Design Thinking Workshops – How To Run Them In 2024

What is a Design Thinking workshop?

A Design Thinking workshop serves as a collaborative endeavor aimed at navigating the intricate phases of the Design Thinking process. This structured approach fosters creative problem-solving and innovation within the team, addressing complex business challenges collectively. While traditionally conducted in person, the workshop format can seamlessly transition to remote settings.

The five fundamental phases of Design Thinking are as follows:

Empathize: Delving into a profound understanding of user problems and needs.

Define: Clearly articulating the challenge at hand.

Ideate: Engaging in brainstorming sessions to generate ideas and formulate potential solutions.

Prototype: Constructing tangible prototypes to visualize and refine concepts.

Test: Conducting real-time testing with users to evaluate the effectiveness of prototypes.

The duration of a Design Thinking workshop is adjustable, ranging from a concise two-hour session to an extended two-day or week-long exploration, contingent on contextual demands and goals.

While designers might initiate workshops to address design challenges within their immediate team, these workshops transcend disciplinary boundaries. The versatility of Design Thinking makes it applicable across all facets of business, rendering Design Thinking workshops valuable for individuals ranging from marketing and product development to sales and top-level executives. Let’s delve into the detailed benefits of Design Thinking workshops to understand their impact more profoundly.

Why should you run a Design Thinking workshop?

A Design Thinking workshop isn’t just a problem-solving session—it’s a powerhouse of benefits for businesses and individuals alike. This collaborative process not only helps find solutions to challenges but also nurtures a work environment that values teamwork, communication, and customer-centric solutions.

By embracing the Design Thinking workshop methodology, organizations foster a culture of innovation that revolves around empathy. This approach minimizes risks through testing and iteration, ensuring that the solutions are not just effective but also finely tuned to meet customer needs.

For designers, integrating Design Thinking into their process offers a fast track to creating user-centric solutions. This not only leads to quicker time-to-market but also enhances customer retention, generates significant cost savings, and promises a great return on investment (ROI).

Design Thinking workshops extend these benefits throughout the organization or a client’s organization. Here’s a glimpse of the advantages:

1. Teaching Problem-Solving Skills: Problem-solving is a crucial skill, and a Design Thinking workshop demonstrates it in action. Participants learn an approach they can apply to various challenges in different aspects of their lives.

2. Fostering Innovation and Teamwork: Design Thinking thrives on collaboration and thinking outside the box. While these might be second nature to designers, others can learn these skills through the workshop. It breaks down silos and guides participants on challenging assumptions—a perfect recipe for innovation.

3. Gaining a Competitive Advantage: Design Thinking workshops not only lead to groundbreaking solutions that set a company apart but also instill creative thinking. This creative mindset becomes a valuable competitive advantage when applied strategically.

Beyond the serious benefits, Design Thinking workshops are incredibly enjoyable and engaging. They bring together diverse groups, offering a rare chance to get hands-on with real problems.

Now, if you’re wondering how to set up and lead a Design Thinking workshop, let’s explore that together.

How to run a design thinking workshop: a step-by-step guide

Preparation

1. Define the Challenge

Clearly define the workshop goals—generate ideas or enhance existing designs. This is also the time to articulate the challenge or question the workshop aims to answer. Whether it’s unveiling new opportunities, solving a specific user issue, or enhancing a product, clarity is key. Frame your challenge as a “how might we” question, like “How can we increase our customer satisfaction?”. This broad question aligns with the workshop’s purpose—generating ideas to enhance an existing digital product. Refinement will follow during the workshop.

2. Prepare the Location

For in-person workshops, selecting the right space is pivotal. A conducive environment fuels creativity. Ensure comfy seating, good lighting, free movement space, presentation and storage options, snacks, and ample stationary. Setting up a workshop room with essentials like tables, chairs, whiteboards, and more sets the stage for success. For online sessions, choose appropriate meeting and presentation tools.

3. Write the Workshop Agenda

The heartbeat of your workshop lies in a well-crafted agenda. Focus on deliverables, balancing activities, time realism, and incorporating breaks, spontaneity, and reflection periods. Allocate approximately one hour per workshop section, ensuring a dedicated slot for debriefing after activities conclude.

4. Gather Your Tools

A well-equipped toolkit ensures a smooth and productive workshop experience. Equip yourself with the tools for maximum creativity. A digital tool like Vocean can assist you in both remote and in-person sessions, helping you run a structured and effective design thinking workshops.

With these insights, you’re on the path to orchestrating a Design Thinking workshop that’s not only productive but also an enjoyable journey of creativity and collaboration. Stay tuned for the next phase where we delve deeper into your workshop execution.

Executing the design thinking workshop

1. Introduction and Briefing

Set the stage by welcoming participants and outlining the workshop objectives and schedule. If you’re facilitating with a client, introduce yourself and clarify expectations. For extra tips on how to facilitate, check out our guide on workshop facilitation.

2. Ice-Breaker Activity

Warm up the atmosphere with a fun ice-breaker. Choose from engaging activities like “Two truths and a lie,” “My first job or “Five-minute portraits.” This sets the tone for collaboration and creativity. If you need more inspiration, see our list of icebreakers for meetings.

3. Introduction to Design Thinking

Educate participants on the essence of Design Thinking. Cover its definition, the five phases (Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test), and the ROI of Design Thinking practices. Share real-world case studies for practical insights.

4. Building Empathy for the User

The initial stride towards innovation involves grasping the needs of your end user—a pivotal message to convey during your Design Thinking workshop.

During the empathize phase, participants are urged to step into the user’s perspective and contemplate their requirements from the product.

Dive into the significance of empathy in design. Elucidate why prioritizing the user in the design process is crucial. For an in-depth exploration of empathy in Design Thinking, refer to available resources.

Traditionally, the empathize phase involves real user research. In your Design Thinking workshop, pair up participants, prompting them to take turns embodying the user.

Guide each participant to categorize what the user “says,” “thinks,” “does,” and “feels.” Drawing from their earlier observations, they’ll send in contributions with hypothetical or direct quotes and observations.

Allocate time for each participant to present their contributions briefly to the entire group.

Conclude with a group discussion on the insights gained. Encourage questions and reflections, fostering a collaborative atmosphere for shared learning.

5. Define a Problem Statement

Narrow down the design challenge into a specific problem statement. Craft a meaningful point of view and reframe it into a “how might we” question. Encourage diverse perspectives and lively discussions.

6. Ideation Part 1: Generate Ideas

Generating innovative ideas is a crucial phase in the Design Thinking process, and it involves various activities and techniques aimed at finding solutions to the identified problem.

In this pivotal phase, participants engage in a structured process to foster creative thinking and formulate potential solutions. Here’s a breakdown of the activities:

Begin by outlining the concept of ideation. Define what ideation is, explain the chosen technique for this session, and provide illustrative examples to guide participants.

Activity – Worst Possible Idea:

Utilize the “worst possible idea” technique to encourage participants to think outside the conventional boundaries. Allocate around ten minutes for individuals or groups to generate anti-solutions to the problem at hand.

Activity – Brainstorming Solutions:

Following the exploration of counterintuitive ideas, transition into traditional brainstorming. Dedicate another ten minutes for participants to generate as many solutions as possible, using either words or sketches.

Activity – Sharing and Feedback:

Promote collaboration by pairing participants to share their generated ideas. This step emphasizes the collection of constructive feedback. Questions like “Are the ideas effective?” and “Why or why not?” guide the discussion.

Activity – Refining the Solution:

Building on insights gained from user understanding and feedback, participants consolidate their ideas into a cohesive solution. Encourage them to express this solution through sketches rather than words, enhancing visual representation.

Activity – Reflection and Discussion:

Conclude the ideation phase with a group reflection. Discuss the key learnings, insights, and potential challenges encountered during the idea generation process.

7. Ideation Part 2: User Journey Mapping

Visualize the user’s journey through user journey maps. Define user activities, group them into phases, and identify goals and pain-points. Foster collaboration and creativity in crafting comprehensive user journey maps.

8. Prototype and Test Ideas

Now, let’s bring ideas to life! Participants sketch a user interface based on the user journey. Add functionality to the sketch and conduct user testing to gather valuable feedback. Decide on a winning approach as a group.

Reflect and Iterate

End the workshop with a reflection session. Discuss key learnings, insights gained, and potential areas for improvement. Encourage participants to apply Design Thinking principles in future projects.

With these strategies, you’re equipped to orchestrate an impactful Design Thinking workshop. Let creativity flow, collaboration thrive, and innovation flourish as you embark on this exciting journey of problem-solving and ideation.

Design Thinking workshop best practices

1. Prioritize the User’s Perspective

While it might be evident by now, amidst the workshop enthusiasm, the primary focus on the end user can sometimes slip away. Remind the team consistently to anchor back to the Empathy phase in the Design Thinking process. Utilize tools like empathy maps and user stories as tangible methods to ensure the user remains the central focus throughout the session.

2. Emphasize the necessity of collaboration

In the workshop’s dynamic environment, individuals accustomed to working together might naturally form familiar teams. As the facilitator, stress the importance of broad and cross-functional collaboration, encouraging the team to tap into all available talents. Optimal results emerge when diverse skills collaborate, fostering innovation and delivering effective solutions to the user’s challenges.

3. Acknowledge the cultural shift

Design Thinking extends beyond resolving a specific issue; it’s a transformative cultural shift. While a workshop serves as an excellent introduction to Design Thinking methodology, its impact shouldn’t conclude there. To achieve the most favorable outcomes, embed Design Thinking into every facet of product development and problem-solving. This approach ensures enduring effects and a sustained commitment to innovation.