What are effective techniques for productive discussions during conceptual design?

1 Clarify the purpose

Before starting any discussion, make sure everyone understands the purpose and the scope of the conceptual design. What is the problem you are trying to solve? What are the objectives and the criteria for success? What are the assumptions and the constraints? Clarifying these questions can help you align your expectations, avoid confusion, and focus on the relevant topics.

2 Use visual aids

Conceptual design often involves abstract and complex concepts that can be hard to communicate verbally. Using visual aids, such as sketches, diagrams, prototypes, or mockups, can help you convey your ideas more clearly and effectively. Visual aids can also stimulate creativity, feedback, and iteration. However, avoid making your visuals too detailed or polished, as they might limit the exploration of alternatives or create attachment to a specific solution.

3 Ask open-ended questions

One of the main goals of conceptual design is to generate and evaluate multiple options. Asking open-ended questions can help you achieve that by inviting different perspectives, opinions, and insights. Open-ended questions are those that cannot be answered with a simple yes or no, but rather require elaboration and explanation. For example, you can ask: How does this idea meet the user's needs? What are the benefits and drawbacks of this approach? How can we improve this solution?

4 Listen actively

Listening is not just hearing what others say, but also understanding and acknowledging their points of view. Listening actively can help you build rapport, trust, and respect with your collaborators. It can also help you learn from their experiences, insights, and feedback. To listen actively, you need to pay attention, avoid interruptions, paraphrase what you heard, ask clarifying questions, and express appreciation.

5 Embrace diversity

Conceptual design can benefit from the diversity of backgrounds, skills, and perspectives of the participants. Diversity can bring new ideas, insights, and solutions that might not be obvious or possible otherwise. However, diversity can also create challenges, such as conflicts, misunderstandings, or biases. To embrace diversity, you need to be open-minded, respectful, and curious. You also need to acknowledge and address any potential issues or barriers that might affect the collaboration and communication.

6 Iterate and reflect

Conceptual design is not a linear process, but rather a cyclical one. It involves generating, testing, and refining ideas until you reach a satisfactory solution. Therefore, you need to iterate and reflect on your ideas and discussions frequently. Iteration can help you improve your ideas, identify and solve problems, and incorporate feedback. Reflection can help you evaluate your progress, learn from your successes and failures, and adjust your goals and strategies.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?