Explain why Strategic Play is useful “80/20” rule….and the lonely guy. Explain why we are using this today. Add that you my have tried many things in the past but that today we are going to do something new which is not only fun but “Hard Fun.” By the end of the day we hope to get all their great ideas out of their heads and onto the table. \n\nPacklist:\nLego kits\nIpod/jambox\nPresentation, computer/presentation mouse, power cord\nPostits and markers and painters tape for feedback door\n
Intro - who am I?\n\nAgile coach, software tester, development manager, usability evangelist, geek of all trades.\n\n
Through playful work, you can engage the creativity and enthusiasm of employees who may not be contributing everything they have to offer. \nWe’ve all known someone who feels their ideas don’t get heard, or who doesn’t speak up at all because they don’t think their contributions are valued.\nSerious play can help bring those ideas out.\n\n\n\n
Lego Serious Play originated within Lego. \n1999 Lego was looking for a tool to unlock innovation within the company – decided to eat their own dogfood and build their dreams. Built on that experience to create a global movement - originally controlled by LEGO, now an open source technology.\n\nGroup at the University of Lugano took the approach further, applying these concepts to a user-centred approach to gathering user requirements for designing online systems.\n\nThe study and systematic practice of play in the work place is a blossoming field. For a discussion of the value of play, Stewart Brown has an excellent TED talk.\n\nWhy does this work?\nEngaging hands as well as your verbal skills results in a different contribution to the conversation - "let your hands be the search engine for your brain" - discussion is visual, tactile, emotional and experiential and you may find yourself pulling stuff out of subconscious onto the table\nBuilding something in a tight time limit prompts the brain to work differently> new ideas emerge, allows the brain to offload meaning its trying to manage into tangible artifacts so that more processing can happen.\nEveryone builds, every one tells their story, everyone listens. Everyone is right.\nThe process guides people through individual reflection to a shared understanding\n\nNot an icebreaker, not a design tool for modelling space or org charts.\nTakes time\nNot to be used to persuade people – it’s an information and insight gathering tool.\n
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Now we are going to make a tower\nEmpty the bricks onto the table, keep them in front of you as this is your inventory for the day\nFind the black base plate (or brown) –this makes building a tower a bit easier\nMake or find the little person with the white pants, blue shirt and a yellow head. \nGive no instructions regarding how high the tower should be....if the builder calls it a tower, it’s a tower. \n(4 min to build)\n\nTower Debrief\nDid you build for height? For stability? For beauty or symmetry?\nWho thought the little person was doing anything?\n\n
Modify your tower so that it’s about your best/worst colleague on a project\n\n
Flow chart and hand out – if you don’t use the flip chart you can just explain this to everyone\nExplain this is based on learning theory\nThat we will take people in and out of the flow zone all day\nExplain Anxiety and boredom based on people’s experience and skills\nAsk if anyone felt anxiety today\nAsk if anyone was a bit bored\nTell them that all good –as it will make the workshop memorable\nThen remind them that it’s their job to get back into the zone if they slip out\n
Flow chart and hand out – if you don’t use the flip chart you can just explain this to everyone\nExplain this is based on learning theory\nThat we will take people in and out of the flow zone all day\nExplain Anxiety and boredom based on people’s experience and skills\nAsk if anyone felt anxiety today\nAsk if anyone was a bit bored\nTell them that all good –as it will make the workshop memorable\nThen remind them that it’s their job to get back into the zone if they slip out\n
Flow chart and hand out – if you don’t use the flip chart you can just explain this to everyone\nExplain this is based on learning theory\nThat we will take people in and out of the flow zone all day\nExplain Anxiety and boredom based on people’s experience and skills\nAsk if anyone felt anxiety today\nAsk if anyone was a bit bored\nTell them that all good –as it will make the workshop memorable\nThen remind them that it’s their job to get back into the zone if they slip out\n
Flow chart and hand out – if you don’t use the flip chart you can just explain this to everyone\nExplain this is based on learning theory\nThat we will take people in and out of the flow zone all day\nExplain Anxiety and boredom based on people’s experience and skills\nAsk if anyone felt anxiety today\nAsk if anyone was a bit bored\nTell them that all good –as it will make the workshop memorable\nThen remind them that it’s their job to get back into the zone if they slip out\n
The LSP process consists of four phases\n1 – construct a model that represents something\n2 – give meaning – building a metaphor that describes something of importance\n3 – make a story to share the metaphor and the meaning with others.\n4 – reflect upon the knowledge that has been exposed and consider how to proceed with it.\nEverybody builds. Everybody talks. \n
URL works as a supplement to other analytical techniques:\n playful & fun\n everyone in the discussion participates on an equal footing\n focused - approach requires focus on most important things, can’t just spout lists\n at the same time, holistic/systematic approach to the problem\n pushes unpredictability, spontaneity\n cognitive processes are influenced by physical manipulation and interaction\n offloading meaning onto visible and tangible objects helps mental work\n\n Disadvantages:\n Cost\n Completeness\n Willingness to dare\n
A URL WORKSHOP:\n3-4 hours\nFacilitated\nCarefully designed challenges\nA whole lot of LEGO\n\nIntro\nWarm up exercises\n7 Challenges:\nYour Role\nUser\nBlackbox landscape\nContent or Functionality\nFunctionality\nLandscape\nConnections\nFinal Landscape\n
Who are your users:\n\nYour team is working on the design for a new municipal website - the Ottawa Snowportal! The goal is to provide realtime information about snow information in Ottawa - where are the plows? adopting sidewalks for shoveling? travel conditions? recreational opportunties - tobogganing and x-country conditions around the city.\n\nWho are your primary users?\n
this is what you might get to with the landscape - users/system agents around the outside, connected to a shared central model that describes a collective understanding of the system.\n
