Remote Design Thinking workshops…yes you can!

Tips for running effective remote Design Thinking workshops.

Melissa Voderberg
UX Collective
Published in
4 min readMar 19, 2020

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2 people with clouds around them, an old desktop monitor, a cartoon wireframe

So… you’re working from home, but you still want to ensure you are following best practices and apply a human centred design methodology to your process. How can you best utilise online tools and software to get a great outcome?

For the last two years, I’ve run Design Thinking (DT) workshops with remote attendees; it can be challenging when you get a mix of attendees, some attending in person, while others dial-in. The great thing about running DT workshops with only remote attendees is that you can plan the session based on the same access and view.

A level playing field will actually improve your workshop experience!

Here are three top tips for running an engaging and productive remote Design Thinking Workshop.

1. Preparation

Pre-work

The key to a great workshop (face-to-face or remote) is making sure you carefully plan out your activities and send out a pre-work pack and agenda prior to the session. Pre-work is especially beneficial for remote sessions as it allows attendees to prioritise their time and jumpstarts the lateral thinking process. Align the pre-work exercises with the agenda, so it’s easy…

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