client overview

In 2020, the Toolbox Dialogue Initiative (TDI) was awarded a grant (for which I am a co-PI) from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to work with nine heliophysics-focused DRIVE (Diversify, Realize, Integrate, Venture, Educate) Science Centers (DSCs) that received Phase I NASA funding. TDI’s role was to work with these DSCs to enhance their team science, communication, and collaboration as they prepared to apply for Phase II NASA funding. As the primary project manager for this grant, my role is to build relationships with the DSCs as well as develop and deliver customized experiences for those that are working with TDI. 

One of these nine DSCs is Wave-induced Atmospheric Variability Enterprise (WAVE) at CU-Boulder. I have been working with representatives from WAVE since October 2020. 

project overview

In Spring 2021, WAVE was in the initial stages of preparing for their Phase II proposal and how to build their community. Together with the WAVE leadership, I helped to plan and execute a virtual three-hour interactive workshop for new and prospective members of the WAVE community. 

My role: Lead experience designer and facilitator

Team: Lead experience designer and facilitator, several additional TDI facilitators, WAVE leadership team

The process

TDI workshops feature a short presentation on the method, a survey-like instrument of prompts that users rank on a rating-response scale, a lightly facilitated dialogue about the instrument, another round of the instrument, and a co-creation activity that builds on the topics from the dialogue. Along with my co-facilitators, we decided on a three-hour duration for this workshop in order to give participants time to dig deep into prompts and the co-creation.

In designing and delivering this workshop, frequent and clear communication with the WAVE leadership was crucial. Over the months leading up to the workshop, we met frequently via Zoom to discuss the meeting’s structure, technology, participants, recruiting strategy, and goals. We identified that WAVE leadership had three goals: a) encourage participation from new and existing members, b) discuss three specific scientific questions, and c) gauge participant interest in future collaboration. During our conversations, I ensured we considered a variety of factors in order to design and deliver an effective and memorable workshop for the WAVE community. These factors included:

• Time: Because WAVE is an international community spanning a wide variety of time zones, we first had to decide and agree upon a time slot for the workshop that would allow maximum international participation. 

• Platforms: Zoom was chosen as the main platform due to assumption of familiarity with this platform after a year of remote work. Criteria for any additional platforms included not needing to create a new account, global accessibility, and an intuitive user interface. 

• Workshop Facilitation: I recruited several facilitators from the TDI community to act as facilitators for this workshop so that we could discuss the scientific questions in smaller breakout rooms.. The goal for this workshop was light facilitation of discussions. As TDI facilitators are not technical experts, the WAVE leadership and I agreed that WAVE would create some backup technical questions the TDI facilitators could use in case conversations lagged. 

• Messaging: In my 5 years of experience designing and delivering interactive workshops, I have found that participation and engagement often hinge on messaging and buy-in from leadership. Therefore, WAVE leadership handled much of the communication with participants in terms of invitations and science, while I wrote messaging about the logistical aspects of the workshop. 

From these goals and factors, I was able to design a workshop structure in three parts: pre-workshop homework, the virtual workshop, and a post-workshop virtual mixer.

The “homework assignment” was for participants to use Google Jamboard to introduce themselves and to respond to the three scientific questions. In addition to building excitement for the workshop itself, this assignment created a space for those who couldn’t join or who are uncomfortable speaking in virtual meetings to also contribute to the discussion.

The virtual workshop design featured an opening talk from the WAVE principal investigator, a short piece on the technical aspects of the day from myself, three facilitated break-out room conversations (one for each scientific question), an end of the day wrap up, and a poll about future desire to work with WAVE. 

For the workshop, we wanted participants to experience a uniform facilitation style across break rooms. To ensure this, I hosted a pre-event meeting for these facilitators where we discussed WAVE, the facilitation style for the event, and the roles and responsibilities of each facilitator. I also developed a run-of-show document for the TDI team with links, a schedule, background information, and answers to potential questions. During the workshop, we also created cohesive facilitation through using a set of ground rules, agreed upon by participants, to guide discussion and intervention from facilitators. 

The virtual mixer was included to give participants an opportunity to socialize and continue their conversations. Having used several different technologies for this type of engagement, I chose spatial.chat for the particular workshop. This choice was two-fold: 1) the transition from Zoom to spatial.chat would have the “feel” of the transition at an in-person meeting from presentations/discussions to hallway chats/happy hour and 2) spatial.chat’s interface allows for video and audio from users in customized rooms (including some that are designed like hotel lobbies). 

Deliverables

I delivered a three-hour virtual workshop hosted on Zoom with an additional social hour on spatial.chat on May 11, 2021. According to WAVE leadership and attendees, this workshop was a tremendous success. 93 of the 96 invited scientists participated, and the resulting 10-page workshop summary set the stage for future workshops and collaborative work in the community.

Additionally, this workshop was the first of several I planned in partnership with WAVE. In August 2021, I planned and led the facilitation of a workshop with WAVE’s Broadening Impacts team. Currently I am working with WAVE leadership on the design and delivery of a workshop on February 28, 2022 focused on writing white papers for the National Academies 2024 Decadal Survey.

Lessons learned

Platform Documentation
Due to the rise of online work and the proliferation of platforms, it has never been easier to create engaging virtual events. However, it is important to remember to create documentation for using platforms for attendees, as not every attendee has the same technological readiness. This workshop and TDI’s use of spatial.chat has informed the need for the creation of a spatial.chat primer for use in events going forward.

Client Training
When my experience design work is funded by a grant, I want my work with a client to leave them in a place to structure experiences themselves if/when the grant runs out. Therefore, I try to create an open and engaging space with my clients for them to ask questions and experiment. In the case of the WAVE leadership, I believe our collaboration and conversations have put them in a place to successfully plan their own events if need be in the future. Through their exploration of tools and platforms with me, I have observed that they are excited to learn about new platforms, willing to try out platforms and tools on their own, and able to ask the right questions about whether a platform or technology will work for their needs.