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Idea Generation

Desktop Walkthrough

2–10 peopleExploratoryCombinational

Overview

A desktop walkthrough is a technique to test out a service design and gather user experience insights in order to refine it. It is best used with 2–10 people. It involves stakeholders in acting out a service experience using small, hand sized toys and some paper touchpoints – any point of contact (physical, virtual or human) between a customer and the service provider – on a desktop or table top. These stakeholders imagine themselves in a situation where they are customers using the service, they are encouraged to imagine what the customer would do, say and feel. Ideally this would be recorded.

It can be useful to run the walk through using various different personas and under different imagined situations.

What to do

Undertake Desktop Walkthrough in the following 7 steps:

  1. The facilitator makes sure that the stakeholders are provided with sufficient material to act out the scenario on a desk or tabletop. These materials will include pens and paper, scissors and glue, and tools such as Lego and Plasticine that can be used to quickly construct and modify objects.
  2. The facilitator guides a short discussion with stakeholders in order to agree on the situation, the persona and the touch points they want to test. Stakeholders are given the materials to construct a first version of the service including: the touchpoints, the physical environment of the service and other relevant objects, actors and spaces for the service. The stakeholders are encouraged to be creative during the development of these objects.
  3. The stakeholders set up the start position for the most common form of service undertaking on a large table. The facilitator seeks to ensure that all stakeholders have equal access to the desktop walkthrough, to be able to point to, access and manipulate any part of the walkthrough at any time.
  4. The stakeholders walk through the most common, normal course service interaction, moving the objects on the desktop walkthrough for each stage of the service. Stakeholders should fulfil different roles – some should be responsible for acting out the scenario, others should observe, critique and make notes on problems and opportunities to improve the service design. Use mobile devices to video- and audio-record walkthroughs as needed. All comments, ideas and observations are written in post its and collected on the appropriate touchpoint.
  5. The facilitator leads a reflection where stakeholders are encouraged to review and change the current service design in light of the feedback from the first walkthrough, as well as explicitly document new ideas to be incorporated into future versions of the service design, and construct objects to represent these ideas.
  6. Repeat the service walkthrough and review as described in stage 5 and 6 iteratively until the normal course service design is complete and agreed.
  7. The facilitator encourages stakeholders to set up, walk through and review other forms of the service interaction through further repetitions of stages 5 and 6 considering other personas, other less frequent service interactions and/or outcomes…

People

Works best with 2–10 people.

Problem solving characteristics

Desktop Walkthrough is useful if you want to refine your design using user experience insights.

Creative phases

Desktop Walkthrough is useful if you want to take a closer look at your design and see it from the user's perspective.

Location

Any large space in which 2–10 people can stand around a large desktop or tabletop.

Equipment

Large desktop or tabletop, paper, pens, glue, scissors, post its, audio or video recording equipment… Optional materials could include plasticine, Lego…