Purpose

The Design workshop is the most creative part of the Business Design process, in which the project team creates solutions to the sponsor's problem or challenge. This can be a new business model, a new product, service or software. The ideation is usually based on knowledge and insights gained in the Discover phase. The second part of the workshop is dedicated to the preparation of the Validate phase, which include the definition of success-critical questions and hypotheses and the setup of corresponding experiments to validate them with simple means. In some cases, we also design initial market offerings that allow us to charge customers and enable us to test questions or hypotheses under 100% reality. At the end of the workshop, we always define clear tasks and assign them to the members of the project team. 

An optional but highly recommended element of the Design workshop is the visualization of the designed solutions as different kinds of prototypes. This may include building a landing page illustrating parts of the business models, software mockups or even physical product designs with professional designers. In best case, this happens overnight between day 1 and 2.

Duration

2-3 full days

+ preparation and documentation

Participants

• Innovation manager
• Innovation experts
• Business Design coach
• Optional: Prototyping expert
• Optional: External experts temporarily

Preparation

• Experts for visualizing ideas (e.g. designers, prototyping engineers) invited to join
• All tools & materials prepared and printed
• Knowledge and insights from Discover phase visualized and printed so that it can be display and presented in the workshop room
• Team members invited, travels and accommodations arranged
• Availability of sponsor during Design workshop checked and short visit (day 2) scheduled
• Agenda defined and aligned with innovation manager
• Room & catering booked or organized

Documentation

• All documents, pictures, videos, etc. from Discover phase are stored in a shared storage space
• All templates (e.g. Business Model, Hypotheses & Experiments etc.) are digitized in the Project Workspace; photos of the templates are uploaded to the Project Workspace
• Tasks for the Design and Validate phase are documented in the Action Plan

Signs of Success

We consider the Design Workshop as a success...

• ...if we have designed promising solutions to the sponsor's problem or challenge based on insights we have gained in the Discover phase
• ...well, not only promising: They should be surprising, sometimes unbelievable and occasionally "out of this world"
• ...if the team stops complaining about time and personal availability: They start to proud of what they do
• ...if the project team is fully committed to work on the tasks assigned to them and see a reason why this is important
• ...if the sponsor can't await to see the first results in a sneak preview

Q & A

• What if we figured out that we haven't learned anything surprising in the Discover phase? If you realize that in the workshop, it is too late. Make sure that you get a feeling prior to the workshop what key learnings are.
• What if our created ideas are boring and not really new? Three exercises help teams get out of their box:
  • Introduce the participants to the Business Model Inspirator and let them pick 2-3 examples from the Inspirator to build the generic pattern of the examples (e.g. Freemium) into their business model.
  • Build more scenarios with an increased level of the intended customer feedback from "surprising" to "unbelievable" or  even "out of this world".
  • Use trigger questions to expose your ideas to extreme circumstances, such as "How would you change your business model if you would have to cut your operational costs instantly by 50%? What if you have to make 10x more revenue over the next 3 years than actually planned? How would Google / Start-up X / Kim Jong-un run our business?".
  • Bring your "job(s) to get done" statements to another level to create disruptive ideas. See example.
  • Introduce other creativity techniques if none of the above worked out.
• How can I smoothen the transition from day 1 (the fun part with designing products, services, business models etc.) to preparing the Validate phase on day 2 (the challenging or sometimes even nasty part)? We know that finding the right questions and hypotheses for the Validate phase is difficult and rarely a "home run". Before you introduce the Hypotheses / Experiments template, start with the following question and fill the answers on a flip chart paper: "What are killer questions investors would ask to challenge our ideas?" 

Example Agenda

Day 1

Optional: Visualization / prototyping

Day 2

* P = Presentation | D = Discussion | B = Break | T = Teamwork

Music Playlist

Tools & Materials

• 1x "Moderation Wall" with purpose and agenda
• 1x Business Design process and/or carpet
• 1x "Sponsor's view" carpet
• 1x Project Charter in the Project Workspace
• 5x Pin boards or large foam boards & moderation kit
• 1x Flip chart with paper
• 1x Insights Matrix / "Golden Nuggets"
• 25x Idea Cards
• 2-3x Business Model templates
• 1x Video Stage
• 3x Video arms / rigs
• 1x Clamp for mobile phone
• Optional: 2x Video lamps with power supply
• 1x Target Groups template
• 4x Job(s) to Get Done templates
• 1x Hypotheses & Experiments template
• 25x Validate Cards
• 1x Lean Offerings template
• 1x Action Plan template
• Prototyping Tools
• 1x Time Timer
• 1x Business Model Inspirator
• Optional: "You are now leaving your comfort zone" carpet
• Optional: 1x Anti-Bullsh*t Spray
• Optional: Customer's Glasses

Room & Infrastructure

• 1x Empty wall: > 420 x 200cm 
• 1x Empty wall: > 220 x 90 cm
• Chairs or cube seats
• 1x Low-distance projector for Project Workspace
• 1x Table for catering
• Hot & cold drinks, snacks or finger food

Example Layout