One of the simplest tools we use in our early stage work to align project stakeholders is sketching. I call our approach conversational sketching, because the point isn't to draw the solution, it's to give people a tool to talk about their needs and perspective.
Typically people can't articulate what they need if we just ask them - sketching gets them into an expressive mode that taps into their implicit understanding of the project. As they draw screens, they surface that understanding - a perspective that frames their interaction with the project and other stakeholders. While we sometimes use sketching in one-on-one interviews, we most commonly use it as a workshop activity with a group of stakeholders.
Of course, since they are drawing screen elements, we are careful up front to introduce the idea that these are just "props for conversation" and that we won't be using all or even most of these specific ideas in the final design. The most important part is discussing why the things they sketched are important to them. That discussion helps each stakeholder understand others' positions, and to modify their own perspective accordingly.
Doing several iterations of sketching and conversation with a group of stakeholders goes a long ways to converging perspectives and viewpoints about project priorities.
If you'd like to build your own conversational sketching toolkit, here's what we have in ours:
We use laminated, letter-size sheets printed with a browser header and a grid. I've put together a template that you can print yourself:
Download the 8.5x11 size for North America or
Download the A4 size for people in pretty much the rest of the world.
We get them laminated with heavy-duty laminate at our local Staples copy center. I have about 100 in my kit because we work with fairly large groups (and each participant gets 3-5, depending on how much we need to talk about).
The sheets are laminated so we can re-use them. We also use wet-erase markers (the kind we used to use for overhead transparencies). These wipe off the laminated sheets after use (in fact, we sometimes rinse the sheets in hot running water if we have a lot to clean up after a session).
We give participants wet paper towels or sponges so that they can erase as they sketch. Knowing they can erase things makes ideas flow more freely, since participants don't concentrate so much on making it perfect the first time.
Finally, we sometimes use sticky notes as well to help identify functional areas or specific blocks of content.
So, that's the toolkit we use when we work with stakeholders to sketch their ideas and get their viewpoints out in public. Remember that the key is not the literal representation - it's about getting people to talk together about what's important to them.
I hope it's as useful to you as it is with us.
Posted in Methods on July 10, 2007
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