The Design Studio Method: Creative Problem Solving with UX Sketching

This book should be in your top ten design book collection. There are great design books out there that talk theory and the necessity of good User Experience design, but this book shows you how to make it happen and really get stuff done.With this book in hand, you will be able to tackle the largest of design challenges with your team. You will learn a methodology of first CREATING ideas, then later EVALUATING the ideas, with techniques to moderate comments and control discussion. Your team will arrive at a consensus and solution to the established design problem.But there is so much more. There are multiple layers of tips, and techniques from research to dealing with personalities and political waters. You can open the book just about anywhere and read for 5 minutes and come away with immediately usable knowledge. Key items are broken down into numbered sidebars like: “6 Fundamentals of Sketching” or 9 Steps of a Design Studio.”As a great author should, Brian draws from the wisdom of those who came before while adding his own wisdom and unique teaching perspective. For example, Brian gives a light-hearted spin to de Bono’s “six thinking hats” method as a way to moderate discussion.In classic Sullivan style, the book has plenty of historical references/quotations throughout that keep you engaged and entertained, and add support to the subject. And most importantly, you will learn how to coach people through their perceived lack of drawing skills, getting them to put their ideas on paper.Additionally, J. Shuh did great work on the illustrations which are very entertaining. This gives the book’s layout a variety of entry points to pull you into the text so that it doesn’t feel like an overwhelming read. I really appreciate the bullet-point summary at the end of each chapter, as those are valuable memory refreshers.One weekend with this book and you will have a significant resource to draw from for most design challenges. In the future, this book will be required reading at credible design schools.

Insightful book.After months of working on a project where everyone seemed to be going in different directions and NO ONE was on the same page, my team was introduced to the Design Studio Method. Though a popular methodology within our company, I and others on the team had not yet participated in one and didn't really know what to expect. In a relatively short time, I needed to learn all I could about this methodology. This book provided me with the knowledge I needed to understand the methodology, outlined the skills the team would need to be successful, and a bunch of pointed (and fun) facts that helped me to better understand the concepts.I'm so glad I read the book first. I saw all of it come to life right in front of my eyes; the business barriers, the personal barriers, and the personality conflicts. When issues arose, I knew how to handle them and refocus the conversation. In the end, we all walked out of the room with a single vision and better understanding of how the various groups worked. The Design Studio Method process was intense, but well worth our time.I suggest reading this book all the way through at least once and then using the Index to look up information to refresh your knowledge or to answer questions later. In case you need them, you can download the illustrations used in the book (www.designstudiomethod.com) to explain the process and keep participants on task.

This book is and will continue to be a great resource of practical, engaging UX application. As someone new to the coding/UX world, I appreciated reading about ideas being put into action. The quotes, anecdotes, and real examples were very inspiring and memorable. Sullivan values diversity and contributions from all team members of an organization, and this book covers it all - how to put people's talents to work, how to work with people, and how to plan, execute and deliver solutions. Highly recommend for everyone to read - as the approach is valuable and applicable to all problem solving.

Fantastic book! I'm a software engineer and I consider myself design-minded and product aligned because I know that I build stuff for people to use. This book reviews the design studio method, and it's opened my eyes on how I can figure out what to create. That's awesome for me because it ensures my time (and my dev team's time) is well invested. It's also going to give me hand's on tips for how to work better with my product managers and UI designers. Check out this book - highly recommended.

This is a great tool when setting up and running your first workshop or just wanting to improve your current process. It's also great to keep as a guide and refer back to when planning future sessions. I found it really accurate when calling out what challenges you could possibly face and how to handle them. I learned quite a bit facilitating my first design studio. Having read the book once cover to cover then going back through to create my outline of the session I was extremely pleased with how it went. This is a must have book for any UXer to have in their library.

Excellent book for those learning User Experience Design. The book is written and illustrated by two of the industry experts. If you are interested in working in user experience, I highly recommend this book.

Sullivan provides the reader with real world examples as the process of Design is outlined throughout the book. An easy read with visuals to aid in understanding concepts. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking into UX Design.

Very well explained, written with a lot of practical knowledge and insights.

Pretty cool book if you want to know how to manage talent and a team. Clear and concise. Definitely a must...

「デザインスタジオ」とはスケッチングとブレインストーミングを組み合わせたワークショップ形式のデザイン手法です。発散（クリエイティブ思考）と収束（クリティカル思考）を繰り返しながら優れたアイデアを生み出します。この手法はリーンUXの中核的な手法の一つで、ジェフ・ゴーセルフは著書「Lean UX」の中で実施手順を具体的に解説しています。また、「ユーザーストーリーマッピング」の著者ジェフ・パットンも熱心な信奉者で、彼のCSPO講習会には欠かせないメニューになっています。さらに言えば、最近注目されているGoogleの「デザインスプリント」も大元はこの手法です。この「デザインスタジオ」に関する初の実務解説書が8月に刊行されました。本書は3部18章立てですが、実際はペーパーバック版で200ページという比較的手軽な分量です（ただし、私が読んだのはKindle版）。Part 1(Chap1-6): Processes 主な内容：クリエイティブ思考、クリティカル思考、ボーノの「6つの帽子」Part 2(Chap7-15): Procedures 主な内容：デザインスタジオの実施方法Part 3(Chap16-18): Advanced Topics 主な内容：補足とエンディング本書の中核部分はもちろん第2部なのですが、その中でも11章から14章が本当の中核と言えると思います。第2部の前半は、課題定義やユーザ調査の必要性が書いてあるだけで、デザインスタジオそのものの解説ではないからです。参考までに第2部の各章の概要を記しておきます。＜第2部＞7章：デザインスタジオ実施の可否判断8章：課題定義9章：参加者の役割と責任10章：ユーザ調査・デザイン調査11章：スケッチ12章：評価13章：投票14章：最終案の作成15章：プレゼンテーション第２部で解説されている実施手順を簡単にまとめると以下のようになります。1. 各自スケッチを描く。2. 自分のアイデアを発表する／質問に答える。3. 各スケッチを（KJ法で）グルーピングする。4. 各スケッチにフィードバック（ポジティブ／ネガティブ両方）を付ける。5. 投票にかける。6. 上記を2-3度繰り返す。一番のコツは、作成するスケッチの枚数を最初は5枚、2回目は3枚、最後は1枚と徐々に減らしながら議論を収束させていくことです。そして、全体で2案にまで絞り込んで、最後はそれらをマッシュアップして1案にまとめます。デザインスタジオのやり方は他にもありますが、スケッチング、ブレインストーミング、グルーピング、フィードバック、投票といった基本要素が全て入っている本書の方法はよく考えられていると思いました。ただ、疑問を感じる箇所も少なくありませんでした。・ページ数はもっと少なくてもよかった（中核部分は全体の四分の一程度なので）。・ノウハウに（根拠の無い）こだわりが散見される。・他の方法に一切触れていないので、本書の方法が唯一だと誤解する危険がある。・「6つの帽子」は役に立っていない。・レオナルド・ダ・ヴィンチの逸話が随所に現れるが、ピンと来ない。・ウォーターフォール的なプロジェクトマネジメントを前提としている。・事例（World usability Day のウィジェット開発）がしょぼい。本書は一人の実務家の豊富な経験に基づいた一例に過ぎません。デザインスタジオとは、決して、この通りに実施しないといけないものではありません。その点を誤解しなければ、参考資料として目を通しておく価値はあると思います。