Exercises

Heuristic evaluation spots usability problems fast using expert reviews. Evaluators check an interface against usability principles. This happens befo...

This strategy exercise helps teams rapidly develop design principles through collaboration and visual exploration. Participants sketch and prototype d...

The Perfect Future helps teams think beyond incremental changes. It sparks ideas for truly transformative customer experiences. Instead of small tweak...

Use a screener to find the right research participants. It's a questionnaire or interview that helps you select people based on your study's needs.

A Playback session lets participants present their work, insights, and takeaways from an activity or workshop. It builds alignment and shared understa...

Principles look great, but do they hold up? Principles Testing applies your draft principles to real decisions to see if they're useful. This exercise...

This framework helps you conduct user interviews. It balances structured data collection with natural conversation. Expect unexpected insights.

The Futures Wheel maps the cascading consequences of a trend, event, or decision. Developed by futurist Jerome Glenn, it helps teams systematically th...

Energizers are short activities to re-energize participants. Use them to refocus attention, boost mood, or combat post-lunch drowsiness.

Customers weigh all options, not just direct competitors. Competitive Alternative Identification maps these choices to reveal hidden competition. This...

Ecosystem mapping visualizes the context of a service or product. It reveals actors, relationships, and influences impacting the user experience beyon...

Choose the strongest concepts to move forward using varied evaluation methods. Balance intuition with structured analysis to select ideas with the hig...

Use a T-chart to compare ideas or decisions. This simple tool analyzes options through contrasting lenses. Think pros/cons, before/after, or facts/opi...

Speed crushes perfectionism. Rapid sketching forces ideas out before overthinking kicks in. Many think they can't sketch, which is why this works. Giv...

Personas represent key user types. They range from behavior patterns to detailed profiles with needs and backgrounds. Use them to focus design on real...

Structured scripts are key to good interviews. This 90-minute exercise helps create interview guides that balance structure and flexibility. Develop p...

Explore design across scales, from atoms to global systems. Inspired by the Eames film "Powers of Ten," zoom in and out to reveal systemic implication...

Contextual Inquiry brings research into the user's world. Instead of asking, watch them work. Observe them with their tools, facing real problems. You...