Category: Method

Ideation Hopscotch is a high-energy activity focused on getting a large number of ideas from a group of people. It allows for independent reflection and ideation, but also encourages collaborative conversations and generative participation. This exercise can be easily modified and scaled as needed, but for purposes of this guide, we will assume that you have 24 participants and four “How Might We” (HMW) statements to explore.

Vision Casting is a visualization method that uses a prepared scenario in order to pull out information regarding people’s thoughts on where they see an organization in five or more years. This is a great method for long-term goal-setting, as it allows people to focus on what success looks like and what it takes to get there. It touches upon, not only the external impact, but the effects on the internal team as well.

Rapid concept sketching is a method used to quickly generate solution ideas for a specific design challenge. You may be asking, why rapid? It’s easy to get bogged down in the details of an initial idea – we want to push past the most obvious solution to get to something innovative.

Graffiti walls are an indirect research method, and a dynamic way to engage with a large number of people. Prompts can encourage writing, drawing, collaging, and more. When presented with thoughtful prompts in appropriate settings, responses can be incredibly powerful as people will oftentimes build off of other’s remarks.

Observation is an effective method for gaining insight into people and environments in their natural state. There are many different kinds of observation techniques ranging from natural to controlled to analogous environments, to name a few. In our work, we often begin with the A-E-I-O-U template observing Actions, Environment, Interactions, Objects, and Users.

Interviews are key to learning about someone’s specific experiences. Through stories and responses, you are able to better gain insight into the subject you are studying through the people most affected by the issue.