Design Gym: Better Workshop Deliverables

What is the best deliverable from Collaborative Design Workshops?

Many Collaborative Workshops result in a common “deliverable” at the end: 9000 digital photos of Post-It Notes and semi-legible whitewall scribbles.

The best deliverable from a Collaborative Design Workshop is a clear, actionable plan or prototype that captures the team’s collective insights and ideas. This deliverable should serve as a tangible representation of the workshop’s outcomes, providing a roadmap for implementation and further development. It should be detailed enough to guide future actions but flexible enough to adapt as needed.

What do we even mean by “deliverable”?

Here are some common deliverables from Collaborative Design Workshops:

• Prototypes: Physical or digital models of a product or solution that demonstrate key features and functionalities. Prototypes help visualize concepts and facilitate user testing and feedback.
• Journey Maps: Visual representations of the user’s experience with a product or service, highlighting pain points and opportunities for improvement. Journey maps help teams understand and improve the user experience.
• Action Plans: Detailed plans outlining the steps needed to implement the ideas and strategies generated during the workshop. Action plans include timelines, responsibilities, and key milestones.
• Personas: Fictional characters based on user research that represent different user types. Personas help teams empathize with users and design solutions that meet their needs.
• Storyboards: Sequential visualizations that depict how a user interacts with a product or service over time. Storyboards help teams understand the user journey and identify areas for improvement.

Common Challenges

Facilitators often face several challenges in scoping the best deliverable…

• Your Team: Most facilitators are busy, um, facilitating! Many solo facilitators have their hands full: standing at the front of the room, coaching other presenters, talking down nervous clients, managing materials, and the room setup. You need a team. And, at least one member of your team needs to be tracking content related to the deliverable.
• Aligning Objectives: Ensuring that the deliverable aligns with the workshop’s objectives, and stakeholders’ expectations can be challenging. Facilitators need to balance different priorities and perspectives.
• Defining Scope: Deciding the right level of detail for the deliverable is crucial. Too much detail can be overwhelming, while too little can be insufficient for guiding future actions.
• Ensuring Clarity: The deliverable must be clear and understandable to all stakeholders. Facilitators need to ensure that the deliverable effectively communicates the team’s ideas and strategies.

Join our TVW Design Gym on Better Workshops Deliverables

By participating in our discussion on Design Workshop Deliverables facilitators can acquire valuable insights and skills to improve their workshop outcomes. Including…

• Improved Deliverable Quality: Learn best practices for scoping, creating, and presenting high-quality deliverables that effectively capture and communicate the team’s ideas and strategies.
• Enhanced Facilitation Skills: Gain techniques for managing group dynamics, aligning objectives, and ensuring clarity in deliverables. Improve your ability to guide teams toward actionable outcomes.
• Increased Impact: Discover how to create deliverables that drive real-world impact. Learn how to turn workshop insights into tangible plans or prototypes that guide future actions and innovations.

Join our conversation to elevate your facilitation skills and create deliverables that truly make a difference.

Registration

Date: Thursday, August 22, 2024

Time: 11:00 AM EST (17:00 CET)

Location: Virtual (Link will be provided upon registration)

SUGGESTED MATERIALS: A sketchbook, white wall, flipchart, iPad, and simple drawing tools. Plus, your fanciest strategic thinking hat.