Your step by step guide to run the method
Briefing
Before the start of the 6’Up the designer defines what is the problem he looks to solve. He also gathers along relevant data, such as surveys, usage data, user testing, group discussion and so forth. He is trying to gather everything necessary to comprehend the problem in its totality.
STEP 1 – Brief (15 – 45 min)
The designer introduces each team member, and why everyone has its place in the meeting. He introduces the issue backed up by the data he collected and he starts a discussion about potential hypothesis, personas and constraints. The length of this discussion may vary in function of the size of the issue, but it must stay concise, the idea here is to align everyone’s view on the problem and tickle their imagination. Finally the designer spends a quick 5 minutes to explain the 6’up steps.
STEP 2 – Drawing (5min)
From this initial conversation, each participant starts sketching what he sees as the best solution, without too much detail as the objective is really to get a first glimpse of a solution. The stakeholder must fill the 6 blocks of the template as a 6 step solution. Yet nothing forbids them to sketch 2 squares for the offline workflow and the rest for the digital interface. Participants might also be tempted to turn to word instead of drawing, don’t let them, sketching helps them move away from their first idea towards a better solution.
STEP 3 – Presentation (6×3 min)
After this first 5 minutes sketched each participant pin their wireframe to the wall and in 3 minutes explain their sketches and gather feedback. During their time they must explain which persona they had chosen and what are their hypothesis behind the solution. Each feedback should help clarify the intention for this solution and empower the participant to go beyond their initial idea.
STEP 4 – Drawing bis (5min)
From the feedback they received, each participant creates a new or improved version of their design with the objective to answer the most of the feedback they received.
STEP 5 – Find the standout ideas (15 min)
When in most of the case 2 to 3 iterations are enough to construct some solid solutions, it is up to the designer to define how many sketch + feedback loop is needed. After these few iterations the goal is to find the standout ideas. What are the similar idea ideas your team has been working on? The standouts are generally one or two 6’Up your team has been working on.
STEP 6 – Conclusion (5min)
Finally, takes a few minutes to summarize the meeting, start from the problem and hypothesis and draw back your path to the standout ideas. Ideally you’d keep a written summarize of the meeting, and gather feedback on the methodology itself.
A real template that can help you
How to use the template?
Print this template in A3 format for each participant. For each of the participants you will need between 2 and 3 templates in function of the number of iterations. This template is only used for drawing, no writing allowed. This rule exists to make sure the participant will exit its comfort zone and start exploring new ideas.
