Planning and Running Design Discovery workshops with your customers
at UX Camp Brighton 2018
Type
talk
Comprehensive guide to planning and running design discovery workshops with customers. Covers what design discovery workshops are (and arent), understanding customer insights, research and planning, dealing with big feature lists, keeping energy levels up, asking effective questions, the power of design artifacts and visual language, improvisation techniques, preparing participants, structuring workshops, exercises to try, and documenting workshop outcomes. Uses Indiana Jones theme as metaphor for discovery.
People
Al Power
Methods
Workshop FacilitationWorkshop facilitation guides a group towards a shared outcome without imposing the facilitator’s preferred answer. Define the purpose, prepare activities and materials, and create opportunities for everyone to contribute. Combine individual thinking with discussion when helpful, listen for different perspectives and adjust the plan to the group’s needs. Record decisions and clarify who will take the next steps. Use facilitation when a team must explore a problem, generate ideas or agree actions together; successful participation matters as much as the visible workshop outputs.
User InterviewsUser interviews explore people’s circumstances, experiences and needs through a guided conversation. Use them when you need to understand a problem in depth or learn how a service fits into someone’s life. Recruit current or likely users, prepare open questions and possible follow-ups, and ask for concrete examples rather than idealised accounts. Start with consent, listen carefully, and allow useful unexpected topics to emerge. A discussion guide keeps the research focused without turning it into a rigid questionnaire. Interviews can accompany usability tests when you also need to observe people using a service.