- For each participant: one sheet each of three different colors of sticking dots
(^1 ⁄ 2 ′′diameter) and one pad of 4 x 6 Post-it®Notes
Time
60 minutes (requires prior participant activity)Related Activities
- It’s Not My Job [76]
Procedure
- Tell group members to defer judgment and brainstorm twenty to thirty ideas for
their problem (before the role-playing process), record them individually on Post-
it®Notes, and place them on a flip chart (this serves as an “idea purge”). - Instruct each participant to think of an historical figure they have admired. Tell
them to take about 5 minutes and write down what they know about this person.
Have them think about the attitudes, preferences, opinions, and beliefs of the per-
son, and pretend that the person has a stake in the group’s problem. - Direct them to have one member in each group share whom they chose.
- Tell the group members to generate ideas based on what they think this person
might say about the problem. Encourage the person who suggested the person to
say such things as: “My person would try to... .” or “My person would want to..
. .” - Repeat Steps 3 to 4.
- Tell them to write down any ideas on Post-it®Notes (one idea per note) and place
them on flip charts for evaluation.
Debrief/Discussion
This exercise builds on empathetic design (that is, using another’s perspective) and any
dramatic flair participants may have. If the group members have trouble describing the
person they selected, tell them that it is not important to be accurate. Instead, they should
focus on being as descriptive, detailed, and dramatic as possible. The goal is to create
stimuli to help trigger ideas.
Also consider having participants debrief using the following questions:- What was most helpful about this exercise?
- What was most challenging?
- What can we apply?
- How would you rate the value of this exercise to helping us with this issue?
- Will this exercise be helpful in the future for other sessions?
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