How we do Solution Design Workshops
When developing mobile apps for businesses and consumers, it’s key to understand what your users need, why they need it, and what you need to build the solution.
A good app — or any digital product— adds something new or better to the world, and makes life easier in its own special way.
We at The Mobile Company firmly believe that human-centered design and great software go hand in hand. To that end, we’ve developed our own workshops that are efficient, involve our clients right at the start, cut costs and produce results immediately.
We call them Solution Design Workshops.
Solution Design Workshops — how and why:
- We run workshops with internal teams
Doing workshops with our own project managers and designers means we’re flexible, and can run them whenever and wherever we want. It also means we do workshops with teams dedicated to the project, who remain involved from start to end. - We deeply engage stakeholders
Through workshops, we involve customers from the very beginning. Clients have a wealth of knowledge to share. Projects start based on mutual understanding, run faster and more efficiently. The end result benefits greatly from this. - We focus on solutions and results
We run Solution Design Workshops to generate input for successful products, so it’s important to have that mind-set from the get-go. This means we shape our sessions towards solutions that provide real value for clients and their users.
People, post-its, action
Let’s talk process. What does a Solution Design Workshop at The Mobile Company look like?
Before the workshop
Good preparation is key to a great workshop. Our must-haves to get ready.
Lite benchmarking
To prepare for the session, we start off with lite benchmarking. We dive into the client’s business and do a short competitor analysis to better understand what happens in their market — necessary when running a good workshop.
Tech analysis
New products often land in pre-existing digital environments. We conduct a basic tech audit to analyse the client’s IT landscape and to forecast impacts. Also — do we understand each other’s way of working, and does the client look for a long-term relationship like we do?
Questionnaires
A good method to involve clients without them actually being at the table just yet. Helpful examples here.
Goals
We define goals based on what we want to achieve and solve, and share them along with our invite to make everyone aware of the reasons and expectations. Setting clear goals also helps to find the right workshop format.
Format
Every customer is different, so the needs and resources will vary. To get the most out of each session, we work with custom formats. Gamifying your workshop is a great way to help participants relax and come up with their best ideas. There are many useful kits out there; for some hands-on inspiration, we’d recommend designkit.org/methods and gamestorming.com.
Roles
We include participants with various backgrounds to get input from multiple angles, and typically involve project management, UX design and development. Clients include roles such as senior/middle management, administration and customer service.
Prep
We make sure that on the day of the workshop, there is nothing left to chance. Book a room to occupy without being interrupted (either at your location or the client’s), prep the whiteboard and the characters that represent the persona, get the tools ready — and go!
During the workshop
Time to workshop. In a 2 to 4 hour session we identify users, prioritise needs, brainstorm and sketch out ideas. When needed, we include branding.
Introduction (30 min): we welcome the client (or get ready at their place) and introduce what’s about to happen. This is the moment to jump to your first exercise; for example, think of names for your (fictional) users. Participants in our workshops quickly start creating stories for the users they’ve named, so it’s also a good way to get everyone involved.
User needs (30 min): after naming the fictional users, we dive into their goals and needs. Take 5-10 minutes per user, let everyone write down their ideas in short and descriptive keywords, collect the post-its and vote to define what’s most important and should get your focus.
Solutions (30 min): from defining the needs to brainstorming for solutions. Here we include anything from content to features and from design elements to something non-functional like the loading speed of a page.
Sketching (15–30 min): time to put the solutions on drawing paper. We often divide the group in smaller segments to get more ideas to compare, and to combine the best ones. Leave some time for discussion after you’ve put down the pencil, it will make for some valuable extra insights.
Branding (30 min): this is where we discuss anything brand-related. We typically focus on one or two actionable issues, e.g. brand name or app branding. Gain input from different perspectives through brainstorming and collective voting, then build an associative keyword cloud with descriptive words (we aim for roughly 8 per participant).
Mood board (60 min): we ask everyone to make a mood board (tips here) and walk us through it. Depending on what the board is for, it should include everything you need (e.g. for branding you’d include a logo, photo, icons, colours, etc). This energises participants and leaves them inspired, and it’s one of our go-to’s to wrap up workshops.
Tips & tricks
Choose the right space: it should be big enough and suited to facilitate your process. Consider where people feel most inspired and comfortable, so they can participate to the fullest.
Schedule breaks: running a workshop can be intense, so breaks are essential. Schedule 15 or 30-minute intervals in between the sessions to relax, reflect and align — throughout the day and after the most energy-intensive sections.
Keep the flow going: everyone should be able to participate freely, so make sure the group isn’t too big. Introduce the room and make sure everyone is invested. Inform upfront that there’s no such thing as a bad answer. When someone’s stuck, provide examples to help them get back on track.
Dot-vote: with a whiteboard full of ideas, you need focus. We use dot-voting to prioritise ideas throughout the workshop, and typically limit the number of votes per user to five for each of the participants.
After the workshop
The workshop is a wrap. What’s next?
Benchmarking 2.0
Now there’s a concept, we benchmark once more. We fully research trends, compare client operations against best practices and competitors, identify key metrics, define areas for improvement and start shaping strategies.
User interviews
To gain insights directly from users, we perform face-to-face interviews with 6 to 12 people, in 30 to 60 minutes sessions (tips here). Ideally we interview with two UX researchers per user.
If we’re one person short, we record. Recording allows you to make a short audio(visual) summary of the day — a helpful reference, and a great way to further engage your stakeholders.
User surveys
Interviews generate a lot of valuable data, but they’re not always viable from a time/budget perspective. In that case, we opt for online surveys (≥30 for reliable results) to define company issues, potential growth, alternative courses of action and areas for further research (more info).
First concept
We sketch out the ideas and make the first concept and an interaction flow, with the full set of screens and paths. Consider to start by showing the client your final mood board (we love doing that). Instead of already creating the whole design, the board immediately shows the direction you’re going in.
Validation
Also known as the moment of truth. Validation is when you get to see and test out how real people react to your concept.
We believe user testing is fundamental to building products that people will love to use, and will share our insights and experiences in upcoming posts on Medium. Follow us here to read all about it.
Your turn
Want to share your thoughts? Interested to find out more? Or are you ready for the next step, and eager to kick off a Solution Design Workshop for your own digital project? We’re just one click away.
Laura Mentink
Our techno-loving, recipe-trying and sneaker-collecting UX & UI Designer who’s madly passionate about making users happy.
The Mobile Company
We’re an award-winning Amsterdam-based mobile agency, working with leading companies and well-known brands to create apps for millions of users. We post about cool tech, awesome projects and other fun stuff. Want to chat? Get in touch. Learn more at www.themobilecompany.com.
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