User Experience Strategy Workshops That Challenge Assumptions

Hack Your Team's Mindset: 5 Unconventional Warmups for Innovation Workshops 🧠⚡ Ever run an innovation workshop that felt like trying to start a car with a dead battery? That first 30 minutes determines whether you'll get breakthrough ideas or recycled thinking. Something that I call getting into the “psychology of innovation”. After facilitating several sessions, I've discovered something surprising: the traditional "let's go around and introduce ourselves" kills creative energy before it starts. Your team's brains are still in operational mode—not possibility mode. Here are five unconventional warmups I've tested that rewire neural pathways for innovation in under 20 minutes: 1. The Impossible Question Challenge 🔥 Start by asking questions that have no "correct" answers: "How would you design a restaurant on Mars?" or "What if sleep became optional?" This immediately signals we're breaking free from conventional thinking. 2. The Reality Bending Exercise ✨ Have everyone write down three "unchangeable facts" about your industry. Then challenge teams to imagine a world where each "fact" is no longer true. As Steve Jobs said, "Reality can be distorted"—this exercise trains that muscle. 3. The Reverse Assumptions Game 🔄 List 5-10 core assumptions about your business. Then systematically reverse each one: "What if we charged more for less?" or "What if our customers became our employees?" This shatters mental models almost instantly. 4. The "Yes, And..." Chain Reaction ⛓️ One person proposes a wild idea. Instead of evaluating it, the next person must say "Yes, and..." adding something to evolve it further. Continue for 3-5 minutes. This dismantles our innate criticism reflex. 5. Two-Minute Futures ⏱️ Give everyone two minutes to draw what your industry will look like in 2040. The time constraint bypasses the analytical brain and accesses the intuitive one. The crude drawings often reveal surprising insights about shared hopes and fears. Remember: Innovation doesn't need fancy frameworks—it needs minds free from invisible constraints. These warmups aren't just games; they're pattern-disruptors that help your team escape their mental programming. What's your go-to innovation warmup? Have you tried activities that break conventional thinking patterns? #InnovationWorkshops #CreativeThinking #DesignThinking #TeamFacilitation #Creativity #TransformativeMindset

Employees often miss what #CX is about, so I have an ice-breaker activity I've used at the beginning of #CustomerExperience workshops. Now, I offer this idea to you: At first, this will seem obvious and perhaps unhelpful, but stick with me, please. The activity is to have small groups spend 10 minutes discussing what drove their satisfaction and dissatisfaction with recent air travel. No, the outcomes will not be surprising—but that hides a really important point that will shake up participants' expectations and attitudes. Of course, everyone says the same things in this exercise. "I was satisfied because we arrived on time." "The snacks were better than expected." "The seats were surprisingly comfortable." "The flight attendants were attentive and pleasant." And, on the other side, "I was dissatisfied by delays." "Communications about flight changes were poor." "The seat was cramped and awkward." "The staff was grumpy and indifferent." I'll spend a few minutes collecting the drivers of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Everyone will nod in agreement. And then comes the point of this exercise: Absolutely no one will say that a driver of satisfaction was that the airline flew them six miles in the air and delivered them to their destination safely. In other words, the CORE experience--and the most important priority of any airline--drives virtually nothing in terms of customer relationships. Getting there safely is expected, not a driver of satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. That's the "aha." Whether you're talking to a group of healthcare workers who think their only essential function is reducing mortality and morbidity or a room of telecom execs who feel everything hinges only on uptime, the message is that it's not what we do but how we do it that drives differentiation, satisfaction, and loyalty. We all can become so focused on the delivery of our primary product or service--or achieving the chief KPIs--that we can neglect to understand the experience from the customer's perspective. Forcing people to consider their own experiences and perceptions as customers helps them to perceive that air travelers landing safely (or patients having successful surgeries, or your phone service working) isn't what drives differentiated CX and outstanding loyalty. Don't get me wrong—you can't miss the table stakes. An airline isn't forgiven for lax safety because it has fresh nuts, nor is a telecom company pardoned for unreliable service thanks to rapid call answer times. But delivering table stakes is not what drives the kind of rabid loyalty, sales, and margin enjoyed by brands with differentiated CX. Ensuring people realize this before introducing them to customer-centric concepts and practices opens their minds to new possibilities within their existing job roles.

Stakeholders flinching. Timelines freezing. And researchers left wondering if it was even worth speaking up. I’ve seen this pattern across so many teams when research challenges assumptions. There’s a tactical template link on making research land if you scroll down, but this is what I’ve seen work inside fast-moving orgs: 1. Start by mapping the landmines Ask “What would be uncomfortable to learn?”  Then design your questions to gently explore those areas. You’re not being confrontational, just deliberate. 2. Turn assumptions into testable questions List 2–3 product bets the team is confident in. Then ask: “What are we assuming about users here?” Turn those into user-facing questions. Bonus: involve stakeholders in writing them. 3. Trace insights back to real evidence When sharing results, don’t just say: “Users prefer option B.” Show the climb. Quote → Observation → Interpretation → Business Impact When stakeholders see how you got there, they’re more likely to stay with you. The Looppanel team has  put together an editable template with tabs for assumption mapping, landmines, question drafting, and evidence tracing: https://hubs.la/Q03wqPrY0 (make a copy to customize fields). I’d love to hear how you’re helping hard truths land at your org, and what’s worked for you. Comment, or DM if you like!

The biggest UX mistake that kills products is... 👇 Only listening to your power users ☠️ I see too many UX teams falling into this trap: - Testing with the same 10 "super users" who know every shortcut - Gathering feedback from only veteran users - Assuming your early adopters represent your entire market - Letting loud voices drown out silent struggles Here's the harsh truth: Your power users are lying to you (without meaning to). ↳ They've adapted to your broken flows. ↳ They've memorized your confusing navigation. ↳ They've become blind to the barriers that stop 80% of potential users at the door. Worse yet... They'll defend clunky 10-step processes because "that's how it's always been done." Meanwhile, new users expect modern, intuitive solutions. Here's your action plan: 1. Recruit Wide, Not Deep - Set quotas: 30% non-tech users, 30% over 50, 20% accessibility needs - Find people who've NEVER used your product - Include those who abandoned after one try 2. Watch for Silent Failures - Track rage clicks from new users - Monitor where first-timers drop off - Study the 3-second confusion moments 3. Create Friction Tests - Have your power users train newcomers - Document every "that's obvious" moment - Those gaps? That's where your product breaks 4. Challenge Legacy Thinking - Ask: "If we built this from scratch today, would we do it this way?" - Test innovations with fresh users first, then ease power users into changes - Track adoption curves: new users often embrace better UX faster 5. Build Diversity Checkpoints - Before every release: "Did we test with non-experts?" - Monthly reviews of user demographic data - Quarterly "fresh eyes" testing sessions Remember: Your product isn't just for the people who "get it." It's for everyone who needs it. --- PS: What's one feature in your product that power users love but new users can't find? Follow me, John Balboa. I swear I'm friendly and I won't detach your components.

It has been a while since I've done one of these. Let's look at a card from a card deck! For those who don't know me — Hi, I'm Rach, and I have a card deck problem — I'm obsessed with them. This card comes from the Pip Decks Innovation Tactics deck by Tom Kerwin. Let's jump into *10-Star Experience* What the heck is it? 🤔 ↳ An activity that pulls you to the extreme of reviewing a product or service. It helps your participants think BIG. ⚡️ How to do it... ↳ Step 1: Put the prompt out to the group to "Write the story of a 10-star customer experience" — encourage them to use words, pictures, drawings, video, whatever they want! ↳ Step 2: Provide a space for people to gather these ideas. Virtually this might be a Miro board. In-person maybe you designate some large format paper on tables or blank walls. Give people the environment to get creative. ↳ Step 3: Invite participants to read other's stories and digest those. At the same time, ask those participants to indicate pieces of the story they felt were exciting or surprising (you can use dots for this type of indication) ↳ Step 4: As a group look at the items that were called out with dots and review those. Bring interesting insights into your next activities. 💜 What I love about it... ↳ It helps people think differently when you expand the review beyond just words, like having people add drawings or pictures. ↳ Going past the 5-star review helps people get the craziest responses out of their heads, which is what we want! 💪 How you can use, remix, or even flip this approach.. ↳ Use: I like to use this activity for brand strategy or product development workshops to put participants in the mindset of their audience. ↳ Remix: Switch it up to a 10-star experience social media post, in the style of user-generated content. Giving this different perspective helps people think less formally in terms of a "review" ↳ Flip: What would a NEGATIVE 10-star experience look like? Flip it so people can look at it from another view. Just like starting with the worst ideas in a brainstorm, this helps people relax a bit more and have fun with it; get all those negative thoughts out first - then you can look at why those reviews are bad and turn the lemons into lemonade. 🔥 Facilitator tips for this activity... ↳ Use a Me-We-Us approach where you have everyone contribute individually first, then share in small groups, and then return to the larger group. ↳ Use the craziest idea award in conjunction with this to gamify it, and help people think bigger. ↳ Switch up your dots and use emojis (virtually or in-person stickers) What do you think? Would you use this activity? --- Found this useful? 🔄 Repost for your network. 🎉

When you hear the word “𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝,” STOP because anyone can fall for that trap—even NASA. Okay, so I know that sounds a little clickbait-y, but it happened… right in front of me. A while back, a team at NASA came to me with a clear request: 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵. Sounds simple enough, right? They talked about how the platform 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 increased productivity and collaboration of the org. When those outcomes were not gained, project leads assumed the problem was about usability. Over the years, I’ve learned that whenever I hear the word “should,” especially in a project’s early stages, it’s a sign to pause and get curious. And my gut told me we were definitely missing something. Here’s the thing—if a tool is truly valuable, people don’t need to be convinced to use it. So, instead of diving headfirst into a usability study, I took a step back and asked a bigger question: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮? Turns out, the way their teams worked together didn’t align with how the tool was designed to function. The real problem wasn’t the platform—it was the team’s workflow. Once we redirected our focus accordingly, we were able to come up with solutions that actually made an impact on productivity and collaboration. I’m not sharing this to say “Look at me! I worked with NASA!” (Although, that was cool) I’m sharing this because I think researchers can easily slip into being order-takers vs. strategic partners when it comes to scoping new projects. And it can happen without you even knowing it…particularly when your stakeholders are projecting—with confidence—what they perceive the problem is that needs to be solved. So, what does it mean to be a strategic partner in this case? -Ask many questions & challenge assumptions. -Approach scoping intent on distinguishing facts from assumptions. -Listen as much for what’s unsaid as for what is expressed. I could have conducted a usability study on the team’s collaboration platform. And I’m sure new product specifications would have come out of that work scope. Yet, none of those product improvements would have moved the needle on improving the team’s real goal, which was to enable better collaboration across the team. That all changed when we began to structure the project as a workflow initiative vs. a usability study. Moral of the story? Scope with a healthy dose of skepticism, ready to dig into every sentence that has the word “𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝” in it. When you do, you’ll walk away with a full understanding of what the team needs to achieve their real goal. Chances are, the real answer is hiding somewhere just beyond what’s being said at the start of that conversation. When was the last time you questioned a “should”? What was the result? Tell me about your experiences below! #Innovation #ProblemSolving #CustomerInsight

Battling business superstitions and “lore” is critical -- what do I mean? The only thing worse than making decisions with no data is making decisions based on poor-quality data—or making decisions on no real data at all—just a perception we have or what we want to believe is true. A common situation is when a team is brought together to solve a problem. Without current data and appropriate framing, the session quickly devolves into sharing opinions, old stories, and “this is how we’ve always done it” defense mechanisms. This is not helpful. Inaccurate information leads to wrong assumptions. Because when we think we “know” that something is true, like “Pluto is a planet” (is it or isn’t it these days? – depends on who you ask) or “this age group won’t like X,” we subconsciously shut down other decision pathways. We close the door on considering alternatives. It’s important to remind ourselves that opinions without contextual data are simply opinions – and poor KPIs may throw them off. We need to ask: Which data? From what source, which timeframe, and what authority? How much do we take for granted? But false data is worse than missing data. I call this “lore.” We each have to challenge our personal and corporate assumptions to ensure that the data we collect and evaluate is accurate and useful. Things change. Our beliefs need to be updated with new data and experience too. We know we can’t go overboard in questioning our assumptions; uncertainty and doubt lead to analysis paralysis. At some point, we all recognize that we'll never have all the data we need. That is where intuition and shared experiences kick in. That is also where new data and updated experiences should kick in. Ask yourself: Once we had confidence in this assumption because we did an analysis. How long ago was that? Does the conclusion still hold water? How do we know? When was the last time you had that conversation with yourself or your team? 

We’re told good PMs focus on solving problems. But as humans, it’s in our nature to want to provide solutions. Your role as a product manager is to keep the team focused on what moves the needle. A while back, I led a discovery session to explore ways to boost user engagement with one of our features. As the conversation progressed, I noticed we were all over the place—feedback was flying around on UI tweaks, potential motivations, and visibility, but we kept offering ideas without a clear direction. I paused the discussion, realizing the issue: we hadn’t clarified the exact problem we were solving. Was it: • 🔍 Users can’t find the feature? • ❓ They don’t understand how to use it? • 🚫 They’re not motivated to engage? • 🤔 They don’t see why it’s valuable? We weighed in on which of these were most influential. Some leaned toward motivation and value, while others thought discoverability was the real hurdle. Without data, though, we were all just guessing. Eventually, someone suggested user testing. We had ideas, feedback, and assumptions—but not a lot of data to confirm them. How are users actually interacting with this feature? Where are they dropping off? Our assumptions could only go so far. Testing your assumptions quickly is often the most efficient path to a solution that drives outcomes. Here’s a general approach to 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 that works: 𝟏. 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦’𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. Start by identifying everyone’s hypotheses about user behavior. 𝟐. 𝐑𝐮𝐧 𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭. Aim to get insights within a few days rather than weeks. 𝟑. 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭. Use real data to guide your next steps. In product management, the goal isn’t to add features—it’s to drive impact. Start with the core problem, test your assumptions, and build only what truly moves the needle.