Conducting Collaborative Design Sessions Part 2 Inform

Getting the most out of your users requires that you take the initiative. In Part 2 of this series, you’ll learn how to begin your design session in a goal-oriented manner.In Part 1 of this series, we discussed the benefits of collaboration with users and clients at various stages throughout the design process. We also provided tips to help you more effectively prepare for your design session. At this point, your users have been thinking about the topic of your meeting and are eager to share their ideas. When they arrive, you need to initiate the discussion in a way that will keep them focused on the meeting objectives and help them feel that the process itself is as rewarding as the outcome. The following tips will help you achieve these benefits and set the stage for a successful and productive collaborative design session.This is one of the most critical factors in any meeting. Remember the agenda you created and sent out to all your meeting participants? To start the meeting, review this agenda by writing it out in front of everyone. Post it on the wall so everyone can follow along as you complete each task. When you reach the time limit you allotted yourself for each agenda item, draw a check mark beside it to chart your progress. This may seem trivial, but it holds many advantages because it makes participants feel more:Bring people up to speed about the problem they’re trying to solve by sharing artifacts from the design process to date. Artifacts can vary in formality and can be derived from past meetings with clients, users or your internal team. By showing participants the work that has already been done, you’ll be able to avoid reinventing the wheel. Also, reviewing these materials will get everyone warmed up and ready to start sharing new ideas. Some typical artifacts include:You may also find it useful to organize your artifacts into a slideshow or timeline format in order to make it more memorable for participants.You may be using some of the above-mentioned artifacts as a foundation on which to build the next step of the design process. If this is the case, it’s best to be sure in advance that everyone has agreed upon them as a valid set of assumptions. Otherwise, participants may:To avoid these potential pitfalls when presenting each artifact, include documentation of previous agreements such as dates or signatures. It is best to explicitly state that the purpose of these artifacts is to serve as a guide for this design session. Once everyone is clear and in agreement, you can move on to the next stage of your agenda.If your meeting does happen to get side-tracked in this area, it isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes you may discover that your participants are not ready to make decisions about the next stage of design, which can happen for a variety of reasons:Although it requires you to deviate from your original meeting objectives, resolving issues like these takes precedence over your agenda because without doing so, you can’t make legitimate, informed progress.Providing a foundation for the next stage of design is only one way to use project artifacts. Another common use of artifacts is as a rough draft that you want participants to refine during this meeting. For this purpose, you should leave these artifacts in a low-fidelity state. For instance, you can use:Some of the advantages of keeping artifacts and process documentation low-fidelity during collaborative design sessions are that:Overall, the first portion of your meeting should be used to introduce and agree upon the objectives, agenda, and progress to date. While it is important to be aware of potential setbacks, if you’ve prepared properly in advance, this initial part of the meeting should go quickly and run smoothly. Now that you and your participants are all on the same page, it’s time to dig in and start designing. In Part 3 of this series, we’ll explain more about how to provide the guidance your participants need in order to express their ideas and contribute to the design.Many of these concepts were gleaned from a seminar lead by Sarah Bloomer for the June 2009 meeting of the NHUPA.really informative. thanksI’ll try to put this to good use immeidtlaey.If I cmomiunctaed I could thank you enough for this, I’d be lying.Essays like this are so important to braoednnig people’s horizons.I never thought I would find such an eedvryay topic so enthralling!Superior thinking demontasretd above. Thanks!LseTs2 rducdllanfzf7IR7nY hpkbxrudpdgbFeb04 for commenting.It is hard to work for the man soietmmes i guess it comes down to finding where you fit best, and what environment lends to your success most.Competition can be stiff, and frustrating at times I would use that frustration to fuel a desire to be the best, your work, and even more importantly how you crry yourself can and will set you apart from the rest.~ Aaron I!