#TietoPED2018 - Planning, executing and sharing one complete Billboard Design Thinking workshop

I was privileged to get the opportunity to run a three hour Billboard Design Thinking workshop at Tieto's PE Days 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal. The topic of this Pulp and Paper industry event was about production excellence, and the free three-hour workshop we offered was investigating which of the current IT trends are most relevant for the Pulp and Paper industry in 2018.

This article will walk you through what it takes to design and execute a Billboard Design Thinking workshop, and I will share all preparation materials as well as the results and documentation we created in 24 hours including a clickable prototype you can try on your mobile phone.

Before I start one big thanks to all participants

Antti Vehkala (UPM-Kymmene Oyj), Armando Batista (Consultant), Eva Harstr?m (BillerudKorsn?s), Jaroslav Jaros (Mondigroup), Jürgen L?w (UPM Plattling), Lin Hui (HTRH), Tang Cong (HTRH), Manfred Hass (Mitsubishi Hitec Paper Europe GmbH), Jyri Lankinen (Mets? Group), Paivi Varvemaa (PM Biochemicals), Seija Miettunen (UPM-Kymmene Oyj) and of course thanks to my co-moderator Reinhard Wismath.

Also thanks a lot to Gartner for the excellent video summarising IT trends in a brilliantly simple way: Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2018

The challenges we had were

1. How could we evaluate all new trends and ask for ideas in such a short time
2. How can we convince participants Design Thinking is worthwhile using for their next project
3. How could we deliver both a proper documentation and prototype within 24 hours
4. What would we be able to show next day on stage

The purpose of this challenge was on the one side to show how efficient Design Thinking works and what results you can expect in a short time and on the other hand, we were eager to give decision makers and managers an opportunity to take part in a workshop and experience first hand how Design Thinking works. We also are hoping they liked the concept and will consider using it for their next project.

Why we openly share all templates and results with you

Tieto's aim is to be the customers first choice in the IT industry. Design Thinking is a method that helps customers execute projects faster, more efficiently and with significantly less risk. Design Thinking is used to ensure and double-check nothing was overlooked at the beginning and the product to be delivered will live up to the promises and expectations agreed on at the project.

We do not fear you will copy the workshop, but we fear you will not!

Billboard Design Thinking workshops have been super successful for Tieto customers and while most companies and consultants don't like to share anything that returns spectacular results because they believe it is their competitive advantage. They believe they have discovered a secret they will only reveal if they can make money and sell the idea as expensive as possible.

I personally would be totally disappointed if you don't copy the concept run and execute a copy of this workshop format in the future.

Design Thinking is common sens anybody can do it. If you never have run your own workshop here is everything you need to give it a try.

Alle the information you need to run and replicate this workshop on your own is available in the shared folder at the end of this article.

Workshop challenge

• Thema: Which current IT trends are most relevant to the Pulp and Paper industry in 2018?
• Time: 3 hours
• Participants: 12 top managers, consultants and decision makers from the Pulp and Paper industry
• The expected result after 24 hours: full documentation, prototype, and onstage presentation.

Workshop design

We decided to use the 10 IT trends Gartner summarized in such a simple and easy to digest way. Moreover, we decided to show the video in the workshop because it frames the participants with the real challenge decision makers have every day when evaluating IT trends: "There is so much cool IT stuff going on but which of these trends are relevant for the industry to grow my business and be successful tomorrow?"

Nr.1: Find a customer, client or managers in your own company who are interested

Invite five to ten people and ask them to reserve three hours for the workshop. Also, organize a workshop room send out invitations and prepare all materials as described below.

Nr.2: The Billboard Poster

Print out the poster bring it to your workshop and hang it on the wall (Dimension = 4,2m x 0,9m).

Nr.3: Prepare the room print out the name cards

Ensure there is enough space to seat all participants at tables and give them felt pens or markers so they can write on post-its. Also, ensure all participants are near enough to the poster so they can see what is going on. And finally, organize a beamer so you can show a video.

Nr.4: Welcome each participant personally

Say hello and have a short conversation introducing your self and ask everybody to take a seat. Start your workshop with explaining why you use a poster and tell the audience the aim is to fill this poster with ideas and information in the next three hours. More info on Tieto Billboard Design Thinking workshop concept is found here.

Nr.5: The video

Play this video to the audience after you gave a short introduction. After it is finished explain: "yes this is a lot of information but decision makers have this problem every day, there are so many opportunities but which of them brings value and are worth investing in?"

Nr.6: IT Trend cards for post-its

Use the IT Trend cards you printed out and prepared before the workshop. Explain each topic and then hand out the corresponding trend card and give the participants 60 seconds to write two ideas on the post-its attached.

Nr.7: Ask each participant to please present his ideas

Each participant comes to the front and places his idea on the poster giving a short explanation and also deciding which part of the process is affected.

Nr.8: Repeat step six and seven nine times.

This process is repeated nine times one time for each topic. Don't forget to cheer the participants once in a while it is hard to concentrate for 60 to 70 minutes but it is worth the effort.

Nr.9: Ten-minute coffee break after 70 minutes intensive work they deserved it

Nr.10: Look for one story or topic you want to build a service for

This is a moderated discussion using the ideas created in the first part. This is the hardest part of the workshop finding a topic. We gathered four different suggestions gave everybody 3 points and let them vote which idea was the best. all participants came to the front and put one, two, or three dots on the idea they liked. In total every participant had three points he could distribute freely on any idea. Either giving three points to one idea or spreading them over several ideas. Count the points and announce a winner.

Result: First ideas got 20 points, second 12, third 8 points, and the last 3 points.

Nr. 11: Create a story that captures the essence of the best idea.

We want to minimize the effect of an elephant walking into a factory causing a production stop and learn from its impact, volume, quality, and availability of delivery margins.

Even if the idea sounds funny it isn't because it highlights that unexpected things will happen in the future and you cant always have a plan B for everything in the future, for example, an elephant running into your production facility.

Nr. 12: Define your service

Start with defining the start- and endpoint of your service and stick it to the beginning and end of the process map. Then fill in the most important steps connecting the trigger of the event and the conclusion at the end.

Nr.13: Ask whom you will build the service for and how the service looks like

Add the service description according to the service steps below your service.

14: Close the workshop

Thank the participants for their work close the workshop.

Nr.15: Ask for feedback and take it serious

Collect your feedback, don't be disappointed or insulted. Feedback is the only chance you have to improve so take it seriously.

Nr.16: Build a prototype

I use AXURE to build my prototype. I love to add interactions and make it clickable so users can interact with the prototype and have a real experience. Share the prototype linke in your documentation.

• Linke: Open this link on your mobile phone
• Prototype password: Tieto

17: Dokument a click-path for your prototype

A click-prototype rarely covers everything you would expect from a real application. You need to explain how it is used. For this prototype, the story is as follows.

1. Our C-Level manager gets a notification on his mobile phone regarding a severe problem potentially costing more than 80K€
2. The manager clicks on the notification to get more information
3. The manager enters his name and password "Tieto" to open the app
4. The manger gets additional information regarding the incident but wants to see more details
5. The manger scrolls down to Customer info click on the info and sess customer satisfaction is low 0.8
6. The manager clicks on Information source and clicks on "Show" to access the digital twin
7. The manager clicks on ">" to see additional information from the factory
8. The manager click on the phone icon to call the maintenance supervisor Li Wu
9. Mr. Li Wu explains this is a severe incident and resolving it takes at least 24 hours
10. The manager clicks on end phone call icon to close the call
11. The manager clicks on "<" in the header to return to the incident overview
12. The manager scrolls down to People network and clicks on the header
13. The manager calls the AI-Assistant Clara by clicking on the blue phone icon
14. The manager has a conversation to ask additional information and closes the call
15. The manager scrolls up and decided to go for option one clicking on "choose option 1"
16. The manager sees what actions have been triggered which are completed and which are open
17. The manager closes the app.
18. End of use case.

Nr.18: write a documentation

That will take you at least eight to ten hours but it is a great opportunity to summarize and relive the workshop and digest what has happened and analyzes the ideas. If you don't do it most of the ideas are lost and your workshop was a waste of time!

Nr.19: Presentation the results next day on stage

20: Here are all downloads

All downloads

21: Final word

If you run a replica of this workshop please leave a comment how it was and share your results.

Designing and running workshops is my profession and my passion. If you have a challenge, a project or a problem and think a Design Thinking workshop could help please contact me I'll always be glad to design a custom-made workshop for your specific challenge.

All humans are natural born Design Thinkers | Design thinking methods are like a grand piano | Design Thinking Moderator Training at Tieto Vienna | How to run a "Tieto Billboard Design Thinking Workshop" | IOT Facility Managment Design Thinking Workshop | A case study on why Design Thinking is 99% common sense | The Antibiotics & Design Thinking Resistance Crisis | You say you have not time for Design Thinking | An excellent Design Thinking workshop is a drama a concert and a visit to a doctor | 6 simple things your company can do to move to a design lead organization | Who would want a tablet device for feedback on a pbulic toilet? | Desing Thinking a misleading, confusing term nobody understands" |