When Do Design Workshops Work (or Not)

This provocation invites reflection on the use of design workshops in research. We are concerned that often, design workshops don't work; at least, not as their facilitators might have intended, or as effectively as they could do. In this short paper we draw from our own experiences of organizing and attending design workshops, to observe common challenges in using design workshops as a research tool. Though critical, we intend this paper to serve as a point of reflection for running more purposeful workshops, and being able to better articulate the research and design developed through them.