The low-tech recipe for remote design thinking
Remote team? No fancy collaboration tools? You can practice design thinking too.
People often pitch design thinking as a mindset shift to solve modern problems. Ironically enough, in its most cliché form it plays out through analog means. With everyone in a room together, people often write, draw, and discuss without technology.
However, when people can’t work in the same physical space, teams start to rely on tools like InVision, MURAL, and cloud-based document editors that allow for quick and seamless collaboration in real time. Teams lucky enough to gain access to them tend to adapt well in a virtual design thinking session.
But what if you can’t access them?
Workers lack access for reasons that range from sensitive information policies to tight budgets to an executive who doesn’t understand the tools’ value.
We won’t try to sugar coat it: Remote design thinking (and remote collaboration, in general) inevitably requires more time and patience when people rely on clunkier and more basic modes of communication. But it’s an endeavor worth pursuing nonetheless. If they want to stay competitive, companies can no longer demote a focus on their users to a “nice to have” — even if employees still work in computer programs from the 1990s.
We broke down how remote design thinking sessions can play out logistically in a relatively low-tech environment.
While this recipe won’t replace MURAL or things that share a similar purpose, it should act as a resource for people who want to build a new work culture without all of the processes, norms, and buy-in on their side.
Download the recipe here, and check out our Toolkit for some activities to try out with your team.
