Years ago, pre-Covid, during a casual chat with my colleague and friend Geoff Wilson, a conversation about co-design workshops sparked an unexpected idea. While sharing my recent experience leading a successful 5-day design hackathon, we acknowledged a common challenge: UX designers may lack the experience needed for effective co-design facilitation. This includes leading diverse group discussions, using appropriate techniques, and feeling comfortable taking on different facilitator roles.

And somewhere in the conversation, we wondered if learning co-design through the lens of improv activities could be a great way to learn facilitation skills. Improv teaches you to think on your feet, adapt to changing situations, and collaborate effectively — all essential skills for a co-design facilitator.

But..it was just a conversation and the idea was put on the proverbial wishlist as we moved on with life.

One of those events we organised before Covid lockdown. Geoff and I are flanking the pumpkin. 😜

Last year, Geoff reminded me during a #UXHappyHour networking event, “Hey Nani, remember our chat about codesign and improv from waaaaaay before COVID?” I replied “Well, yes, yes I do. What’s on your mind?” And with a follow up conversation, I added #SecretlyImprov back to our “to-do” list with a smile and ‘the secret UXA host wink’ 😜, searching for the right time and place to make it a reality. Thankfully since that initial conversation, Geoff’s ventured into stand-up comedy and improv, alongside his role as a UX researcher, lent gravitas to our idea.

In February 2024, We carved out time in our busy schedules to plan the workshop. I’m one of those folks who likes to plan things out as much as I can because it works for my process. I can reflect on assumptions, anticipate issues and highlight questions to ask Geoff. Plus it helps me keep time on my side because when I catch up with Geoff, we are using our time wisely to tick off progress, find any gaps and take note of next steps.

I ask myself some questions to help me plan workshop activities:

What is the goal of this workshop? How much time do I have to meet that goal?

What activities are useful to achieve that goal?

How do you create an inclusive environment to invite diverse knowledge sharing?

How do you encourage active listening between different participants — leadership, subject matter experts, developers, designers, project managers, customer service, current users?

What activities to move conversations forward yet get people to participate and share insights?

How to keep people excited about the concept after the workshop?

One of our goals was to equip participants with practical knowledge and activities they could use beyond the workshop. We wanted to give designer-focussed handouts with instructions for the improv activity with tips and takeaways to remember nuances and parallels to the co-design points. We wanted something that was easy to read in the language of the UX designer, that they could further research and practise again. And I recognised similarities with improv activities to other things I’ve learned with Liberating Structures or activities I’ve done with agile retrospectives. The improv techniques had its own “flavour”.

Another goal is that we wanted folks to feel comfortable to practise the activities through participation. It’s one thing to read instructions and keep it cerebral, but when you try things with others as they happen, mistakes and all, it’s an opportunity to learn, refine, and move forward. And we don’t always get those opportunities in practice with others. So it was important to us through laughter and effort, people felt comfortable to practise these activities. #PracticeMakesPermanent

One of the main challenges we grappled with was how to convey the essence of our workshop without leaning too heavily on the term “improv”. We wanted to ensure that potential participants wouldn’t be deterred by misconceptions, thinking we were offering a crash course in becoming improv comedians. To address this, we delved into our shared experiences and identified core codesign objectives. Geoff shared insights from his projects where he successfully integrated improv techniques, while I drew from my own codesign experiences. Together, we crafted workshop instructions that spoke the language of codesign, aligning them with common co-design scenarios such as ice breakers, team building, and ideation exercises. The goals of these activities was to foster active listening, facilitate meaningful connections, and cultivate a “present-moment” focus among participants. We aimed to make the activities easily understandable and actionable, even after the workshop concluded.

Throughout our communications, we maintained the #SecretlyImprov hashtag as a subtle nod to the underlying improv-inspired approach.

The workshop day arrived, and we welcomed a diverse group of participants — designers, non-designers, from various industries and age groups. After sharing our origin story, we dove into the improv activities. Geoff, a natural improv mentor, led the group through exercises designed to:

Sharpen active listening: Improv emphasises truly hearing and responding to others’ ideas, a critical skill for co-design facilitators.

Boost creative thinking: Building upon the suggestions of others is the essence of improv, fostering a collaborative and innovative environment in co-design sessions.

Embrace adaptability: Just like in improv, co-design requires the ability to think on your feet and adjust to unexpected situations.

One activity that resonated with everyone was the “You Offer Circle.” This exercise not only fostered team building but also helped everyone learn each other’s names in a fun and interactive way. The atmosphere was filled with laughter and a sense of camaraderie.

One of my favourite activities, “You” Offer Circle handout for the workshop participants.

As the activities unfolded, participants checked in, sharing valuable insights and newfound confidence. For some, these were entirely new skills; for others, these were innovative techniques for familiar scenarios.

In true experimental fashion, our measure of success was in the smiles, laughter, and post-workshop connections. Participants lingered, connecting with each other, sharing contact details, and left us with the resonating question, “What’s next?”

Practice Makes Permanent.

Practice Makes Permanent.

Practice Makes Permanent.

Practice Makes Permanent.