Choose the idea to build
Go from a room full of half-formed ideas to the one you'll prototype next. Ideas are judged on whether they're new, useful and doable, not on who sketched them.
60 minutes, in person. Serves 8 to 12.
How to run it
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Check-in
5 minSay what the room will leave with. Then ask: "One word for how you're arriving." Take the words in any order, not round the circle.
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Crazy 8s
15 minRounds: one round of eight
Hand everyone a sheet folded into eight boxes and a thick marker. Read the challenge out, then: "Eight ideas, one per box, a minute each. Stick figures are fine; words are fine. No erasing." Run one round of eight, calling each minute out loud. When the drawing stops, everyone circles their strongest box and tapes the whole sheet to the wall. Then the room walks the wall in silence. Nobody presents their sheet.
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Heat Map Vote
10 minIdeas kept for scoring: the three hottest
Give everyone fifteen small dots. "Put a dot on any part of any sketch that you'd want to see built: a whole idea, a corner of one, a single detail. Put as many as you like on one sketch, your own included. No talking." When the dots stop moving, step back and look at where they've clustered. Then pick the three hottest by the dots: those ideas go forward. If one sketch has two hot spots, take each as its own idea.
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NUF Test
20 minTalk after scoring: the top two
Put the shortlist on the wall as rows, with three columns: New, Useful, Feasible. "Give each idea a gut score out of seven on all three. New: unlike what's been tried. Useful: it fixes the problem without making another. Feasible: we could do it with the people, time and money we have." Everyone scores alone on a card before anyone speaks; a leader who calls out first pulls every score toward theirs. Add the cards up and sort by total. Then talk through the top two, asking, "What would make this one more feasible?" The room leaves with one idea to build.
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Commit: who does what by when
10 minEach result the room produced needs an owner. The owner writes "I will [what] by [when]" on a card, reads it out and sticks it under the result. Only owners speak. If a result has no owner, say so: "Nobody owns this yet." Write that on the wall too, so it leaves the room as an open item rather than a quiet gap.
Crazy 8s and Heat Map Vote come from the Google Ventures design sprint.
90 minutes, in person. Serves 8 to 12.
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Check-in
10 minSay what the room will leave with and point to the three steps on the wall. Then ask: "In one sentence: what do you need from the next ninety minutes?" Take answers in any order, not round the circle. If someone passes, move on.
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Crazy 8s
20 minRounds: two rounds of eight
Hand everyone a sheet folded into eight boxes and a thick marker. Read the challenge out, then: "Eight ideas, one per box, a minute each. Stick figures are fine; words are fine. No erasing." Run two rounds of eight, calling each minute out loud. When the drawing stops, everyone circles their strongest box and tapes the whole sheet to the wall. Then the room walks the wall in silence. Nobody presents their sheet.
In the 90 also: The second round of eight is eight versions of one idea: everyone picks their favourite box from the first round and pushes it eight ways before circling the strongest. The second round is where the ideas get specific.
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Heat Map Vote
20 minIdeas kept for scoring: the five hottest
Give everyone fifteen small dots. "Put a dot on any part of any sketch that you'd want to see built: a whole idea, a corner of one, a single detail. Put as many as you like on one sketch, your own included. No talking." When the dots stop moving, step back and look at where they've clustered. Then pick the five hottest by the dots: those ideas go forward. If one sketch has two hot spots, take each as its own idea.
In the 90 also: Before the shortlist is picked, three volunteers each say which spot surprised them and why. One sentence each.
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NUF Test
25 minTalk after scoring: the top three and the most split score
Put the shortlist on the wall as rows, with three columns: New, Useful, Feasible. "Give each idea a gut score out of seven on all three. New: unlike what's been tried. Useful: it fixes the problem without making another. Feasible: we could do it with the people, time and money we have." Everyone scores alone on a card before anyone speaks; a leader who calls out first pulls every score toward theirs. Add the cards up and sort by total. Then talk through the top three and the most split score, asking, "What would make this one more feasible?" The room leaves with one idea to build.
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Commit: who does what by when
15 minEach result the room produced needs an owner. The owner writes "I will [what] by [when]" on a card, reads it out and sticks it under the result. Only owners speak. If a result has no owner, say so: "Nobody owns this yet." Write that on the wall too, so it leaves the room as an open item rather than a quiet gap.
In the 90 also: Ask each owner one question: "What could stop this?" One sentence back. If the answer is another person, that person is in the commitment too.
90 minutes, remote. Serves 8 to 12.
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Check-in
10 minSay what the room will leave with and show the three steps on the board. Then ask: "In one sentence: what do you need from the next ninety minutes? Type it in the chat, but don't press Enter until I say go." Say "Go" and read the chat out loud in one pass. It's faster than a round, and nobody answers in the shadow of the person before them.
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Crazy 8s
20 minRounds: two rounds of eight
Ask everyone to fold a sheet of paper into eight boxes and grab a thick pen. Read the challenge out, then: "Eight ideas, one per box, a minute each. Stick figures are fine; words are fine. No erasing." Run two rounds of eight, calling each minute out loud. When the drawing stops, everyone circles their strongest box, photographs the sheet and drops the photo into their own space in the Sketches frame. Then everyone reads the frame in silence. Nobody presents their sheet.
In the 90 also: The second round of eight is eight versions of one idea: everyone picks their favourite box from the first round and pushes it eight ways before circling the strongest. The second round is where the ideas get specific.
Board: Frame 1, "Sketches": one named space per person for a photo of their sheet.
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Heat Map Vote
20 minIdeas kept for scoring: the five hottest
Give everyone fifteen voting stamps, or fifteen small dot stickers if your board has no stamp. "Put a stamp on any part of any sketch that you'd want to see built: a whole idea, a corner of one, a single detail. As many as you like on one sketch, your own included. No chat." When the stamps stop moving, zoom out and look at where they've clustered. Then pick the five hottest by the stamps, and copy each into the Shortlist frame as one line.
In the 90 also: Before the shortlist is picked, three volunteers each say which spot surprised them and why. One sentence each.
Board: Uses the Sketches frame. Frame 2, "Shortlist": one line per idea going forward.
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NUF Test
25 minTalk after scoring: the top three and the most split score
Put the shortlist into a table on the board: a column for each idea, split into New, Useful and Feasible, a row for each person, and a Total row. "Give each idea a gut score out of seven on all three. New: unlike what's been tried. Useful: it fixes the problem without making another. Feasible: we could do it with the people, time and money we have." Everyone types their scores into their own row before anyone speaks. Total each idea and sort. Then talk through the top three and the most split score, out loud or in the chat, asking, "What would make this one more feasible?" The room leaves with one idea to build.
Board: Frame 3, "NUF": a column for each shortlisted idea, split into New, Useful and Feasible, a row for each person, and a Total row.
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Commit: who does what by when
15 minEach result the room produced needs an owner. Owners type "I will [what] by [when]" into the Commitments frame, under the result they own. Read every commitment back out loud. If a result has no owner, say so: "Nobody owns this yet." Type that into the frame too, so it leaves the room as an open item rather than a quiet gap.
In the 90 also: Ask each owner one question: "What could stop this?" One sentence back. If the answer is another person, that person is in the commitment too.
Board: Frame "Commitments": one column per result, with space for "I will [what] by [when]".
60 minutes, in person. Serves 8 to 12.
-
Check-in
5 minSay what the room will leave with. Then ask: "One word for how you're arriving." Take the words in any order, not round the circle.
-
Crazy 8s
15 minRounds: one round of eight
Hand everyone a sheet folded into eight boxes and a thick marker. Read the challenge out, then: "Eight ideas, one per box, a minute each. Stick figures are fine; words are fine. No erasing." Run one round of eight, calling each minute out loud. When the drawing stops, everyone circles their strongest box and tapes the whole sheet to the wall. Then the room walks the wall in silence. Nobody presents their sheet.
-
Heat Map Vote
10 minIdeas kept for scoring: the three hottest
Give everyone fifteen small dots. "Put a dot on any part of any sketch that you'd want to see built: a whole idea, a corner of one, a single detail. Put as many as you like on one sketch, your own included. No talking." When the dots stop moving, step back and look at where they've clustered. Then pick the three hottest by the dots: those ideas go forward. If one sketch has two hot spots, take each as its own idea.
-
NUF Test
20 minTalk after scoring: the top two
Put the shortlist on the wall as rows, with three columns: New, Useful, Feasible. "Give each idea a gut score out of seven on all three. New: unlike what's been tried. Useful: it fixes the problem without making another. Feasible: we could do it with the people, time and money we have." Everyone scores alone on a card before anyone speaks; a leader who calls out first pulls every score toward theirs. Add the cards up and sort by total. Then talk through the top two, asking, "What would make this one more feasible?" The room leaves with one idea to build.
-
Commit: who does what by when
10 minEach result the room produced needs an owner. The owner writes "I will [what] by [when]" on a card, reads it out and sticks it under the result. Only owners speak. If a result has no owner, say so: "Nobody owns this yet." Write that on the wall too, so it leaves the room as an open item rather than a quiet gap.
60 minutes, remote. Serves 8 to 12.
-
Check-in
5 minSay what the room will leave with. Then ask: "One word for how you're arriving. Type it in the chat, but don't press Enter until I say go." Say "Go" and read the chat out loud in one pass. It's faster than a round, and nobody answers in the shadow of the person before them.
-
Crazy 8s
15 minRounds: one round of eight
Ask everyone to fold a sheet of paper into eight boxes and grab a thick pen. Read the challenge out, then: "Eight ideas, one per box, a minute each. Stick figures are fine; words are fine. No erasing." Run one round of eight, calling each minute out loud. When the drawing stops, everyone circles their strongest box, photographs the sheet and drops the photo into their own space in the Sketches frame. Then everyone reads the frame in silence. Nobody presents their sheet.
Board: Frame 1, "Sketches": one named space per person for a photo of their sheet.
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Heat Map Vote
10 minIdeas kept for scoring: the three hottest
Give everyone fifteen voting stamps, or fifteen small dot stickers if your board has no stamp. "Put a stamp on any part of any sketch that you'd want to see built: a whole idea, a corner of one, a single detail. As many as you like on one sketch, your own included. No chat." When the stamps stop moving, zoom out and look at where they've clustered. Then pick the three hottest by the stamps, and copy each into the Shortlist frame as one line.
Board: Uses the Sketches frame. Frame 2, "Shortlist": one line per idea going forward.
-
NUF Test
20 minTalk after scoring: the top two
Put the shortlist into a table on the board: a column for each idea, split into New, Useful and Feasible, a row for each person, and a Total row. "Give each idea a gut score out of seven on all three. New: unlike what's been tried. Useful: it fixes the problem without making another. Feasible: we could do it with the people, time and money we have." Everyone types their scores into their own row before anyone speaks. Total each idea and sort. Then talk through the top two, out loud or in the chat, asking, "What would make this one more feasible?" The room leaves with one idea to build.
Board: Frame 3, "NUF": a column for each shortlisted idea, split into New, Useful and Feasible, a row for each person, and a Total row.
-
Commit: who does what by when
10 minEach result the room produced needs an owner. Owners type "I will [what] by [when]" into the Commitments frame, under the result they own. Read every commitment back out loud. If a result has no owner, say so: "Nobody owns this yet." Type that into the frame too, so it leaves the room as an open item rather than a quiet gap.
Board: Frame "Commitments": one column per result, with space for "I will [what] by [when]".
Comments & Discussion
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Recent Comments (3)
This workshop was incredibly effective for our remote team! We adapted it slightly for a virtual setting and it worked wonderfully. The key was breaking into smaller breakout rooms.
Great resource! One tip: prepare all materials the day before to avoid any last-minute rushes.
Used this for our quarterly planning session. The structured approach really helped us stay on track!