Warm-Up: converging towards a common vision

Collecting the needs and expectations of each of the stakeholders is essential to define the scope of a user-centric product.

If this step is necessary, it often turns out to be laborious, uncertain and always difficult. However, in the Lean UX method, there is a workshop which aims to facilitate the convergence of stakeholders towards a common vision of the project.

Thus, the Warm-Up particularly retains my favors as a User Experience consultant and trainer. I have seen its success with the teams I work with or the participants in our Lean UX training.
I share my practical advice here so that you can implement it in your projects, if this is not already the case...

Warm-up: definition 

The principle of Warm-Up is to quickly learn about the project and its environment in order to converge towards a common vision of the product: economic issues, strategic positioning, competition, end-user needs, etc.. 
This is the first workshop of the Lean UX method.

Duration of a Warm-UP

  • 1h 4 for people
  • 2h 8 for people

Participants

  • UX Designer
  • Customer (if necessary)
  • Product Owner
  • Trade representative(s)

You have been warned! ! Do not confuse kick-off project and Warm-up

With this workshop, we seek to understand:

  • What are the customer needs?
  • What are the targets of the project?
  • What are the benefits of our product / service?
  • Who are the competitors and how will we differentiate ourselves?

Warm-UP practical sheet

The principle will be to quickly learn about the project and its environment, to align business visions, to involve the various stakeholders, and to come out with a clear business need.

Preparing for your workshop

To increase the chances of success of your Warm-Up, several steps are necessary:

  • Identify stakeholders
    With the help of your Product Owner answer the following question:
    Who are my main contacts for my project?
  • Write an invitation email for attendees
    Explain who you are, the context and the objective of your workshop
  • To book a room
    Where you will be able to hang your template, stick post-its and easily interact with participants.
  • Anticipate the necessary equipment
    Post-its, black markers and Warm-Up template on A3 sheets and of course pastries and drinks.
  • Install your hardware 
    Hang the Warm Up template and place post-its and markers in the center of the table

Before you start ...

…I recommend that you follow these three steps:
#1: Get to know a ice breaker
Go around the presentation table. This will allow you to fully understand the role of each and that this information is known and shared by everyone.
#2: Explain the rules of the game
It is essential to take the time to explain the objectives of the workshop.
For example:  The objective of the workshop is to define, prioritize and align our visions on a common goal
Then, you must share the rules to follow in order to guarantee an optimal progress. Also, remember to explain the “why” of these rules.
"You will have 5 minutes per category to generate ideas.
It is important to use one post-it per idea.
We will then group your ideas but also prioritize them, improve them and for this we need flexibility on the material used.
Remember to write on your post-it in capital letters, this allows better readability."
Once these rules are laid down, explain the terms of your template. We must elucidate each gray area. Indeed, this could lead to frustration for a participant who would not understand what he is being asked to do.
# 3: Define the objective of the product / service
Are your first two steps validated? Your workshop can then begin!
First, you will define your goal by answering the question:
“what do we want to do?”.
Once everyone is in agreement, write your objective on a post-it and place it above your canvases so that it remains readable throughout the workshop.
Now you can focus on the different formats and answer the following questions:

  • Who are our targets?
  • What are their needs ?
  • What are the product categories?
  • What will be the customer benefits?
  • Do we have competition?
  • How are we going to differentiate ourselves?

Good to know: If you need to deepen a point that is not present here, do not hesitate to create your own questions to adapt your workshop to your environment.

Animation of the workshop

Ask your participants to stand up, bring a post-it note pad and take 5 minutes to write down all the targets.
#1: Repeat the rules mentioned above
Stay pedagogical with your participants, this workshop may be the first they realize and may be stressed to find themselves jostled in their way of approaching a meeting.
We would all be like that, let's be honest! Our role is therefore to support them.
#2: Invite participants to post their post-its as they come up with ideas
Seeing other ideas will help them generate faster. Once the idea generation is done, group similar information by group.
At this stage, it is important not to make the participants interact with each other.
#3: Make a summary of the main categories…
…and go to the next step. It is important that between each step you take the time to retrace the main categories in the form of a story. This is why we include storytelling in our training, for example.
Your participants will project themselves more easily and can stop you if something seems wrong.
#4: Converge, fence, photograph
Once all the steps have been completed, it is essential to redo a passage on each of them. Take the time to ensure that participants can speak one last time.
Check if everyone is converging on the result.
Then, all you have to do is thank your participants and close your workshop.
For your part, remember to take a picture of each template to facilitate the realization of the restitution.

Return of the Warm-Up

At the end of your workshop you must be able to announce a return date. The deliverable that you will produce and present will serve as your point of convergence.
To do this, do not hesitate to take your photos. Once it is finished, you can send it to the stakeholders or present it at a meeting, in order to validate “cold” all the points raised during the workshop.
It is important that the participants validate this support: it will follow you throughout your project and it is your working basis.

Our expert advice

Here are some very useful feedbacks.

8: the number of participants in a Warm-Up

The size of the dedicated team must not exceed the number that can be fed with two pizzas

Amazon (Jeff Bezos)
That is a size of 8 people maximum. To bring out a quality project, the recommended size is between 5 and 12 people.
The team must be big enough but not too big so as not to lose cohesion, creativity and also communication.

The PO is your friend

Feel free to ask the Product Owner for a list of people to invite. You can also co-host this workshop with him/her.

Document yourself beforehand

Collect as much information as possible upstream, on your client's targets, his field, his potential competitors to unlock the workshop.

Prioritize post-its

In order to deal with too many ideas, ask the participants to proceed to a silent vote with stickers in order to determine the essential information. Very useful for identifying a Minimum Viable Product.

Conviviality

In order to create a convivial context, conducive to creativity, do not hesitate to provide pastries, sweets, hot and cold drinks. Share a pleasant experience with the participants.

Group management

To facilitate speeches, give a ball (or other) to the participants as a “master of the word”. The person with the ball has the right to speak.

To conclude

The Warm-Up is the fundamental workshop of Lean UX. The success of the project largely depends on its quality. Also, to get started for the first time, I recommend a simple subject and to surround yourself with a caring team.
Over the course of your experiences, you will be able to animate it in all types of contexts and projects.
If you wish to deepen your knowledge of this workshop, our Training Center offers a intensive two-day course on Lean UX.
In the meantime, you will find the Warm-Up template on the link below. Download it and practice!
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Charlotte, UX Designer & Trainer @UX-Republic
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