Thanks to this simple game, participants are able to discover how differently they think about a process and represent it graphically. The game also teaches empathy and improves problem-solving skills, including through collaboration.
Goal of the exercise
Making participants aware how differently they think and proceed; promoting creativity, co-designing, problem-solving skills and learning empathy.
Participants
Number of participants:
3 to 15 persons
Target group:
young people, adults
Age of participants:
Aged 16 or above
Duration of the method
30 to 60 min, depending on the number of participants
Materials / Location
Sheets of thick paper or cards
Markers or pencils
Sticky notes
The location should allow participants to fix their drawings to a large wall space for presentation.
Preparation
No preparation is required.
Step by step
For the first round ask participants to draw on a sheet of paper instructions for preparing a toast without using words or numbers. Hand out drawing materials to each participant.
Ask participants to share their work with the group by holding up their drawings to encourage comments on how they differ. Which ones are simple, and which ones complex? Which ones show people, and which ones don’t? And so on.
For the second round, ask participants to draw step-by-step instructions on separate sticky notes, and then fix these on the wall. They are allowed to amend their instructions from the first round. Hand out sticky notes.
For the final round, ask participants to jointly compare the different sets of instructions and observe what is similar and different between them and then select the optimal set of drawings.
Alternative use
Use a different task, such as drawing instructions on how to create a compost.
Feedback
Use an icebreaker before the game if participants don’t know each other well. To encourage shy participants to express their opinion, use cards of different colours to represent the most relevant steps of the instructions during the second round. Ask participants to work in pairs.
Experiences
The game is likely to produce a lot of laughter but will also illustrate how different we are and how collaboration will lead to better outcomes.
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