In this episode, I talk to Bernhard Ferro, a Senior Design Thinker and expert in user experience (UX) design with a background in behavioural sciences. We talk about Design Thinking and how its strict methodology can help us when dealing with difficult organizational cultures.

Although Bernhard believes that "Design Thinking cannot fix a broken team", he shares how a Design Thinking workshop once contributed to the team-building process.  In the show, you will learn how you can prepare teams who have never experienced a co-creation workshop and what it takes to effectively manage expectations.

Don’t miss the part in which Bernhard shares how a CEO turned into a "prototyping machine" and what exercise triggered the magical effect.

"Everything can be prototyped.
Prototyping is a mindset."     

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Questions and Answers

[1:16] What's your story? How did you get into Design Thinking?

[3:50] How would you summarise your vita in one hashtag?

[4:38] What have you learned from behavioural sciences that help you to design workshops?

[5:38] What's your strategy to remove distraction?

[8:17] Does the application of the Design Thinking methodology depend on the organisational culture? 

[12:13] Within the workshop process, when are you more designer and when are you more facilitator?

[15:15] What is "interaction design"?

[16:25] How do you use your knowledge in UX in the workshop design process? 

[18:29] Do you adjust your workshops depending on the group's culture? What would you do if you know the group tends to lengthy discussions?

[19:40] Can you have a successful Design Thinking workshop with a toxic team?

[21:33] Through the eyes of a behavioural scientist, what makes Design Thinking so favourable for team building?

[22:57] With whom are you aligning in the workshop preparation process?

[24:55] What's your role in terms of expectation management when it comes to expected results or outcomes?

[29:02] What does it take for a team to have a successful Design Thinking workshop? 

[31:24] Why do workshops fail?

[35:40] How would you prepare a participant for a potentially difficult workshop situation?

[37:38] What's wrong about "group discussions"?

[41:27] What's your favourite exercise to get groups become familiar with prototyping?

[45:18] How do you prioritize ideas?

[47:51] What advice would you give someone who wants to run Design Thinking workshops?

[54:13] What shall a listener remember from our conversation?

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