I led my teams in design thinking workshops to better understand our community members and generate program and service ideas with the user at the centre.
Goals
To introduce new methods and ways of thinking for library program and service design.
Role
I designed and facilitated two 3 hour workshops with a group size of 4 – 6 participants. The workshop comprised of snacks, games and activities and many post-it notes.
Process
WORKSHOP A
- Staff created personas by filling out personas profile cards inspired from research data received during a community survey. Used these personas to understand potential goals and motivations.
- Used “How might we” statements with these personas in mind in order to ask how the library can meet community needs
WORKSHOP B
By creating empathy maps, staff learned to put themselves in the shoes of a community member from a partner organization — asking themselves what does this person: “say, think, do, feel”.
Together, we generated program and service ideas individually, in pairs, and in groups with opportunity for continuous feedback that would launch us into new streams of thought and ideas.
Outcome
My team demonstrated thoughtful understanding of our community members through new methods. Ideas generated were shared with our community partners, who in response were impressed by our work and we were able to move forward collaboratively with them in shaping joint activities.
