A design studio is a type of UX workshop that combines divergent and convergent thinking: it allows UX professionals to explore a wide set of ideas and also create a shared vision to move forward within a short amount of time. It incorporates brainstorming, critique, and prioritization into one condensed session. Therefore, running an effective design studio requires a multifaceted UX facilitator who is comfortable leading ideation activities to generate ideas, guiding attendees through design-critique discussions, and using prioritization techniques to build consensus on possible design directions or valuable features.

Though facilitating an effective design studio requires practice, the benefits of design studios are worth the effort for a handful of reasons:

  • Design studios include diverse perspectives. People from different teams or departments, with various backgrounds and experiences come together to share knowledge and solve a problem.
  • Design studios fit into tight timelines and fast workflows. A design studio typically condenses ideation into the span of a few hours or less, meaning it can fit easily into Agile environments or lean workflows.
  • Design studios are collaborative. Attendees work together to come up with ideas, identify themes and create direction as a team. Everyone contributes ­— therefore, everyone has increased buy-in into the success of the project.

What Exactly Is a Design Studio?

The specific methods used within a design studio can vary, but the workshop itself tends to follow a common framework of four high-level segments:

  1. Sketch: Each attendee brainstorms several individual ideas in order to generate a wide set of concepts. (This is the divergent part of the process.)
  2. Present and critique: Studio participants present their ideas to each other, and then have a chance to offer feedback and critique each other’s ideas, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of those ideas.
  3. Converge: Together, the group sketches a collaborative idea, making modifications or combining the strength of several ideas.
  4. Prioritize: Participants identify common themes or elements and determine which ideas are highly valuable.

The activities conducted can be adapted for timelines, group dynamics and environments in a variety of ways. Below, each of these four segments are explained in more detail, with corresponding examples of specific methods that could be used during each part.

Part 1: Sketch

Goal:

Generate a wide set of ideas in a short amount of time around a known and well understood problem statement.

Facilitation:

During this first part of a design studio, the facilitator leads the group through a timed sketching activity, such as charrettes, that results in a large amount of brainstormed ideas. It is critical to give participants a quantity goal rather than a quality goal, so that people without design backgrounds do not feel intimidated at the idea of drawing. The time constraint also keeps participants from censoring ideas too early, or pausing to think in too much detail about their ideas.

Method to Try: "Crazy 8s"

Try using the “crazy 8s” technique to help individuals generate ideas. It’s a sketching activity composed of three rounds. 

Round 1: 8 ideas in 5 minutes
Each participant folds a sheet of paper in half 3 times, then unfolds the paper. Each individual sketches 8 ideas in 5 minutes, one in each of the 8 rectangles created.

Round 2: 1 big idea in 5 minutes
Each person works individually to sketch one big idea in 5 minutes on a new piece of paper. You can build on a previous idea or combine elements of several ideas from the previous round.

Round 3: 1 storyboard/wireflow in 5 minutes
Building on the “big idea” from round 2, each individual uses a new piece of paper to sketch a storyboard on of all the key steps related to that idea that a user needs to take.

Crazy 8's is a sketching activity composed of three rounds that enables individual participants to generate ideas during brainstorming sessions.

Tips:

  • Reiterate and check that everyone understands the problem statement for which the group is exploring solutions.
  • Give participants fat markers and constrain space to 1/8 page cells to discourage too much detail in the early sketches.
  • Discourage talking during sketching. Individual concentration before group collaboration results in more ideas and more creativity.

Part 2: Present and Critique

Goal:

Share and discuss ideas through thoughtful and constructive critique.

Facilitation:

Each participant has a set amount of time to both present and receive critique; for example, three minutes to present and five minutes to receive critique. The facilitator should instruct participants to post their sketches to the wall and explain the core idea, while the other team members who are not presenting at the time provide critique. Ensure that participants understand the difference between critique and reaction-based feedback before beginning. Critique should revolve around how well a design does or does not satisfy established design criteria or aligns to known user needs.

Method to Try: Thinking Hats

Edward de Bono developed the Six Thinking Hats method in 1985. It is a discussion framework that defines six metaphorical hats which represent different modes of thinking, therefore enabling participants in a group to think and discuss ideas together effectively. A set time interval is used for each hat, allowing participants to have a focused discussion of each idea. 

Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats method provides six lenses through which participants structure discussion and critique of ideas. (Image source: http://www.debonogroup.com/six_thinking_hats.php)

The hats can be adjusted to whatever set of lenses is most appropriate and relevant for a group. For example, Google incorporates a modified set of thinking hats into its design sprint.

Google incorporates a modified version of the Six Thinking Hats into its design-sprint method. (Image source: https://designsprintkit.withgoogle.com/)

Tips:

  • If you have multiple groups, assign one person in each group a neutral hat (the blue hat in Edward de Bono’s 6 Thinking Hats). This person ensures the discussion stays within the chosen lens for the timed segment.
  • Use one hat at a time (as opposed to assigning different hats to different people at the same time) so that the discussion stays focused and objective.
  • Use red and green sticky dots to visual capture the strengths and weaknesses of each design in real time.

Part 3: Converge

Goal:

Take the strongest elements of various ideas and combine them into a new idea.

Facilitation:

Once the strongest areas of each idea have been identified through objective critique, allow participants to brainstorm as a group in order to continue driving the vision forward. Now is the time to create a group concept that incorporates those elements into a collaborative idea. Have each team work together to develop an idea based off of the strengths of previous individual ideas.

Method to Try: SCAMPER

If participants get stuck, share the SCAMPER method (by Bob Eberle) to provide a framework for evolving or combining many elements. Ask them to think critically about how they can apply each of the following concepts to the set of ideas that have been presented:

  • Substitute: Replace an element of the idea with something else.
  • Combine: Join two or more elements or ideas to create something new.
  • Adapt: Modify an idea so that it solves a problem it did not previously solve.
  • Magnify or Minimize: Make one element of the idea more or less prominent.
  • Put to another use: Think how the idea could be used differently than what was originally imagined.
  • Eliminate: Remove ideas or elements that are not relevant or valuable.
  • Reverse or Rearrange: Think creatively about how to turn an idea on its head or modify the order of its elements.

Tips:

  • Don’t just throw ideas out at this stage. Think about how they can be evolved or combined to become more relevant or stronger.
  • If there are several small groups, have teams go through another round of presentation and critique with each other at the conclusion of this phase.
  • Remind participants that they are not creating a single, final solution. Rather, they are simply helping to refine the overall design direction that will continue to be explored after the design studio workshop is over.

Part 4: Prioritize

Goal:

Create consensus within the group about common themes and the elements most valuable to the objectives of the design project.

Facilitation:

With a variety of ideas on the table, the facilitator needs to lead the group through some sort of convergent activity that solidifies the design direction resulting from the workshop. Otherwise, individual teams might walk out with the incorrect assumption that the concept they created is the final design. It’s critical to lead the group through an activity that defines and prioritizes common themes and elements and allows the group to document reasoning (and open questions). This process creates a record of the group’s logic to serve as reference for when development begins.

Method to Try: $100 Test

Collaboratively identify common themes or elements that surfaced throughout the designs. Give groups a collective “$100” (or any other monetary value) to spend on the list of features or concepts that have emerged from the workshop up to this point. Have the group decide together how to allocate value across the list of features. During the discussion, the group should capture reasoning for each amount allocated across the list of features. (See more about methods for prioritizing UX ideas, including the $100 Test, in this short video.)

The $100 Test allows participants to collectively assign value to common themes or concepts, and creates a record of the group’s logic and discussion for later reference. (Photo from an exercise in our full-day course on Facilitating UX Workshops.)

Tips:

  • Using the concept of monetary value (as opposed to arbitrary points) triggers a higher level of investment in the discussion.
  • Try using props (like fake coins) to aid in the discussion. The stacks of coins, as shown in the photo above, are a visual reminder of the shared value of each element or idea.

Conclusion

When time is taken to thoughtfully prepare and plan a design studio that follows this four-step framework, it’s highly likely that the activities will result in a lot of value for the team. It’s a way to maximize ideas, diverse perspectives, and buy-in in a condensed session that fits well within lean environments.

For deeper coverage and more methods, including hands-on expereience, we have a full-day course on Facilitating UX Workshops.