Question Gathering Workshop Template

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PRESENTED BY

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Agenda

• Workshop introduction - 5 minutes
• Icebreaker - 5 minutes
• Question brainstorming - 15 minutes
• Question sharing - 45 minutes
• Prioritization - 30 minutes
• Next steps & wrap-up - 10 minutes�

Total time: 2 hours�*this is based on about 7 participants

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Workshop introduction

5 minutes

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Goals & outcomes

1. Share and discuss key questions and gaps in our knowledge about users that we need to understand to move forward
2. Uncover holistic research questions/projects that help multiple teams
3. Identify big patterns in research questions
4. Prioritize the biggest and most impactful questions to put into the research roadmap

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Goals & outcomes

• Share and discuss key questions and gaps in our knowledge about users that we need to understand to move forward
• Uncover holistic research questions/projects that help multiple teams
• Identify big patterns in research questions
• Prioritize the biggest and most impactful questions to put into the research roadmap

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We will end today with an understanding of the top 3-5 questions that user research will help to answer over the next [quarter/6 months/year]

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And for your role…

• There will be breaks so that you can check email, grab a coffee, �chat to colleagues, so please stay off devices during this workshop!
• Create a safe space for everyone to share their thoughts and questions - there is no such thing as a “stupid question”
• If discussions get heated or off-topic, we will call pink elephant �and put the topic into a parking lot
• Use “yes and…” to encourage creativity and ideas

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Icebreaker

5 minutes

The aliens have landed!

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Imagine an alien spaceship has landed on Earth and wants to learn about [company name].

Since they don’t speak English or understand our product, it needs to be explained with 5 symbols or pictures.

Use five emojis or pictures to describe [company name] to the aliens!

2 minute brainstorm for emojis

3 minute sharing

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Question brainstorming

15 minutes

The aliens have landed!

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10 minutes:

• Brainstorm all the questions you have about our users that you feel would be necessary to answer moving forward
• Ask yourself, “what are our gaps in knowledge?”

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5 minutes:

• Pick your top 3 questions to present to and discuss with the group
• Write each question on a different sticky note

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11

Question sharing

45 minutes

Question sharing overview

1. Each person will read their questions to the group and the group listens to the question
1. If necessary, the facilitator will probe to better understand the question and help stakeholders reframe
2. The group discusses the question for up to 3 minutes*
• If there needs to be continued discussion, mark it as a follow-up meeting
• Record any offshoot questions
3. Group any similar questions into themes as more people read questions

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*this amount of time is dependent on the number of participants

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Prioritization

30 minutes

Prioritization

30 minutes:

• Give everyone 6 dot voting stickers to help determine which themes/questions are most important to explore:
• 3 for the highest priority
• 2 for medium priority
• 1 for lowest priority
• Once people have voted, take the highest and medium priority themes/questions and plot them on an impact x effort matrix to understand the scope of the theme/question
• Pick [x number] of projects that are high impact and lower effort to take into the research roadmap for the next [quarter, 6 months, year]

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Impact x effort matrix

Low effort

High effort

Low impact

High impact

Sweet spot

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Next steps & wrap up

10 minutes

Wrap up

5 minutes:

• Answer any questions
• Get any feedback on the session
• Address the parking lot (if necessary)

Next steps

5 minutes:

• Share slides with everyone
• Create follow-up meetings with relevant stakeholders to kick-off research projects
• Assign action items to anyone in the room