Overview

This guide will help you facilitate a Design Archaeology Session, a collaborative workshop where teams analyze past successful projects to identify patterns and extract design principles that can be formalized into explicit guidelines.

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

Pre-Workshop Preparation

1. Identify candidate projects

   • Review your team's portfolio and select 10-12 potential projects for analysis

   • Prioritize projects with demonstrated success (positive user metrics, business impact, recognition)

   • Ensure diversity across project types, audiences, and timeframes

   • Focus on projects the team has sufficient knowledge about

2. Gather artifacts and documentation

   • Collect key screens, user flows, and UI components from each potential project

   • Compile relevant metrics and success indicators

   • Gather original project briefs, research reports, and user feedback

   • Organize all materials in a shared repository accessible during the workshop

3. Prepare workshop space

   • Set up a physical or virtual workspace with ample room for collaboration

   • Prepare the Project Selection Matrix, Project Analysis Worksheets, and Pattern Collection Matrix

   • Print or make digital copies of all templates for participants

   • Test access to any digital tools or repositories you'll use

   • Have a camera ready to document physical artifacts

4. Invite the right participants

   • Include team members who worked directly on the candidate projects

   • Ensure representation from design, development, product management, and user research

   • Aim for 6-12 participants total

   • Brief participants on the session purpose and ask them to refresh their knowledge of the candidate projects

Workshop Flow

1. Introduction (15 minutes)

• Welcome participants and explain the purpose:

  • "We're here to uncover the design patterns that have contributed to our most successful work"

  • "This is analytical and evidence-based, not opinion-driven"

  • "The goal is to identify principles that should guide our future work"

• Set ground rules:

  • Focus on evidence and patterns, not opinions

  • Maintain an analytical approach

  • Acknowledge context for each project

  • Look for consistent patterns, not one-off successes

  • Consider both user outcomes and business impact

• Explain the workshop flow and expected outcomes

• Frame the approach as "archaeology" - we're uncovering and examining artifacts to understand the underlying principles

2. Project Selection (20 minutes)

• Distribute the Project Selection Matrix

• Present the list of candidate projects with brief context on each

• Have participants rate each project on the criteria:

  • Success metrics (quantifiable positive outcomes)

  • Design quality (excellence in execution)

  • Documentation (availability of artifacts)

  • Team knowledge (familiarity with the project)

  • Uniqueness (distinctive approach or situation)

• Calculate totals as a group

• Select the top 5-8 projects for deeper analysis

• Briefly discuss the rationale for the selection

3. Small Group Analysis (45 minutes)

• Divide into small groups of 2-3 people

• Assign 1-2 projects to each group

• Distribute Project Analysis Worksheets

• Guide groups to:

  • Document key project information (goals, audience, success metrics)

  • Identify consistent patterns within the design (visual, interaction, information architecture, content)

  • Analyze key design decisions (context, options, final decision, outcome)

  • Extract preliminary principles that seem to have guided those decisions

• Check in with each group to ensure they're identifying patterns, not just describing

• Ask probing questions like "What principle seems to be behind that decision?"

• Encourage groups to look beyond surface details to underlying approaches

4. Project Presentations (40 minutes)

• Have each group present their analysis (5-7 minutes per project)

• Focus presentations on:

  • Brief context of the project

  • Key design patterns identified

  • Preliminary principles extracted

• Have other participants use the Pattern Collection Matrix to track patterns across projects

• Ask clarifying questions only (save deeper discussion for the next phase)

• Take notes on common themes as they emerge

5. Break (10 minutes)

• Give participants a short break before the synthesis phase

• During the break, organize the preliminary principles on a board for easier reference

6. Pattern Identification (30 minutes)

• As a full group, review all identified patterns

• List all observed patterns without initial filtering

• Look for similarities and overlaps across different projects

• Use categories to organize thinking:

  • Visual design patterns

  • Interaction patterns

  • Information architecture patterns

  • Content patterns

  • Process patterns

• Help the group recognize patterns that appear across multiple projects

• Cluster related patterns and give each cluster a descriptive name

• Identify patterns that appear most frequently and have the strongest evidence

7. Principle Formulation (30 minutes)

• Transition from patterns to principles by asking:

  • "What underlying value or belief explains this pattern?"

  • "What guidance would ensure this pattern continues in future work?"

• For each major pattern cluster, draft 1-2 potential principle statements

• Encourage specific, actionable principles rather than platitudes

• Test principles against project examples: "How did this principle manifest in Project X?"

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

• Refine language for clarity and memorability

8. Next Steps and Closing (15 minutes)

• Review the draft principles with the group

• Discuss how these principles will be refined and formalized

• Agree on format for documentation

• Assign responsibilities for:

  • Finalizing principle statements

  • Creating supporting documentation

  • Sharing with wider team

  • Applying to current work

• Schedule a follow-up session to review refined principles

• Thank participants for their contributions

Facilitation Tips

Setting the Tone

• Frame the session as analytical rather than judgmental

• Emphasize evidence-based discussion

• Establish that the goal is to learn from past successes, not critique

• Model objective analysis in your introductory examples

Guiding Project Selection

• Push for diversity of project types

• Ensure selection of genuinely successful projects with measurable outcomes

• Avoid recency bias by including older successful projects

• Consider including one "outlier" project with a unique approach

Managing Discussions

• Keep conversations focused on patterns and principles, not project details

• Use a timer to maintain pace

• Take notes on common themes as they emerge

• Ask clarifying questions to draw out implicit principles

• Invite contribution from quieter participants

• Redirect personal critiques to focus on ideas

Supporting Principle Formulation

• Push for specific, actionable principles rather than platitudes

• Test principles against project examples

• Encourage consideration of contexts and limitations

• Help differentiate between principles (enduring guidelines) and tactics (specific implementations)

Common Challenges and Responses

Challenge: Focus on project details rather than patterns

Response: "Those details are interesting. What broader approach or belief do they reflect that might apply to other projects?"

Challenge: Overgeneralizing from a single project

Response: "That's a compelling pattern from Project X. Did we see similar approaches in any other projects?"

Challenge: Creating vague or generic principles

Response: "Could any design team adopt this principle? How can we make it more specific to our successful approach?"

Challenge: Disagreement about what made a project successful

Response: "Let's look at the specific metrics and user feedback. What evidence do we have about which aspects contributed most to success?"

Challenge: Struggling to move from patterns to principles

Response: "Think about it this way: if you were advising a new designer on our team, what guidance would ensure they continue this pattern in their work?"

Post-Workshop Responsibilities

1. Document the session

   • Compile all identified patterns with supporting examples

   • Draft principle statements based on strongest patterns

   • Create documentation linking principles to evidence

   • Distribute summary to all participants within 3 days

2. Refine principles

   • Review and refine principle statements for clarity and actionability

   • Add concrete examples for each principle

   • Create visual representations if helpful

   • Test principles against current design challenges

3. Validate with stakeholders

   • Share draft principles with wider team and key stakeholders

   • Gather feedback on clarity, relevance, and applicability

   • Adjust based on input while maintaining core insights

4. Plan for implementation

   • Develop strategies for integrating principles into design processes

   • Create resources to support application (posters, cheat sheets)

   • Establish mechanisms for evaluating principle effectiveness

   • Schedule regular reviews to update principles as needed

Materials Checklist

• [ ] Printed/digital copies of Project Selection Matrix

• [ ] Printed/digital copies of Project Analysis Worksheets

• [ ] Printed/digital copies of Pattern Collection Matrix

• [ ] Project artifacts (screenshots, flows, documentation)

• [ ] Success metrics for candidate projects

• [ ] Whiteboard/digital board for pattern clustering

• [ ] Sticky notes and markers

• [ ] Timer

• [ ] Camera for documentation

• [ ] Refreshments to maintain energy

Remember

The goal of this session is not just to document principles but to reveal the implicit wisdom that has guided your team's most successful work. By making these principles explicit, you enable consistent decision-making and help new team members understand your unique approach to design.