Recipes for facilitating great workshops using the persuasive patterns card deck. Learn how to define workshop goals and wanted outcomes and understand how to direct your efforts effectively.

1. ui-patterns.com - info@ui-patterns.com - @uipatternscom
Anders Toxboe
Workshop
methods
How to use the
Persuasive Pattern
cards

2. Workshop tips
How to use the cards

3. Workshop tips
A good start
Identify yourself Identify your intent Identify what you
are looking for

4. Workshop tips
A good attitude
Non
judgemental
Relaxed Enjoyable
The right atmosphere

5. Workshop tips
A good approach
Learn
Analyze the information you’ve
collected to identify patterns and
insights.
Look
Observe people to discover what
they do rather than what they say
they do.
Ask
Enlist people’s participation to
elicit information relevant to your
project.
Try
Create simulations to help
empathize with people and to
evaluate proposed designs.

6. Workshop tips
A good facilitation
Remind
Remind workshop participants
of various approaches.
Focus
Pull participants back into focus
once straying away becomes
unproductive.
Suggest
Suggest and explain ways to
apply principles throughout all
stages of a project.
Restrain
Restrain yourself from being too
dominant. Only interfere when
it’s absolutely needed.

7. Workshop tips
A good facilitation
Use constraints
Constrain thinking to generate
volume in ideas.
New territory
Use analogous situations to take
you to new territory.
“Yes and…”
Defer judgement and build on
each other.
Selection criteria
Define selection criteria up to
choose the ideas you will take
forward.

8. Workshop tips
The Medici effect
"When you bring together diverse teams
and perspectives, you have the ability to
create an exponential increase in ideas"
- Frans Johansson
Source: The Medici Effect, Frans Johansson, 2006

9. How to use the cards
Workshop goals

10. Concept
Sections
Components
Define what level you want to
brainstorm on

11. Best solution
is missed
Refinement Exploration
Refine
from here
Many alternate
solutions explored
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

12. Current
solution

13. Local maxima
Local maxima & better design

14. Design Optimization
What works best in the current model?
Design Innovation
What is the best possible model?

15. How to use the cards
The best goals…
… works for both innovation and optimization
Too narrowly defined goals
Will force optimization and make innovation harder
Too broadly defined goals
Will make refinement harder - any solution will do

16. Common design goals
Acquisition
How much does it cost to acquire
a new user?
Conversion
Where in your flow do your users
fall off as they move through a
funnel
Prevention
Do you want to prevent users
from deactivating their account?
Activation
Do you want to keep your users
on your site?
How to use the cards

17. How to use the cards
Workshop recipes

18. Recipe 1: What if…
Starting point:
I’m stuck, I need to come up with a
concept for my project
1. Pick random card from deck
2. Start dreaming up new features
along the card’s pattern
3. Repeat…
Force
thinking
outside the
box

19. Recipe 2: I need my users to…
Starting point:
I know what I want users to do, but not how to
achieve it.
1. Define outcome
2. Explore patterns to find out how outcome can be achieved
Explore behavioral goals

20. PATTERNHow can I use
Explore behavioral goals
to achieve GOAL

21. Recipe 3: Are there any other ways to…
Starting point:
I’ve got an existing working solution, but have hit a
dead end.
1. Define outcome
2. Remove already used patterns from deck OPTIONAL
3. Explore alternative patterns as to how outcome can be
achieved
Explore alternate solutions

22. Explore alternate solutions
If our existing
solution is a circle,
then what if we made
it a square instead?
Or what
about a triangle?

23. Recipe 4: Force connections
Starting point:
I need to innovate to a new solution
1. Define outcome
2. Pick a seemingly unrelated card
3. Force brainstorming your problem with the pattern
Forcing connections between unrelated things will force new perspectives,
which might not be related to the card you drew.
Explore alternate solutions
Force
thinking
outside the
box

24. Recipe 5: Reversing the problem
Starting point:
I need to innovate to a new solution rather than optimize
1. Reverse the problem
“What if we were to make people spam?”
2. Explore patterns to find out how outcome can be achieved
Exploring the reverse problem can lead to new perspectives that helps you
redefine your problem space.
Redefine problem space

25. Recipe 6: Switch it up
Starting point:
Multiple teams in same workshop. One team has already gone
through the whole deck and are out of ideas.
1. Define outcome
2. Explore patterns to find out how outcome can be achieved
3. Present solutions to other team
4. Switch solutions and brainstorm on to build on those ideas.
Build on each other’s ideas

26. Troubleshooting
What do to when it goes wrong

27. Participants can’t keep focus
1. Free their mind. Ask participants to have a notepad and a pen
at their hand and write everything down that isn’t related to what
they are to solve.
2. Smaller teams. Divide people into smaller teams to encourage
participation and accountability.
Troubleshooting

28. Ideas are not implementable
1. Focus on how instead of what. Don't stop at meaningless
what statements like "easiest to use" or "simple". How are you
going to do that? Once you have closed down on what, then
work focused on how to actually create delightful experiences.
Troubleshooting

29. ui-patterns.com - info@ui-patterns.com - @uipatternscom
Anders Toxboe
Pre-order the cards
at cards.ui-patterns.com