- I've said that the design thinking process
can take one intensive week to complete.
You're going to need a space you can use
for that whole time.
You'll be putting large sheets of paper
covered in sticky notes, up on the walls.
You don't want to have to move those at the end of every day
to make room for someone else's meeting.
The best locations tend to be conference rooms at your work.
They're big enough to hold the 10 to 15 people
who be attending, and they're often set up
with both the presentation screen
and wall space for sticking things on.
Training rooms or another good alternative.
If your team has a specific team area
it's always possible to use that instead
but there's one big issue.
It's too easy for them to start checking their email
and running off to do other things.
People have to commit to being present for the entire week.
Being present means not getting distracted
by fantasy football emails.
It's much easier to keep people focused
if they're away from their regular location.
One thing that's worked really well for me in the past
is finding conference rooms
in a completely different building.
If you work in a large organization
talk to the office administrator in a different department
and see whether they have a space you could use.
If you work in a smaller organization
consider hiring a space for a week,
hotels and hot desking locations
have conference room facilities
for rent at reasonable rates.
You'll also need some quite specific supplies.
You'll see how we use all of these things
as you work through the course.
Obviously you can substitute things wherever you want
but you'll find it easier to follow along
if you're using the same types of materials
as we use in the course.
I know that it's asking a lot of you
to gather these individuals together
and come up with this crazy list of supplies,
but believe me, if you do design thinking properly
it's well worth the effort.