Yesterday the IxDA-Munich group met up again at their usual venue at IDEO for a relaxed gathering with beer and snacks. This time it was me setting the stage and facilitating a workshop session. The theme was …at no surprise… user engagement or how to get users into the company. I wanted to provoke a discussion and to hear stories on how users are actually included in the product and service development in different companies. After a warm up activity people teamed up in three groups and approached the topic from different sides – from the perspective of a consulting agency, a service provider and a large product manufacturer.

First I asked the participants to reflect on a r&d process as it most likely would take place in their company. In a second step the workshop participants were asked to make up a more ideal process. What methods for user research would they like to employ, how and at what stage of the process?

Participants sketch an imaginary and idealized r&d cycle.

It was a fun activity for most of the IxDA members yesterday I guess. Even though some participants seemed to be rather disenchanted with their particular company policy on user engagement ;) Check out the workshop results on the IxDA Munich page on LinkedIn.

To those interested in joining our group: Munich’s interaction designers meet up every six weeks for either a social gathering in a bar or beergarden or for a more formal presentation or workshop at IDEO/ Hochbrückenstraße 6. See the IxDA Munich website for the latest news and announcements.

What tools do we have at hand for engaging users?