Ryan DeBeasi
Riley Ikni
A UI workshop is an activity in which participants quickly sketch rough ideas for the user interface.
These ideas can be written on a whiteboard, sticky notes, or sheets of paper. (A tall sticky note makes a great template for a mobile screen.)
The workshop can be run with just a facilitator and a UX designer, but including the entire team is even better.
At the end of the workshop, the participants can vote by adding dots to their favorites.
Later, the best "low-fidelity" designs can serve as the basis for interactive prototypes or more complete designs.
UI design workshops help take a high-level business process (such as an event storm) and turn it into something concrete that developers can begin working on.
This activity generates new ideas and builds a shared understanding, particularly if the entire team participates.
Jump-start development by creating just enough design for the team to begin working.
A quick, rewarding activity like this one builds confidence and experience in team members who might be new to user experience design.
Participants can produce the design assets they need to move forward, even if the team does not have a dedicated UX designer.
Everyone sketches - 10 min
Playback from each person (and put stickies on board) - 2 min per person
Gather feedback - 2-3 min per each person's flow (green/red stickies with comments on what exactly they like/dislike)
Another round of sketching - 5-7 min
Mark each screen with a letter and number
More playback - 2 min per person (tell everyone to write down the letter/number combo of what they like)
Merge based on the votes/bingo
Instead of merging the designs in steps 6-8, ask the team to dot vote on elements of each deisgn. A UX designer can then use those sketches as inspiration for more detailed wireframes.
Check out these great links which can help you dive a little deeper into running the UI Design Workshop practice with your team, customers or stakeholders.