Lisa Otto's talk from the UXPA Boston 2018 Conference

1. Participatory
Paradigm Shifts
Workshop Methods to Design Innovative
Products and Services
UXPA Boston 2018
May 10, 2018

2. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
Lisa Otto
Experience Researcher
EchoUser
Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018

3. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
Research Goals
Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868.
So what exactly are we here to talk about?
Practical workshop methods for
exploring solutions where
there are no existing paradigms.

4. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
Research Goals
Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868.
Why not just pull
from our bag of UX
research tricks?

5. Image from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rero-robots.jpgImage from IDEO https://automobility.ideo.com/Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018

6. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
Map from Nesta https://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/speculative-
design-design-niche-or-new-tool-government-innovation
Futures Cone
Probable
Futures

7. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
Research Goals
Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868.
We’re going to
have to
explore values.

8. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
What is the role
of the designer?
Let’s take a step back

9. Designer as
Sole Genius
A designer brings their expertise to bear;
designer imbues products and services for
consumers to discover and respond to.
Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018 CC Photo by Matt Buchanan

10. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018 CC Photo by WOCinTech Chat
Designer as
Researcher
Values flow both ways from the designer
and the user; a designer uses research to
extract needs and wants from consumers.

11. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
User needs are not innate and discoverable through
design research but instead are formed as one
engages with products and services; a designer
supports participants in exploring their needs.
CC Photo from Future of Digital Access to Cultural
Heritage Workshop by Sebastiaan ter Burg
Designer as
Facilitator
Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018

12. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
Designer as Sole Genius
A designer brings their
expertise to bear; designer
imbues products and services
for consumers to discover
and respond to.
Designer as Researcher
Values flow both ways from
the designer and the user; a
designer uses research to
extract needs and wants
from consumers.
User needs are not innate and
discoverable through design
research but instead are formed
as one engages with products
and services; a designer
supports participants in exploring
their needs.
Designer as Facilitator

13. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
Where do these methods fit in?
Blending designer as researcher and
facilitator with participants

14. The
Methods
Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018

15. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018 Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868.
How will you travel to
work in 25 years?
Scenario

16. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
Scenario Framing Wicked Solution Mapping 2x2 Futures Matrix
Extreme Profile Cards
Define
the Problem
Explore
the Problem
Unpack
the Problem
Concrete/Solution Space Abstract/Problem Space

17. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018 Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868.
Scenario Framing
Start
How? Participants are given a concrete framework to describe
an issue or scenario and explore how they might solve it.
Why? We often hold assumptions and expectations about
the present and future without making them explicit. This
activity helps us make these explicit both for ourselves and
others involved so that we can begin to discuss and explore
them further.

18. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018 Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868.
Making assumptions explicit.
What are we doing here?

19. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018 Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868.
Scenario Framing
Start
My current situation is
My preferred situation is
To get there, I would

20. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018 Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868.
Scenario Framing
Start
My current situation is my commute takes a long time
I would arrive instantaneously
work from home
To get there, I would
My preferred situation is

21. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
Wicked Solution Mapping
Method 1
How? Participants explore the repercussions of a potential
solution through a mapping exercise modified from wicked
mapping.
Why? Once a possible change is made explicit, its short-term
and long-term effects can be examined. This activity provides
opportunity to think through how a single change might bring
about other changes, and allows participants and designers to
determine what other elements might need to be included in
any designs.

22. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
Wicked Solution Mapping
Method 1
How? Participants explore the repercussions of a potential
solution through a mapping exercise modified from wicked
mapping.
Why? Once a possible change is made explicit, its short-term
and long-term effects can be examined. This activity provides
opportunity to think through how a single change might bring
about other changes, and allows participants and designers to
determine what other elements might need to be included in
any designs.
Wicked Problem Map
Map by Lisa Otto Sarah Foley, Hannah Rosenfeld, and Catherine Oldershaw
https://medium.com/transition-design/transparency-trust-and-agency-in-
recycling-bafffb72492b
Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018

23. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018 Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868.
Putting assumptions
in context.
What are we doing here?

24. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
Wicked Solution Mapping
Method 1
Work from home

25. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
Wicked Solution Mapping
Method 1
Read less without
the commute time
Miss out on adjacent fields of
knowledge
Get lonely
Adding a dishwasher
to my apartment
Work from home
Easily distracted by
household chores
Lessened back pain
from not carrying
your computer to
work
Less distracted by
colleagues
Work becomes less innovative

26. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018 Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868.
What would you do with
these artifacts?
Now what?

27. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
2x2 Futures Matrix
Method 2
How? Participants consider other possible solutions through
a 2x2 matrix.
Why? Getting outside of our values and current situation to
think of other possibilities is not easy. This framework provides
a simple way to start thinking about all the possible alternative
ways to address our problems.

28. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018 Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868.
Reconsidering our
assumptions from other value
vantage points.
What are we doing here?

29. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
2x2 Future Matrix
Method 2
I have time to spare
I have no time to spare
Traveling is an
experience unto itself
Traveling is a
means to an end

30. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
2x2 Future Matrix
Method 2
I have time to spare
I have no time to spare
Traveling is an
experience unto itself
Traveling is a
means to an end
Quick virtual reality
glimpse into the office
Start working at destination
co-working spaces (fly to
Hawaii and work there for a
month and then fly on to
the next destination)

31. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018 Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868.
Extreme Profile Cards
METHOD 3
How? Participants step back from their problem and consider how
others might approach the problem space. The initial problem is then
reconsidered with these approaches in mind.
Why? This provides another way to frame alternative approaches to
the problem. It is easy to get stuck thinking that there’s only one way to
do things — this activity reminds us that there are many approaches to
every problem.

32. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
Extreme Profile Cards
METHOD 3
Long distances become traversable in
the blink of an eye and extreme distance
commuting becomes the norm.
Image and concept from Hyperloop One
https://hyperloop-one.com/
As walkability and proximity to
amenities becomes a recruiting
strategy, civic infrastructure for
pedestrians and bicyclists is enhanced.
Image and concept from CRTKL
https://www.callisonrtkl.com/future-of-
work/the-future-commute/
Transportation itself becomes our
workspaces allowing us to change
scenery as convenient.
Image and concept from Ideo
https://automobility.ideo.com/moving-
spaces

33. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
Long distances become traversable in
the blink of an eye and extreme distance
commuting becomes the norm.
Image and concept from Hyperloop One
https://hyperloop-one.com/
As walkability and proximity to
amenities becomes a recruiting
strategy, civic infrastructure for
pedestrians and bicyclists is enhanced.
Image and concept from CRTKL
https://www.callisonrtkl.com/future-of-
work/the-future-commute/
Transportation itself becomes our
workspaces allowing us to change
scenery as convenient.
Image and concept from Ideo
https://automobility.ideo.com/moving-
spaces
Extreme Profile Cards
METHOD 3
Re-envision my
commute as an
opportunity to
multi-task and get
in some exercise
Use work time as anopportunity to visitlong-distance
friends, eliminatingthat extra travelinstead of my
commute to the pod.

34. Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018 Jean-Marie Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II, 1868.
What would you do with
these artifacts?
Now what?

35. Thank You!
Participatory Paradigm Shifts | UXPA Boston 2018
May 10, 2018
Lisa Otto
lisa.otto@echouser.com
EchoUser.com/East