Rosenverse
Unlock Your Team’s Intelligence with Collaboration Design

This video is only accessible to Gold members. Log in or register for a free Gold Trial Account to watch.

Log in Register

Most conference talks are accessible to Gold members, while community videos are generally available to all logged-in members.

Unlock Your Team’s Intelligence with Collaboration Design

Gold
Thursday, June 9, 2022 • Design at Scale 2022
Share the love for this talk
Unlock Your Team’s Intelligence with Collaboration Design
Speakers: Emilia Åström and Jim Kalbach
Link:

Summary

Collaboration is key to opening the feedback loop and making innovative breakthroughs. But how do we unlock and reimagine versatile ideas in the room?

By putting people first and designing to connect individuals, collaboration design helps everyone feel like they’re included and contributing equally.
Join MURAL’s Emilia Åström, Learning Experience Lead, and Jim Kalbach, Chief Evangelist, to learn how your team can use this proven method — and MURAL — to strategize, innovate, and create your best solutions.

Key Insights

  • •

    Collaboration design integrates deliberate social connection with structured problem-solving for more effective teamwork.

  • •

    Connection and reflection before and after meetings are as critical as active problem-solving during sessions.

  • •

    Personal placemats help all participants, including introverts and non-native speakers, to contribute thoughtfully.

  • •

    Pre-workshop asynchronous activities foster trust and readiness by allowing participants to share about themselves and the topics.

  • •

    Using varied visual cues like color, shape, and tags on sticky notes improves inclusivity and accessibility.

  • •

    Dot voting and the ‘bullseye’ prioritization technique enforce clear decision-making and focus during collaboration.

  • •

    Regular, small connection moments in sessions outperform occasional large events like annual retreats.

  • •

    Experimentation and iteration are fundamental to evolving effective collaboration design practices.

  • •

    Facilitators should consciously plan turn-taking and participation methods to ensure equity in hybrid sessions.

  • •

    A collaboration designer can be a formal role or an adopted skill for anyone leading group conversations.

Notable Quotes

"Collaboration should be intentional and deliberate, just like industrial or service design."

"Work has a social element – connection is one of the biggest things people feel is missing."

"Good collaboration design helps teams solve problems and connect at the same time."

"Personal placemats give everyone time to think before sharing, increasing diversity of ideas."

"Pre-work allows people to share who they are and their interests, building trust before the session."

"Use sticky notes with different colors and shapes to make the session more accessible and fun."

"Reflection after sessions increases ongoing collaboration design and continuous improvement."

"Take time to connect and reflect before you start collaborating, not just dive into work immediately."

"Experimenting with collaboration methods helps you find what works best for your team."

"We envision a whole new class of workers called collaboration designers."

Ask the Rosenbot
Aurobinda Pradhan
Introduction to Collaborative DesignOps using Cubyts
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold
John Calhoun
Bring your DesignOps Story to Life! The Definitive DesignOps Book Jam
2023 • DesignOps Summit 2023
Gold
Uday Gajendar
Theme 1: Introduction
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Brendan Jarvis
Framing Tomorrow by Questioning Today
2022 • Design at Scale 2022
Gold
Amelia Cole
Data-Prompted Interviews
2021 • QuantQual Interest Group
Bria Alexander
Opening Remarks
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Jane Davis
Strategic Shifts and Innovations in User Research: Navigating Challenges and Opportunities
2025 • Advancing Research 2025
Gold
George Aye
That Quiet Little Voice: When Design and Ethics Collide
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Megan Blocker
Day 2 Theme Panel
2025 • Advancing Research 2025
Gold
Renee Bouwens
Landing Product Impact: Aligning Research as a Foundational Driver for Delivering the World’s Best Products
2023 • QuantQual Interest Group
Leah Buley
Ask Me Anything with Leah Buley and Joe Natoli, co-authors of The User Experience Team of One (2nd edition)
2024 • Rosenfeld Community
Robin Beers
Panel: Excellence in Communicating Insights
2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Gold
Bria Alexander
Opening Remarks Day 2
2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Gold
Ana Ferreira
Designing Distributed: Leading Doist’s Fully Remote Design Team in Six Countries
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2020
Gold
Jemma Ahmed
Bringing together market and user research
2019 • Advancing Research Community
Florence Okoye
AfroFuturism and UX Research
2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Gold

More Videos

Shipra Kayan

"We moved from Evernote to spreadsheets, to a giant affinity board in Mirror, then to UserVoice, and finally to idiomatic software with AI."

Shipra Kayan

How we Built a VoC (Voice of the Customer) Practice at Upwork from the Ground Up

September 30, 2021

Peter Morville

"When we understand organizations as ecosystems, we recognize the need for organic simplicity."

Peter Morville

The Architecture of Understanding

May 13, 2015

Renee Reid

"Only one internal hire on the UX team was a huge misopportunity for us."

Renee Reid

Becoming a ResearchH.E.R (Highly Enterprise Ready)

June 3, 2019

Dane DeSutter

"For some users, AI products are not just tools, they are relationships."

Dane DeSutter

Keeping the Body in Mind: What Gestures and Embodied Actions Tell You That Users May Not

March 26, 2024

Sam Proulx

"Avoid strictly timed interactions because they stress everyone, especially people using screen readers or with cognitive disabilities."

Sam Proulx

Online Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience

October 3, 2023

Andrew Custage

"It costs less to keep the customers you have than to acquire new ones."

Andrew Custage Michael Mallett

The Digital Journey: Research on Consumer Frustration and Loyalty

March 29, 2023

Shelby Switzer

"The nitty gritty is a space to become resources for each other so people know who to talk to when they have questions."

Shelby Switzer

Making Space for Community Knowledge-sharing in a Distributed World

December 10, 2021

Llewyn Paine

"Right now, there’s a fear of being replaced by AI, and while a lot of that’s overblown, researchers have a legitimate reason to feel uncomfortable."

Llewyn Paine

Coexisting with AI: A practical guide for researchers to navigate tools, ethics, and integration

March 11, 2025

Robin Beers

"A living systems lens urges us to see wholes, holes, and interdependent relationships in organizations."

Robin Beers

Navigating organizational systems: Rethinking researcher’s role in driving change

March 13, 2025