Co-design: Group therapy to bridge the client-user gap

@StavrosUX

Dr Stavros Garzonis

23 October 2015

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Co-design in context

Planning a session

Briefing your accomplices

Running a session

Debrief

@StavrosUX

Co-design in context

Planning a session

Briefing your accomplices

Running a session

Debrief

“A development process where design professionals empower, encourage, and guide users to develop solutions for themselves”

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Who should be involved?

UX agency

Clients

Users

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Who should be involved?

Clients

Users

What I call co-design

UX agency

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Workshop risks

UX agency

Clients

Users

CHAOS! Clients bully users Users insult clients

You lose face to client

Solving the wrong

problem

Too “Blue sky”

Too marketing

focused

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A typical setting

Team 1

Team 2 Team 3

Team 4

CustomerFacilitator ClientMeta-facilitator

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The Double Diamond design process

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Why you need the 2nd diamond

Day dreaming

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Why you need the 1st diamond

Solving the wrong problem

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Where I do co-design

Collaboratively explore the

problem space

Collaboratively explore

solutions

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For me, co-design is not about design. It’s about research

through design.

Concept development

UIdesign

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Fitting co-design within projects (an example)

User Interviews

Stakeholder Workshop

Stakeholder Interviews

Co-design

Prototype

Testing

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Co-design in context

Planning a session

Briefing your accomplices

Running a session

Debrief

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Space (people, wall space, drinks etc)

Materials (post-its, whiteboards, name labels, magazines)

Food & beverages (beer?)

Signposting

Camera / photographer

Project Manager support (many things you will forget)

Basics checklist

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Designing the co-design process

Divergent exercises

Convergent exercises

Warm-up exercise

Tip: Include optional exercises that you can skip if needed

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Design each exercise

1. What do the users need from it? 2. What does the business need from it?

What is the purpose of this page?

13

Write down each piece of content that the customer needs on this page

(1 post it per piece of content)10 mins

Individually:

Prioritise each post it based on how important it is to the users needs

(Evaluate the content against the purpose of the page)

10 mins

In your teams:

Keep instructions of exercises visible

Time bind exercises

Provide templates when appropriate

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Aim for…

Under-facilitated Over-facilitated

Focused

Boring Stressful

Flow

Verbal Visual

Qualitative

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1:1 ratio, or more users than clients

Have at least 1 meta-facilitator

Split client functions in different teams

Group similar users together in teams

Introduce friendly competition?

Team dynamics

Personalities?

Criteria?

Personas?

Tip: Work with recruiters to get participants in your target group that are gregarious people

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It’s ok to feel lost or uncertain. TRUST THE PROCESS!

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Co-design in context

Planning a session

Briefing your accomplices

Running a session

Debrief

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Gets them to reflect before they arrive

Grounds the workshop in reality

Generates empathy from clients

Acts as bonding material between users

Brief users (homework)

Tip: Make sure you let user know that their homework stories will be shared in the session

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Tip: If you want to share existing insights about your users in the session, make sure it is done visually.

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They are there to listen

They are there to engage

They should be mindful of potential sensitivities

We rely on them to be there!

Brief clients

Tip: Consider giving clients facilitator roles (to help them build their UX skills) or a note taker role (for the most senior stakeholder)

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Visualiser

Maintains neutrality (while asking questions)

Visual interpreter(not just about sketching)

Motivates others to visualise

Facilitator

Maintains peace(while motivating debate)

Maintains floor equality(while protecting users)

Records points of friction

Brief facilitators/visualisers

Tip: Find/train people to be both: facilitator & visualiser!

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Co-design in context

Planning a session

Briefing your accomplices

Running a session

Debrief

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Dreamer - Realist - Critic

Personas

Storyboards

Content hierarchy + 6ups

I like, I wish, I wonder

Dot voting

gamestorming.com

Many exercises to choose from

Tip: Have quick catch-ups with facilitators to make sure everything is ok

Remember to split user & client votes

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Dreamer - Realist - Critic

Personas

Storyboards

Content hierarchy + 6ups

I like, I wish, I wonder

Voting

gamestorming.com

Many exercises to choose from

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(1) DREAM

Generate as many “blue sky” ideas as you can

Do not critique your ideas! (e.g. “this is not going to be possible”)

Create a new concept for commuting

5 mins

5 mins

(2) REALISE

Work in your groups to make the dream come true (engineer the solution)

Do not critique your ideas! (e.g. “this is not going to be too expensive”)

5 mins

(3) CRITIQUE

Constructively critique the solution

How can it be improved?

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Tip: Consider revealing the brand when appropriate (not from the beginning)

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Co-design in context

Planning a session

Briefing your accomplices

Running a session

Debrief

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Ask users:

How did they feel?

How did their perception change?

Ask clients:

What did they take away?

What didn’t they?

Ask facilitators:

What could work better?

Iterate your co-design skills

Did you get: • Better understanding of user needs? • Novel ideas for potential solutions? • New-found empathy from your clients?

This can be the skeleton of your report!

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It’s ok to feel lost or uncertain. TRUST THE PROCESS!

For me, co-design is not about design. It’s about research

through design.

• Better understanding of user needs • Novel ideas for potential solutions • New-found empathy from your clients

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Go forth and co-design!