As part of the Interaction Discovery project we will be holding workshops with practitioners to
explore our research questions in ways that allow participants to share knowledge and experience with each
other and more directly benefit from their involvement.
If you work in User Research, are a UX practitioner, or work in
digital-product design we would like to invite you to participate in a workshop,
exploring and sharing ideas about methods and challenges in achieving a shared understanding between
customers, designers and developers. We would like to know what you currently do to understand the
problem before thinking about solutions, and what the everyday challenges to this discovery process
are.
The workshops may also provide an opportunity to explore some of the questions that arise from
thinking about unwanted interactions, and how teams can build resilience into their thinking to avoid
surprises becoming shocks.
Remote workshops
For remote workshops, our preference is Microsoft Teams. Sharing sketches and ideas via a whiteboard app
is encouraged, but not essential. The workshop materials we use are available for
download, and
work just as well for individual notes with pen and paper as they do as a whiteboard background. The focus
of the remote workshops is the conversation around the task, not the task itself, so you can join with audio
only if you prefer. Using Teams to capture the conversation, with a separate whiteboard app like Miro for
spatial sensemaking activity, works quite well and allows you to use a tool you are familiar with for the
bit that matters to you, while we get the data we need in an environment where we know the information
governance aspects are covered.
Face-to-Face workshops
For in-person face-to-face workshops, we use a workshop method
(Ketso)
that combines individual idea generation with structured group discussions. The session starts with an
introduction to the question for the session, and we describe each part of the Ketso method as we go along.
You do not need to have previous experience with Ketso, and seeing how it works is one of the
benefits we hope you'll get by participating.
As part of my research, I have explored the idea of a User Jeopardy as the User Experience
analogue of a safety hazard. As a starting point for modelling ways a system might provide a bad
experience, I have defined four key user jeopardy provocations: Equity, Agency, Proportionality, and
Accountability. By considering these provocations, and the questions that arise from them, the
actual user jeopardies present in a design may be discovered during user research. These provocations have
been deliberately chosen to focus on ethical failures rather than functional failures because
ethical properties of a design are more stable over time.
Jeopardy Workshop Outline
The workshop starts with an explanation of what I mean by jeopardy, and why it might be helpful to
think about it. Then I present an outline problem and ask participants to think about it as if they they
were planning a user research campaign. The aim in that task is to think about what questions need to be
asked, and who should be in the room. When the activity reaches a suitable point I ask how the approach
went for them, and what they might change about it. I then suggest a possible way of visualising what
they have just learnt, by applying some ideas from the safety world, and discuss how that might work in
practice.
For those of you familiar with the
Pip Decks
workshop tactics
deck, what we do has aspects of the Premortem, SWOT, and Rose Thorn Bud evaluation tactics and the Journey
Map, Prototype Persona, and Assumption Collecting understanding tactics, but in an integrated activity.
In the pilot session, we found the Microsoft Whiteboard application quite useful, and on that occasion
Teams behaved itself and let us share one. If there are other tools (like Miro or Mural) that you are
familiar with and would prefer to use, then I am happy to discuss how we could best do that with you.
Participants will be sent a workshop information sheet and research consent paperwork by email. The
same information is available for
download,
so you can see it in advance, or find it later if the email gets buried in your inbox.
Ideally we would like a small group of 2 or 3 participants who are already used to working with each other.
To better understand current practice, and refine our research questions, we began the project with
community engagement sessions using the
Ketso
workshop format. These face-to-face workshops allowed us more flexibility and more opportunities for
serendipity than a survey could provide.
Ketso Workshop Outline
Ideas are written on leaf shapes, everyone in the group writing their own thoughts independently. Going
around the table, each person then shares their ideas with the group, so that everyone gets a chance to
contribute equally. The leaves have different colours to represent current practices, challenges,
goals, and innovations, so you can see at a glance what kinds of ideas you have. As the session
progresses related ideas are grouped together into the branches of a tree. The facilitator will provide
a series of questions to help structure the session and provide the appropriate kind of leaves for that
question.
We enjoy working with companies at their own premises, so please
contact us if you would like to do that.
Structuring questions
We start by asking how you know when discovery has gone well and you have a good understanding of the problem to be solved.
What does successful discovery …
… look like?
… feel like?
… produce?
Participants are given 5 minutes to think about that and write their own ideas on as many leaves as
they need. As we are defining the goal of discovery, we use yellow leaves. The ideas are shared one
person at a time, going around the table so everyone gets a chance to contribute.
Next we ask what you currently do that you like and works for you.
What works for you now …
… mindsets?
… methods?
… materials?
Participants are given 5 minutes for their own ideas, and we allow around 10 minutes for discussion
as they are shared. As these are things the group has found useful, we follow the Ketso convention of
using brown leaves. They are placed on whichever branch the group thinks is the best fit. We provide
some default branch labels as a starter: Mindset, Methods, and Materials.
The ideas so far will reflect the practical challenges people have, so next we ask what they would like
to do if they could ignore their usual constraints. For example, if they had more time.
What would you try with …
… more time / people?
… more space?
… permission to fail?
Again we allow 5 minutes individual thinking time before going around the table. These ideas may be
more creative so we use green leaves, and allow at least 10 minutes for discussion.
Some of the green leaf ideas may be things people have tried in the past and liked, but found
challenging in practice. We are interested in what the practical challenges are for successful
discovery, and that is the next question. Challenges are written on grey leaves.
What are the challenges …
… behaviour?
… surprises?
… technology?
At this point, if time allows, we take a break to reflect on the ideas that have come up so far, discuss
which have most impact, and think about how they are related. Depending on how many people are
involved, it can also be an opportunity to look at what other groups have thought about, swap
tables, and take time out to socialise.
Reflection …
… which have most impact?
… how are they related?
… which seems most important?
In thinking about how these challenges might be met, we are interested in practical steps that could be
taken. So, for example, if the problem is lack of time then the solution might be where and how extra
time might be found or how the time consuming things could be done differently.
How might you solve them …
… mindsets?
… methods?
… materials?
The final 5 minutes are a review of our original goals for successful discovery, and an opportunity to
associate them with particular branches if they fit particularly well with one of the themes that has emerged.
How is our vision of success …
… any new goals?
… any new criteria?
… any new priorities?
The Ketso method has been used successfully for various community engagement projects where drawing up
an action plan was part of the remit. The kit includes a grid to help do this, and we are happy to
facilitate a discussion of next steps if participants want to do that, although it is not part of our research.
During the session you will be given some background information and asked to provide some basic
details on your role. You'll also be asked to sign a consent form for our analysis of the ideas
shared. The downloads provided here are for information only, we will provide a paper copy.
The example Ketso cloth from our first session shows branches radiating out from the centre of the
cloth. If you have a lot of ideas, or want to put the cloth up on a wall, you may find it easier to have a
set of parallel vertical branches, in more of a candlestick arrangement.
Jeopardy analysis session 2 Tuesday 6th July 2021
The second external workshop was in early July 2021. Three website designers were given the
website personalisation
scenario to think about, in a remote workshop using Microsoft Teams and Miro.
Jeopardy analysis session 1 Tuesday 25th May 2021
The first external workshop was in late May 2021. Three UX designers were given the
Monday Broadcasting scenario to think about, in a remote workshop using Microsoft Teams.
Pilot jeopardy analysis session Monday 11th January 2021
Our first remote workshop in Microsoft Teams was in early January 2021. That identified a number of
improvements to the user jeopardy workshop format, that are reflected in the materials available for
download from this page.
Company in-house Ketso session Monday 13th January 2020
The first of our 90 minute in-company sessions was held in early 2020, before a certain virus intruded, and
involved three groups of practitioners from a large retail organisation.
Open Ketso session at The Landing Tuesday 9th July 2019
The workshop was organised and funded by UCLan, as an open session for anyone but particularly aimed at
small start-ups. It was free to participate and there was a break for drinks and pizza mid-way.
Registration was provided by
Eventbrite.
Pilot Ketso session at UCLan Thursday 27th June 2019
The first workshop was held at UCLan, as an internal pilot session to validate the questions and
timing. Participants were teaching staff and a product designer from the Innovation Clinic.
