Workshop Planning for a Design team

The Product

The product my design team is working on is a mobile health app for mental health management, to be used on smartphones.

The Team

Our diverse team consists of 10 individuals from multiple different design backgrounds.

The Setting

Our design workshop will take place in a meeting room at the office and last one workday (9 AM - 5 PM).

The Need

The workshop is being held because we have a steady minimum viable product, but are looking for ways to improve it by adding new and impactful features.

Preparation

Here's a list of tasks I must do to prepare for the workshop:

1. Create an agenda to be sent to all attendees detailing the workshop's structure, tasks, and any other relevant information.
2. Send out invites to the workshop at least two weeks in advance.
3. Gather necessary physical tools like pens, post-its, whiteboards, markers, etc.
4. Reserve the meeting room.

Agenda

9:00 - 9:10 AM Arrival and Settling In

• Allow time for people to arrive, grab a coffee, and engage in small talk.
• Set up the screen, whiteboard, and other tools needed for the workshop.

9:10 - 9:20 AM Introduction

• Introduce the team to the agenda for the day.
• Set discussion rules and answer any questions.

9:20 - 9:40 AM Ice-breaker

• Each teammate selects three emojis that describe their mood and feelings for the day.
• They post these emojis on Slack and explain their choices.
• Present the ice-breaker to the team and give them 5 minutes to select their emojis.

9:40 - 10:40 AM Goal Alignment

• Use the whiteboard and post-its for this activity.
• Give the team 5 minutes to write down what they think the team should accomplish during the day.
• Discuss and vote on the most important goals.

10:40 - 11:00 AM Break

11:00 - 11:30 AM Idea Generation

• Divide the whiteboard into sections based on app features (e.g., "meditation", "journaling", "mood tracking").
• Teammates write ideas for improvements or new functionalities and stick them onto the whiteboard.

11:30 - 12:30 PM Idea Discussion

• Read out each post-it on the whiteboard.
• Discuss each idea as a team, ensuring that we aren’t shutting any of them down.
• Group similar ideas together.

12:30 - 1:30 PM Lunch

1:30 - 1:40 PM Voting

• Vote on the ideas generated before lunch.

1:40 - 2:10 PM Analyzing and Organizing

• Discuss the results of the votes.
• Organize the ideas by priority and feasibility.
• Select 3 ideas to focus on.

2:10 - 2:20 PM Dividing into Groups

• Assign each team to one of the improvement points.

2:20 - 3:20 PM Team Brainstorm

• Each team brainstorms their solution, discussing implementation.

3:20 - 3:40 PM Break

3:40 - 4:50 PM Idea Presentation and Discussion

• Each team presents their ideas.
• The rest of the team weighs in and adds to it.

4:50 - 5:00 PM Next Steps, "Thank Yous", and Goodbyes

• Thank everyone for their participation.
• Explain the next steps and ask for feedback on the workshop.
• Schedule a follow-up call with the product owner to discuss the ideas.

Post-workshop

Here's a list of tasks I must do as a follow-up to the workshop:

1. Gather, record, and organize all the ideas and information from the workshop.
2. Send out a form questionnaire to the team about the workshop.
3. Book a call with key teammates and product owners to discuss the ideas.