – 5 minutes each.
Round 2
Monday, April 8, 13

19. • Collaborative Design – Divide & conquer to deepen
one concept, incorporating the best elements by
working together for 20-30 minutes.
• Present & Critique with the entire group, 5 minutes
per team – vote on leading concepts.
Round 3
Monday, April 8, 13

20. • Creates shared understanding around the design
challenges, user needs and functional scope.
• Produces leading design patterns through iteration
and consensus building.
Why it works:
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21. 2
HOW WE’RE USING IT
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22. Foster a sense of
ownership,
investment and
deepen engagement
with partners.
Create a common
language and frame
of reference around
the product, unite
collaborators.
2
Functional Emotional
1
Why Collaborative Design?
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23. Build Relationships
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24. Overcome Obstacles
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25. Establish a Common Language
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26. Create Shared Understanding
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27. • Research informs well-defined design challenges.
• Background is presented at the beginning of the
workshop.
• Participants break into teams of 4 or 5 for three rapid
rounds of sketching, presentation and critique and
then refine ideas.
• The whole group gathers together after the third
round to regroup and build consensus.
Overview of the Workshop
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28. Tips: Sketching
Everyone can sketch!
It’s about quantity
NOT quality.
Focus on getting the
idea down on paper,
then refine.
Monday, April 8, 13

29. • Persona-first thinking should always lead
presentation of designs.
• It’s about selling a concept and getting to the best
solutions through collaboration.
• The art of critique – focus on articulating the
strengths and weaknesses of each and every design
solution.
Tips: Presentation & Critique
Monday, April 8, 13

30. • Aligning stakeholders on priority and scope.
• Exploring a problem space from a user-focused
perspective.
• Educating collaborators on how context impacts a
person’s needs, and what to expect from our iterative
product design process.
• Working through internal politics, agendas, bad
ideas and constraints.
What its great for:
Monday, April 8, 13

31. • A simple brainstorming method you can run on-the-
fly in an hour – it requires investment and
preparation.
• A means to identifying a fleshed-out approach to
implementation.
• A decision-making tool – consensus is different than
approval.
What its not:
Monday, April 8, 13

32. • Scheduling is a challenge – getting a group of
stakeholders in a room to sketch for six hours is
sometimes not so easy.
• Environment is essential – table space, ambient
music, healthy nourishment and the right leader.
• Preparation – a well-framed set of challenges is
essential in addition to a solid understanding of the
participants roles & relationships.
What it takes:
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33. 3
HOW TO PREPARE
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34. People-focused Research
Understanding not only user behavior across context, but also
needs and behaviors of internal stakeholders is essential.
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35. Frame the Challenge
Sketching is uncomfortable enough, without a clearly defined
challenge your participants will struggle to dig-in.
Monday, April 8, 13

36. Provide some Inspiration
Thought-starters should be easily accessible by each
participant as they hit mental blocks – a look at competitors
and innovators can help ignite creative sparks.
Monday, April 8, 13

37. Moderation & Critique
A strong leader to guide the session is an essential component
– to both keep the loudest voice in the room in check and
encourage participants to push their critique.
Monday, April 8, 13

38. PEOPLE-FOCUSED RESEARCH
HOW TO PREPARE A SESSION
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39. Contextual Inquiry,
Interviews & Surveys:
Interrogate user
behavior, surface
internal and external
needs, and explore
organizational
challenges.
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40. Analytics:
Discover behavioral
patterns, investigate
what’s working and
what’s not,
understand context
and device usage.
Monday, April 8, 13

41. Journey Workshops:
Take an immersive
step-by-step journey
into a problem space,
discover thoughts,
feelings, needs and
constraints across
contexts.
Monday, April 8, 13

42. Goal Alignment:
Clearly articulate
findings from
research, and build
consensus around
leading goals.
Monday, April 8, 13

43. FRAME THE CHALLENGE
HOW TO PREPARE A SESSION
Monday, April 8, 13

44. Personas/Profiles:
Create actionable
representations of the
people and behaviors
you’re designing for –
personas are a great
tool to have in a
session.
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45. Experience Map:
Illustrating the
problem space
through an experience
map or user journey
map helps to anchor
design across
contexts.
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46. Content Outline:
Participants have
different roles and
relationships with the
content of a challenge
– give them an outline
to work from.
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47. Requirements &
Constraints:
Clearly articulate the
functionality that
might be included –
encourage blue sky
thinking but provide
some foundation.
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48. Design Challenges:
Articulate the leading
challenges, explaining
how they align to
your research and
stakeholder goals.
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49. PROVIDE SOME INSPIRATION
HOW TO PREPARE A SESSION
Monday, April 8, 13

50. Competitive Analysis:
What other solutions
are out there in the
problem space?
What’s working, and
what isn’t? Where do
opportunities exist?
Monday, April 8, 13

51. Explore Paradigms:
Look for inspiration in
a completely different
problem space, think
about how divergent
paradigms could lead
to opportunity.
Monday, April 8, 13

52. Outline Thought
Starters:
How would you begin
to tackle this
challenge? What are
the most fertile
dimensions of the
problem space?
Monday, April 8, 13

53. Ambience + Setup:
Comfortable seating
for groups is a must,
music helps stimulate
creativity – make sure
to stock up on
supplies to set
participants up for
success.
Monday, April 8, 13

54. MODERATION
HOW TO PREPARE A SESSION
Monday, April 8, 13

55. • Push your understanding of critique with each new
session – read up on methods and best practices.
• Practice makes perfect – the more time spent in
critique the better equipped you’ll be to lead it.
Practice Critique.
Monday, April 8, 13

56. • Get to know your participants ahead of time – what
are their goals, needs and personal agendas?
• If you don’t have a chance to interview participants,
take the time to understand their role &
responsibilities.
Foster Alignment + Buy-in.
Monday, April 8, 13

57. • Keep pushing for more time and participants – the
more diverse the disciplines the better the output.
• Articulate the value of the collaborative session, why
its worth an investment, and what you’ll come out
with.
Diversify + Excite.
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58. 4
OUTPUT + LEARNINGS
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61. Monday, April 8, 13

62. The work has just
begun.
Collaborative design
is a great starting
point and exploration
tool, but it requires
further definition and
follow-through.
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63. Monday, April 8, 13

64. Solutions will evolve.
At the end of a
session it can feel as if
the solution is
obvious, but evolution
is inevitable as the
solutions are defined
& refined.
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65. Monday, April 8, 13

66. Communicating
output is essential.
Consensus and
understanding is a
huge part of
collaborative design –
it must be nurtured
and kept alive.
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67. 1. Regroup with participants to review the output and
conversation that happened in each round.
2. Articulate the leading design patterns that emerged.
3. Produce a readout deck to circulate with the team.
4. Include photos of people sketching, presenting and
photograph work output.
5. Position the work alongside next steps – be it
wireframes, annotated sketches or other
documentation.
After a session...
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68. This is just the beginning. The possibilities of this
methodology are vast – let’s continue to explore the
approach and push its boundaries.
Monday, April 8, 13

69. 04.05-07.2013
THANKS.
Monday, April 8, 13

70. 04.05-07.2013
QUESTIONS?
@KelaniNichole+k.nichole@bigspaceship.com
Monday, April 8, 13