How Speed Pictionary helps product teams reduce miscommunications

Pansy Lee
Pansy Lee
Nov 7 · 3 min read

How many times has this happened?

You describe the problem and the solution that needs to be built in words or in writing and in the end when it’s built, it’s not what you thought it was going to be.

When you explain your problem and solution to the team in words and documentation // Image Credit: Jeff Patton & Associates

Words can only go so far. There’s a reason why they say a picture is worth a thousand words.

But asking people to draw often makes them nervous because they think it needs to be beautiful or that they will be judged on their artistic skills.

Picture of the Mona Lisa
Picture of the Mona Lisa
What people think you are asking for when you ask them to draw // Image credit: Leonardo da Vinci

The reality is a good diagram doesn’t need to be beautiful or polished to communicate an idea, you’d be surprised how far a few sticks, boxes, arrows and scribbles can go to get everyone envisioning the same thing.


To help get more people comfortable with whiteboarding what they have in their head, I came up with a fun game aimed at:

  • Getting people comfortable with drawing really low fidelity pictures.
  • Showing that simple stick drawings are just as effective as, and in some cases more effective than, high fidelity pictures.

Game: Speed Pictionary

Materials

  • Whiteboard (bigger the better)
  • Whiteboard markers (expect them to be destroyed — excited drawing causes destroyed tips)
  • Timer (you can use your phone)
  • Word generator (I use https://www.thegamegal.com/word-generator/ it has different levels of difficulty and it’s easy to get to the next word quickly by hitting the space bar)

How to play

  • Split group into two teams (mix people to build new relationships or keep squads together to deepen relationships).
  • Determine who goes first (rock paper scissors).
  • Team 1 sends someone from their team to draw on the board.
  • Set timer to 1 min (or however long you want based on group size).
  • Hit the space bar to get a fresh word and begin drawing, and start the timer.
  • Team 1 guesses what their teammate is trying to draw. No talking or gestures allowed from the person drawing.
  • When Team 1 successfully guesses a drawing, the space bar can be pressed to get the next word.
  • The goal is to draw as many words as possible.
  • When time is up, count the number of successful guesses and add it to the team tally.
  • Team 2 sends their person to draw and Team 2 guesses.
  • Repeat until everyone has had a turn.

How to win

  • Tally up the points for each team — highest number wins.
  • If there is a tie , each team picks a rep and you do another round. If it’s still tied, repeat until it’s broken.

Game variations to consider

  • Steals: the team drawing has a half-drawn picture that they didn’t successfully guess when the timer ran out. Do you let the other team have one guess at it to steal a point?
  • Skip words: is the person drawing allowed to skip words they don’t know? If so, how many will you allow? One? None?

Happy drawing everyone!

Pansy Lee

Written by

Pansy Lee

Director, Product & Design at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. 😍: human centered problem solving, product management, design, spreadsheets & crosswords

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