yooweedoo Film Workshop
Design Sprint for Social Start-Ups
Preparation
The start-up teams consisted mainly of M.A. graduates who had developed their ideas in the yooweedoo academy. Though these ideas were still in the making, we anticipated that 5-6 ideas would be ready to use film as a solid marketing tool. We aimed to complete the films for an idea contest – the winners would get financial and consulting support.
Spoiler: the winning team was among the participants of the workshop.
Session 1: Mapping the Project
Nine teams, nine projects: I created a large Miro board with a »rail« for each group to facilitate the process. The participants collaborated in the app; we conferenced over Zoom. On the yooweedoo side, Markus Brüggemann was present to give context and comment when needed.
I was slightly afraid that a new tool and the vastness of the board might intimidate people, so I wrote a lengthy introduction, including an exercise, which was too much in hindsight. People were eager to start, and onboarding is no fun.
I would move along my own rail, briefly discuss a topic, and prompt the participants to gather the respective data. I entered the break-out rooms to assist if needed. From the emerging data pools, the most important bits were chosen, then on to the next topic. Slowly but steadily, the database of each project was growing.
Minor problems arose when participants were unfamiliar with design thinking or business terminology. Although I strived to tone it down as much as possible, some bits and pieces still lacked self-explanation. On-the-fly translations helped to get everyone back on track.
Choosing a Format
The next block started with the participants viewing four demos of image films, highlighting different approaches to audio-visual communication:
• a »classic« narrative
• storytelling via testimonials
• custom-made table-top animation
• pre-fabricated digital animation templates
The teams had to evaluate the pros and cons of formats and got some inspiration to choose from – depending on resources, capabilities, interests, strengths, equipment, and friends. The whole section was about finding an actionable approach.
It was essential to frame the demos as repositories from which the teams could pick components to tell their own stories.
Creating the Storyboard
The final step of the first session (which was more of a do-later homework task) was to bring everything into a narrative. The participants took their sticky notes and placed them in a timeline that provided the basic sequences of an image film.
Now each team had talking points, goals and CTAs, the format of the film and an outline of the storytelling. Their next step was to refine the narrative, write a script, and plan the movie's production.
Final Session: Review
In film, a test screening is the closest match to a usability test. I provided a few questions to check whether the project films had delivered what they wanted.
The participants were the audience for the other teams’ project films. Although it’s hard to generalize the findings due to the diversity of the formats, the screenings helped immensely in two regards: in giving feedback on emotional responses and in discussing text and communication flaws.
Image: rematter
Retrospective
I was happy that five out of nine teams delivered films that had progressed far and were convincing and good-looking, too. That was more than we expected.
In hindsight, the scope of the workshop was too intense. In a short time, teams can either forge their business talking points or learn the craft.
Nevertheless, these teams finalized their videos in a further iteration and improved their results again. One of the teams (rematter) won the idea contest against 22 competitors.
Personally, the workshop was a crucial step in my shift towards design thinking. I especially enjoyed the first session: I talked to people, gathered data, framed problems, and helped to find solutions. The third session was equally important: one, for seeing the outcomes of the facilitation, and two, for being able to hear and conduct the feedback from a genuinely interested, open-minded, friendly, and critical audience.
