A design workshop is an intensive session in which a small group of participants explore topics related to a specific problem and redesign project features. All significant stakeholders should be invited to send a representative participant. A design workshop can also contribute to sharing information and increasing participants’ understanding of the project.
To start, the designer presents principles that underpin the planning and design process for participants. Ideally all those present should be given oppurtunity to explain their wishes and demands. The group can then be divided into subgroups which discuss ideas and assess alternative solutions to design solutions already in place. Then each subgroup presents it’s result to the larger group. Ideas and alternative solutions can also be discussed in plenary sessions. The group then seeks consensus and tries to decide on a final resolution for the preferable approach. The result of the design workshop/climatestudio consists of the making a definitive version of the design, presenting the whole process and its outcomes.
A series of consecutive design workshops is an iterative process in which topics are explored in increasingly more detail. These workshops can follow the general design cycle of predesign, preliminary design and detailed design. At the end of each design workshop the design plans and reports are updated/detailed and used as input for the next workshop.
Level of engagement: Consulting, Involving and Partnership