Dear Reader,

Last night we ran a free workshop for over 80 designers called Kickstarting Human-Centered Workshops:

It was fun showing everyone what we are all about at the Fountain Institute!

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What are human-centered workshops?

They are not workshops that push personal goals, test out a new activity we are excited about, or content that is misaligned with participants' experience. Instead, human-centered workshops:

We jumped into making a SFD (shitty first draft) of our workshop goal, thinking about what target state we wanted to achieve after the workshop.

Then we quickly moved into the Audience Strategy Worksheet, a tool that helps us focus on:

• Who they are - job title, user type, etc.
• Experience level - How well do they know the topic covered?
• Value - What will the audience thank you for after?
• Expectations - Why are they bothering to show up?
• ConcernsWhat concerns might they have about the workshop?
• Addressing Concerns - How might you address their concerns?
• Call to Action - What do we want to happen after?

After reflecting, everyone took a second try at their workshop goal, making sure it was more human-centered around their participants than the SFD.

To wrap up, we talked about next steps for an engaging workshop (more on that in my full 60-min. masterclass)

It was a fast 60-minute workshop full of ideas, activities, good music, learnings, and amazing participants like you!

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Reflections

Some great learnings from the participants were:

Also, we used Butter instead of Zoom (our typical class setup) and got lots of great feedback about using this tool for online workshops. If you want to try out Butter, use this link to get 30% off your first three months!

Live, workshop-based classes don't translate well to a recording. But we are sharing the Miro board so you can try out some of the activities on your own!

This workshop was a tiny preview of our four-week course. If you are ready to level up your workshop and facilitation skills, check out Facilitating Workshops.​

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Jake Knapp just launched a free template for the Design Sprint in Miroverse...

I know, I know...you're exhausted with thirsty designers trying to make that sweet, sweet consulting cash from design sprints. But the author of the Design Sprint made some interesting additions. He includes quantitative aspects like metrics, risks, and a test scorecard. Is the Design Sprint finally catching up to product design?

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Designing Joyful Brainstorming Experiences
​Wednesday, May 10, 2023​
​Learn techniques to generate new ideas purposefully.
​Reserve a seat​

Facilitating Workshops
​May 15-Jun. 5, 2023​
​Learn to design creative working sessions and lead collaborative work.
​Reserve a seat​

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Until next week!

Hannah Baker
​Educator & Co-Founder
​The Fountain Institute