Design Thinking Workshops That Foster Collaboration

Back in 2017, my team had a simple but powerful ritual. We held "I have a design challenge" meetings, where someone would bring a project they were working on, and we’d workshop it together. These sessions weren’t just about fixing problems. They helped us grow our skills as a team and learn from each other’s perspectives. In 2024, I wanted to bring that same energy to learning designers looking to level up their skills in a fun and engaging way. This time, I turned to Tim Slade’s eLearning Challenges but took a different approach. Instead of just participating, we started doing live reviews of the challenge winners. How It Works One person drives the meeting, screensharing the challenge winner’s eLearning project while recording the session. We pause at each screen and ask two simple but high-impact questions: ✅ What worked well and why? ✅ What would you do differently and why? This sparks rich discussions on everything from instructional design and accessibility to visual design and interactivity. Everyone brings their unique expertise, turning the meeting into a collaborative learning experience. Want to Try It? Here’s What You Need ✔️ A web conferencing tool with recording capabilities ✔️ Adobe Premiere Pro or a transcript tool (optional, but helpful) ✔️ A generative AI tool like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude (optional for extracting themes from discussions) After the session, we take the recording and import it into Adobe Premiere, which generates a transcript in seconds. Then, using GenAI, we pull key themes, quotes, and takeaways, turning raw discussions into actionable insights. Why This Works This approach takes learning from passive to interactive. You’re not just seeing best practices. You’re critically analyzing them with peers, learning through feedback, and refining your own instructional design instincts. Would you try this with your team? Have you tried something similar? What worked well? #InstructionalDesign #GenAI #LearningDesign #eLearning #AIinLearning #CourseDevelopment #DigitalLearning #IDStrategy #EdTech #eLearningDesign #LearningTechnology #InnovationInLearning #CustomerEducation

The best way to teach brainstorming? Let students brainstorm your teaching approach. Today, our design thinking class at the University of Kentucky, TEK 300, "Teens and Screens," reached a pivotal moment. With midterms behind us and spring break over, we faced a critical question: How might we structure the remaining weeks to promote deeper understanding rather than just blasting through the steps of our semester-long project? Instead of deciding for our students, we chose to "eat our own dog food"(as they used to say at Apple). (HT Reinhold Steinbeck, charles kerns) We turned our students into users and co-designers through a structured brainwriting session focused on this challenge. The process was beautifully simple: • Students received worksheets with our "How Might We" question and a 3×5 grid • Everyone silently wrote initial ideas (one per box) in the first row • Sheets rotated three times, with each person building on or adding to previous ideas • We ended with a gallery walk and dot-voting to identify the strongest concepts In just 20 minutes, we generated over 50 unique ideas! The winner? Incorporating hands-on, interactive activities in every session that directly connect to that day's learning objectives. The meta-realization? We were already practicing the solution before formally adopting it. The brainwriting exercise itself exemplified exactly what our students told us they wanted more of. My teaching partner Ryan Hargrove immediately began storyboarding how we'll implement this approach, moving us closer to the collaborative learning journey we want to have with our students. We're moving from "Once upon a time..." (not as great as we could be...) to "Students designed..." (active participation), to "Now we really dig learning all this..." Your students already know what they need; your job is to create space for them to tell you. P.S. What teaching approaches have you transformed by inviting your students to become co-designers of their learning experience? #DesignThinking #HigherEducation #TeachingInnovation #BuildingInPublic #StudentCenteredLearning

Ensure all voices are heard by leaning into CURIOSITY! Designing inclusive working sessions can start by inviting questions from EVERYONE- for example, the technique below honors introverted voices and fosters diverse perspectives. Try out some of these practical techniques below in your next meeting or collaboration session… Quiet Reflection Time:  ↳ Create an environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their thoughts. Structured Brainstorming Sessions:  ↳ Ensure each participant has designated speaking time to reduce pressure. Rotating Facilitators:  ↳ Vary leadership styles and ensure diverse voices are heard throughout discussions. One-on-One Discussions or Smaller Group Settings:  ↳ Provide intimate settings where introverts can freely express their ideas. Techniques like this create an environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their thoughts. This approach isn't just about diversity. It's about harnessing the power of all perspectives. Together, we can foster environments where every voice contributes to success. Let's ensure that every team member feels empowered to bring their best to the table.

After working with numerous #DesignSystem teams, I feel that one underperformed activity is the actual collaboration with product teams and conducting product inventory workshops. The Design System Inventory Workshop is a practical approach aimed at improving how design system and product teams work together. The workshop involves analyzing a product comprehensively by mapping the sitemap, taking screenshots of its various pages, and then reviewing them together. The main goal is to identify and catalog the patterns and components seen across the product's flows and features. This process helps determine which components can be reused or should be replaced with standardized options from the design system. This method benefits both teams. Product teams learn about the design system's structure and the reasoning behind it, while design system teams get to work closely with product teams. This direct interaction is invaluable for understanding how components are actually used in the product, discovering any variations that were not considered, and identifying new components that could be standardized and added to the design system. Moreover, this workshop is useful regardless of whether a design system is just starting out or already in use and needing wider adoption. It goes beyond simple metric analysis, which only shows how components are currently used. This more in-depth review reveals new patterns and opportunities for the design system, leading to better prioritization and decision-making. Most importantly, it strengthens the working relationship between the teams, laying the groundwork for effective collaboration and shared understanding 👋 In my upcoming series of articles, I'll be sharing a guide on conducting these workshops, complete with practical tips and examples. Your feedback is important—drop a comment if you'd like access to the Design System Inventory Workshop materials