Description
A 30-min activity narrow multiple challenges
Reading Time
Reading time: 6 mins
Activity time
30 mins
- Overview
- Key tips
- How to do this activity
- Step 1: Think of all the different parts of the challenge
- Step 2: Organize the HMWs into themes
- Step 3: Voting
- Additional Resources
A more in depth version of this activity can be found in the Design Sprint recipe
Overview
What is the HMW activity used for?
This is a short 30-min activity that guides a group of people to bring multiple challenges and perspectives and quickly align on focus area to move forward.
Mindset and core principles
Define the challenge clearly before jumping into solutions.
Here's a 3-min video that explains the purpose behind the HMW activity
Key tips
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- 'How' implies that there are solutions out there, so it provides confidence.
- 'Might' suggests that the group can propose solutions that might work. or might not - this removes the fear of being wrong.
- ‘We' suggests the group is going to do it together and build on each other's ideas.
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- You could use this activity spontaneously in a simple meeting to collect multiple inputs
- OR to kick off an alignment session at the start of a critical business challenge
- Around 3-7 people is ideal (it can work with more but might be trickier to facilitate)
How to do this activity
Allow 30 mins
Step 1: Think of all the different parts of the challenge
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- Tip: Show an example. Write a sticky starting with "HMW..." to show the group how it's done
- Set a timer for 5 mins
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- Alternative method: A key sponsor describes the challenge and the group listens and takes notes (using the HMW format).
Step 2: Organize the HMWs into themes
Watch this candid video of HMW organization from a Design Sprint room at Google!
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- Tip: Give the team a few mins to individually organize their own HMWs and discard unwanted stickies. Less is more!
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- Tip: This helps the team read many stickies at once without too much context switching (this step is a simplified version of the Design Thinking activity Affinity Clustering)
Step 3: Voting
- Set the timer for 5 mins
- Each person gets 3 votes
- The top-voted stickies help to show which parts of the challenge are most important to focus on
Additional Resources
Recommended reading
Additional Resources
Related workshop activities