Duration: 2.5-3 hours

Participants: Cross-functional team (designers, developers, product managers, stakeholders familiar with past work)

Purpose: Examine past successful projects to uncover implicit design principles and patterns that can be formalized into explicit guidelines

WORKSHOP FLOW

01 Introduction (15 minutes)

• Explain workshop purpose: Excavating design wisdom from past work

• Set expectations for analytical, evidence-based discussion

• Introduce the concept of "design archaeology" as unearthing hidden patterns

• Establish criteria for what constitutes "successful" design work

02 Project Selection (20 minutes)

• As a group, identify 5-8 successful projects/products to analyze

• Selection criteria:

  • Demonstrated success (user metrics, business impact, recognition)

  • Diversity of product types/contexts

  • Recent enough to be relevant but with sufficient time to prove success

  • Team has sufficient knowledge about the design process

• Collectively rank and select final projects for deep analysis

03 Small Group Analysis (45 minutes)

• Divide into small groups (2-3 people)

• Each group takes 1-2 projects to analyze deeply

• Using project artifacts (screens, prototypes, documentation):

  • Identify key design decisions that contributed to success

  • Note recurring patterns and approaches

  • Document seeming "rules" that guided the work

  • Extract preliminary principles from these patterns

• Each group prepares a brief presentation of their findings

04 Project Presentations (40 minutes)

• Each group presents their analysis (5-7 minutes per project)

• Focus on identified patterns and preliminary principles

• Other participants note patterns that appear across multiple projects

• Brief clarifying questions only (discussion comes later)
  

05 Break (10 minutes)

06 Pattern Identification (30 minutes)

• As a full group, list all identified patterns on a shared board

• Look for similarities and overlaps

• Cluster related patterns

• Identify recurring themes across projects

• Note contradictions or tensions between different successful approaches

07 Principle Formulation (30 minutes)

• Transform the strongest patterns into draft principle statements

• For each potential principle:

  • Articulate the underlying value or belief

  • Test against project examples

  • Consider exceptions or limitations

• Aim for 5-7 core principles that represent consistent patterns

08 Next Steps and Closing (15 minutes)

• Review drafted principles

• Discuss refinement process

• Plan for validation and implementation

• Assign follow-up responsibilities

REQUIRED TOOLS & MATERIALS

Physical Workshop Tools

• Large whiteboard or wall space

• Project artifacts (printouts of key screens, user flows, etc.)

• Project documentation (briefs, research reports, metrics)

• Sticky notes (multiple colors)

• Markers and pens

• Notebooks for capturing observations

• Camera for documenting patterns

Digital Workshop Tools (for remote/hybrid sessions)

• Video conferencing platform with screen sharing

• Digital whiteboard (Miro, FigJam, Mural)

• Shared folders with project artifacts

• Documentation repository access

• Templates shared in advance

PREPARATION MATRERIALS

• Project selection criteria

• Pattern identification frameworks

• Principle formulation templates

• Success metrics for referenced projects

• Brief history of each candidate project

]WORKSHOP DELIVERABLES

Immediate Deliverables (Day of Workshop)

1. Project Analysis Sheets: Documentation of patterns within each project

2. Pattern Clusters: Grouped patterns from across projects

3. Draft Principles: Initial formulations of principles based on patterns

4. Evidence Database: Examples supporting each principle

Post-Workshop Deliverables (1-3 days after)

1. Pattern Analysis Document including:

   • Comprehensive list of identified design patterns

   • Frequency of occurrence across projects

   • Evidence of success for each pattern

   • Exceptions and contextual factors

2. Design Principles Document including:

   • 5-7 refined principle statements

   • Rationale for each principle with evidence

   • Examples from projects demonstrating each principle

   • Guidelines for application

3. Implementation Plan outlining:

   • Process for validating principles

   • Methods for integrating into current design processes

   • Communication strategy for wider organization

WORKSHOP FACILITATION REQUIREMENTS

• Primary facilitator familiar with all projects

• Documentation lead to capture findings

• Subject matter experts for each project (ideally original team members)

• Timer to keep presentation and discussion periods on trac