1. Do it because you love it
I just can’t get enough of Design Jams. It is part of my DNA to do things quickly, so I can move on to the next interesting thing. So naturally, I am attracted to events that allow me to do exactly that!
After falling in love with the first 2 Design Jams in London (Nov 2010, February 2011) it dawned on me that I really appreciated the advice from mentors, there to guide us along and make sure we weren’t twiddling our thumbs and wasting time. So I made it known to both the London Design Jam and Oxford Design Jam organisers that I was ready and willing to crack a whip at their next events!
First to except my offer were Design Jam Oxford! co-organised by: Al Power@AlPower, James Morris@JimmyMorrisUK, Mariana Mota @MarianaMota
Teams were self-organised in the first few minutes. Once the dust settled and everyone was in a team the design gauntlet was thrown down: Commuting, whether it’s by car, cycle, train, plane, or foot can be a logistical, environmental and economic challenge. How do we make the commute less boring and more of a useful experience? We want you to come up with an application for that.
An awesome challenge and a very apt one considering that everyone in the room has a point of view on their ‘commute’. If you can get yourself into this excited state, you can’t help but be influential and helpful when mentoring!
2. Make it personal
- Understand the challenge and if possible feed into it before it is issued on the day (I did!). You need to buy into what the challenge is, understand and be passionate about it. If you aren’t, you won’t be able to offer that extra innovative insight or help.
- Understand team dynamics and have empathy for each team member. Understand what each person brings to the table (skills) and help ensure no idea is turned down in the beginning. Help each person voice their opinion. Challenge things that aren’t right in the way they are working. Suggest ways they can work together quickly and learn to trust each others skills.
- Imagine you are one of the team and suggest ideas (without leading them) once you have fully understood the ‘angle’ they are taking to tackle the challenge.
3. Act as a catalyst
- Be quick. There is only 4.5 hours of real working time. You need to be able assess a team’s state of mind and progress at any point, then effectively guide them quickly through the ‘Research and exploration’ phase, jump into the ‘Design’ phase, work through that quickly to consolidate their thoughts into a ‘Final presentation’ to sell their ideas to the rest of the teams. Try structuring phases with proven design methods (see previous blog: Design Jam London 2 – a more structured design process )
- Don’t be afraid to break things and start again. Challenge teams as to whether their idea is unique enough. At times a better idea comes about once you break away from the status quo of producing something pretty good and hopefully end up with something much more amazing!
- Remind and encourage teams to base their decisions on UCD principles and include ‘real’ user testing (needs and motivations), usability best practices, do-ability (can it be built and using what software?) whilst always keeping an eye on what is trending, innovative and ask if it really solves a real world problem.
Links to the team wikis:
7 – Green Kangaroo: Join the Hoppers Programme
A great days was had by myself and the other mentors,Dr Jon Dodd (MD and co-founder of Bunnyfoot, a leading behavioural research & UX consultancy) and Martin Amor (Innovation Consultant – expert in the behaviour and language that makes innovation happen in business).
Great also to see Johanna Kollmann @johannakoll, Desigan Chinniah @cyberdees (co-owners of London Design Jam) and Salim Virani (Lean Startup, London) @SaintSal
