yes, my tuatara loves to cha-cha: improv, creativity and design

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Yes, My Tuatara Loves to Cha-ChaImprov, Creativity and Design

Steve Portigal@steveportigal

Yes, My Tuatara Loves to Cha-Cha 2 Portigal

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Introduction



Define and experience improv

Look at research, creativity, designOverlaps, similarities and parallelsSome implicit; some explicit

Insight into new ways of thinkingRather than rundown of how Portigal Consulting uses improv in consulting engagements

Today (and what’s this about tuataras?)

No tuataras will be harmed.



We help companies to plan strategically for user research and to unlock their research super powers.

Portigal



Resources, presentations and to purchase http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/interviewing-users/

Interviews with in-house user research leadershttp://portigal.com/series/DollarsToDonuts/

Coming in 2016http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/epic-fail/



Improv: The funny will come


Click to edit Master title styleImprov is not stand-up comedy

In contrast to improv, stand-up isHighly scriptedRehearsed, with nano-second timing


Click to edit Master title styleImprov is...A highly-constrained performance with several open parametersElements of problem solving

UnscriptedSpecifics assigned right before performance starts“Your first idea is often your best idea”

Emphasis on playfulness over being funny“I could never do that, because I’m not funny”It can be (at times) funny to watch, but not about trying to be funny“The funny will come”“Don’t let logic impede your fancy”

Improv is cheaper than therapy



Corporate training on collaboration and creativity

Meeting facilitation/ideation warm-up

Informance (from Interval Research)

User research methods

Improv finds it way into many areas

At Pixar, when someone suggests an idea, others should respond with “Yes, and ...” They’ve used improv to create the most trusting environment possible where people can screw up.

Pixar tells story behind 'Toy Story‘, SF Chronicle, 8/23/05


Click to edit Master title styleImprov and collaboration

Throwing an idea

Accepting offers/saying yes

Trust

Listening

Setting up the spike

Chris Miller emphasizes that your task in improv is to make your partner look good.


Click to edit Master title styleImprov Dark Patterns


Click to edit Master title styleImprov can bring

Insights about humor

Confidence in public speaking

Timing

Did I mention therapy?

Building skills in listening


Click to edit Master title styleGame: Storytelling Circle



Designing for users: needs and culture


Click to edit Master title styleInterviewing users requires expert listening

At this level, most people can’t do this without extensive training and practice

Listening is more than not talking when the other person talksHow is what you do or say next, after they finish talking, influenced by what they just said, or have said previously?

Interviewing looks and feels like ordinary conversation – but it isn’t!


Click to edit Master title styleListening is in the body as well as the ears/eyes

Yes! Not so much.



Game: Telephone 2.0


Click to edit Master title styleChange and Conformity in Balance

“Folks pick up on the surrounding cultures in at least somewhat idiosyncratic ways…Even with a world of conformers, each conformer thus acts differently. With each striving to emulate the other, there will be a never-ending chain of adoptions and adaptations that, as they move throughout the network, change the substance.”


Click to edit Master title styleBad ideas get you unstuck

ImmoralDangerousBad for business


Click to edit Master title styleBad ideas get you unstuck



So where does this leave us?


Click to edit Master title styleEmerging principle: giving space to others

Multiple interviewers

Build on the ideas of others

Let there be silence technique

Make your best contribution by not talking

The Kids In The Hall are each hilariously talented, but know how to keep quiet to make the scene work.


Click to edit Master title styleBalance: Structure for Freedom

In user research, we anticipate the flow of the discussion, but it can go in new directions – that’s the a-ha moment you are looking for

Improv games give structure, we have a beginning, and then we “look for the ending”

In ideation, we use a process to think divergently

Fuel creativity: extinguish I can’t do that by breaking problems into smaller solvable ones and reframing success


Click to edit Master title styleTakeaway: Try a little more “yes”

When someone teases you (just listen to how comics go back and forth), try responding with yes.

Even if you don’t add the “and…” the act of yes can change the dynamic.

Gain control by giving up control.

Try it in a situation you wouldn’t expect to.

If I ever become a New Age guru offering a spiritual path to a happier life, this will be the way I’ll present myself.


Click to edit Master title styleHungry for more?

Attend an improv classAttend an improv showStart your own improv classWatch improv or improv-based stuff


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