Participatory Methods
Design Challenge
Design Challenge gives teams a repeatable qualitative research practice. It keeps everyone aligned around generate ideas by helping you clarify and frame a design challenge and align team views. Grounded in participatory methods, the method turns insight into tangible next steps.
Goal
Generate Ideas
Group
Qualitative Research
Users
Direct User Involvement
Overview
A Design Challenge is a structured problem-solving activity that prompts teams to develop innovative solutions within a set timeframe and constraints. Often used in design thinking workshops, it encourages creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. By focusing on a specific problem and engaging in hands-on exploration, participants can generate fresh ideas and prototypes. Design Challenges are valuable in education, product development, and organizational innovation, fostering a culture of experimentation and continuous improvement.
Step-by-Step Procedure
9 steps to complete
1
Define the Design Challenge
Begin by identifying the design problem or area of improvement that you want the design team to focus on. This problem statement should be specific enough to guide the team, but broad enough to allow for creative exploration.
2
Assemble the Team
Bring together a diverse group of stakeholders, including designers, developers, product managers, or end-users, who can contribute to the design challenge. A diverse team helps surface a wide range of ideas, experiences, and perspectives.
3
Set Goals and Constraints
As a group, define the objectives and limitations of the design challenge. These may include time constraints, budgetary restrictions, technical constraints or any other factors that could impact the design process.
4
Brainstorm Ideas
Encourage the team members to brainstorm and generate as many ideas as possible to address the design challenge. Emphasize that there are no bad ideas during this stage and encourage participation from all team members.
5
Narrow Down Ideas
After a set period of brainstorming, guide the team to evaluate and prioritize the ideas generated. Consider the goals, constraints, and the potential impact of each idea on the end-user experience. Narrow down the ideas to a manageable number for the next step.
6
Develop Concepts
With the top ideas selected, have the team develop detailed concepts for each idea. These concepts should include clear explanations, visualizations, and any other relevant details to help communicate the idea to others.
7
Prototype Solutions
Create prototypes of the top concepts, using techniques like paper prototyping, wireframing or any other method that suits the complexity of the design challenge. These prototypes should provide an interactive experience that helps convey the concept to others.
8
Test and Iterate
Test the prototypes with end-users, stakeholders or other relevant individuals. Gather feedback on usability, desirability, and feasibility of each solution. Use this feedback to identify areas for improvement and make necessary iterations to the designs.
9
Present the Final Design
Once the team has refined and tested the prototypes, present the final design solution to stakeholders and decision-makers. Provide a detailed overview of the design process, including the steps taken and lessons learned, to help support the final design choice.
Method Complete
Real-World Examples
See how this method is applied in practice
Understanding Deal Discovery Behavior
Research conducted with Groupon users to understand how they discover and evaluate local deals. Participants included frequent buyers in the Food & Drink and Health & Beauty categories, as well as occasional users. The study revealed that users rely heavily on personalized recommendations and location-based filtering, with visual imagery and merchant ratings being key decision factors. Users also expressed interest in occasion-based browsing like "date night deals" or "weekend activities."
Local Merchant Experience Research
Study with restaurant, spa, and fitness business owners to understand their experience with Groupon's merchant platform. Participants included both new merchants in onboarding and experienced merchants running multiple campaigns. Findings showed merchants struggled with understanding optimal pricing strategies, setting deal capacity, and interpreting performance analytics. Many requested competitive benchmarking and seasonal promotion guidance.
Deal Redemption Experience Study
Research with Groupon customers who recently redeemed deals at local businesses. The study focused on the in-person redemption experience, including showing vouchers to merchants, handling booking requirements, and resolving issues. Insights revealed that users felt anxious about merchant acceptance and wanted clearer communication about what to expect during redemption.
Deliverables
What you'll produce from this method
Challenge Brief
A document outlining the design challenge, with details on the problem, context, target users, goals, and constraints.
Participant Profiles
A summary of the target users or stakeholders, including demographics, behaviors, and preferences relevant to the design challenge.
Research Insights
Key findings from user research, competitive analysis, and other study methods that inform the design challenge and potential solutions.
Idea Generation
A collection of brainstormed ideas, concepts, sketches, and notes addressing the design challenge.
Concept Selection
A process for evaluating the generated ideas, determining which concepts meet the design challenge criteria and are worth pursuing further.
Prototypes
Low-fidelity or high-fidelity representations of selected concepts, allowing for exploration, testing, and refining of possible solutions.
Usability Testing Plan
A plan including objectives, test scenarios, evaluation metrics, testing methods, and participants for assessing the effectiveness of the prototypes.
Usability Test Results
Recorded observations, feedback, and findings from the usability testing, identifying areas for improvement and iteration.
Iteration & Refinement
A revised version of the prototypes or concepts based on usability test results and feedback from stakeholders.
Final Design Solution
A detailed representation of the chosen design solution, including mockups, specifications, and guidelines for implementation.
Project Summary & Report
A comprehensive document detailing the design challenge, research activities, concept evaluation, iterations, and final solution, providing insights for future projects and evaluations.
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