The workshop will be about how to quickly draw and explain your business idea or project (not about graphic recording as mentioned in the text). There will be paper, markers and lots of fun, so if you’re in Cologne, stop by.

Interview mit Anna Lena Schiller zum Graphic Recording

Anna Lena Schiller ist eine vielbeschäftigte Person. Mit ihrer Form des Graphic Recordings reist die Berlinerin derzeit von Konferenz zu Konferenz. In Zeiten in denen viele Teilnehmer mehr auf das eigene Smartphone oder den Laptop starren als den Panelisten einem Vortrag zuzuhören, ist Anna Lenas Art komplexe Inhalte in Schaubildern darzustellen sehr angesagt. Auf der C’n’B wird Anna Lena Schiller einen Einblick in die Welt des Graphic Recordings geben.

Du bist ja ganz schön viel auf Konferenzen unterwegs. Wie kommt das?

Ich mache Live-Visualisierungen von Vorträgen, so genanntes Graphic Recording oder Scribing. Diese Art der Dokumentation wird häufig für Konferenzen angefragt, aber auch für Workshops oder interne Strategiebesprechungen. Und so bin ich in ganz Deutschland und Europa unterwegs, um Worte in Bilder zu übersetzen.

Graphic Recording und Visual Sensemaking klingt toll. Aber was ist das eigentlich?

Graphic Recording ist wie schon kurz beschrieben die visuelle Übersetzung von Gesprochenem in Bilder. Das passiert meistens live, groß, in Farbe, gerne analog auf Papier aber auch digital z.B. mit dem iPad. Ein wahrer Multitasking-Job, bei dem man gleichzeitig zuhört, abstrahiert, layoutet und zeichnet. (Das können entgegen aller Vorteile übrigens auch Männer, das Geschlechterverhältnis in der Branche ist ziemlich ausgeglichen.)
Visual Sensemaking ist der Prozess des „Sinn machens“ mit Hilfe visueller Mittel. Wie kann ich meine Idee, mein Business oder meine Argumente so darstellen, dass ich es schnell erklären kann und es einfach zu verstehen ist? Mindmapping ist eine klassische Form des Visual Sensemaking, der Business Model Canvas wäre ein anderes Beispiel. Visual Sensemaking hilft mir, meine Gedanken zu strukturieren und in eine bildliche Form zu bringen.
Und weil der Mensch sich Inhalte in Zusammenhang mit Bildern wesentlich besser merken kann, sind Graphic Recording und Visual Sensemaking nicht nur schön anzuschauen, sondern ermöglichen auch wesentlich effizientere Kommunikation.

Und für wen lohnt es sich, deinen Workshop auf der C’n’B zu besuchen?

Zum Workshop sollte jeder kommen, der lernen will, wie man seine Business- oder Projektidee visuell kommunizieren kann. Wir konzentrieren uns auf einfache Strukturen und Bilder, die jeder schnell lernen und umsetzen kann. Und keine Angst, es geht nicht ums gut zeichnen können, sondern darum Spaß zu haben und auszuprobieren.

I’ve recently been approached and asked if I could give visual thinking workshops for people working with UX und IX - sketching wireframes and the likes. So I went and did some research on the web on what’s already out there and found this story by a guy called Brett Lutchman. It nicely demonstrates the power of pen and paper during the concept phase.

Often […] sessions are captured on a whiteboard with pics taken after. In several occasions, the flash got in the way of the pic (because of the whiteboard reflection) and information was lost.
Enter the Sketchpad.
After making the decision to use a sketchpad, one of the first thoughts that came to mind was “Why didn’t I think of this in the first place?”.
In one meeting, while trying to explain a concept on paper, the pen was snatched out of my hand from the marketing coordinator with the statement “Here let me show you something”. Pretty soon, everyone around the table was hunched over while drawing or pointing to the pad.
Within the same week, 4 of the 6 people who were in that meeting now had the exact same pad I had.
[…] Try dragging in your laptop and visualizing everything on the screen in a […] session - doesn’t happen. Also notice how many times a URL is shot across the table. Someone may say something like “Well soandso.com has a good example of this”- And people begin to scramble for a pen and paper to write it down.

A sketchpad:
1. Can be photocopied and passed around.
2. Is light and readily available to use.
3. Allows others to jump in on the process speedily
4. Makes you look ‘Old School’.
5. Allows you to capture ‘wild’ thoughts immediately (‘Buy flowers for the
wife and pick up milk”)
6. Captures real-time thought processes whle allowing others to follow along
7. Adds an additional 99 years to your lifespan and stops heart burn.

There are flickr groups for UX sketches if you’re interested in this

http://www.flickr.com/groups/uxsketch/

http://www.flickr.com/groups/uxsketches/

And I’ll also be doing some graphic recording with a team of four. Drop by if you’re interested in either one of the topics :) For registration follow the link, there’s a limited number of seats available.

Free Culture Incubator Workshop No 6:

Get More Out Of What You Do - Mass Customization for Makers

Tuesday, May 31st, 10 am- 6 pm
End: 31.05.2011 18:00
—>
Aufbau Haus, Theater Space
Moritzplatz 1, 10969 Berlin-Kreuzberg

With: Heather Kelley, Alexander Rulkens, Paul Blazek, Ela Kagel, Peter Troxler, Nadia EL-Imam as facilitators.

Part of the Part of the Create Your Own - CYO2011 conference

MC, or “Mass Customization” - what is this all about and why might it matter to me?
Basically it is the use of a flexible production method or systems that support custom output. As a creative producer you might have a certain idea about the way your product or service should function or look like. What if a potential client likes your service or product in general, but needs it tailored to his or her needs in order to make use of it? Many creative businesses could increase their sales (and thus get out more of what they do) if they just knew how to adapt their production methods to different markets and clients.

Get More out of what you Do - Mass Customization for Makers
The MC for Makers workshop aims to help people in different fields of practice explore how they to get more out of what they do as a creative producer and how they can meet their client’s diverse and changing needs. If you want to explore how you as a creative can get more out of resources, technology, materials or changing paradigms you are most welcome. The goal of the Mass Customization for Makers Worskshop is to help you figure out how to profit from peer-production models that promise to give actual control over consumption back to the consumers.

10:00 Opening presentation: Round of Introductions & Workshop Overview
11:00 Breakout sessions: Participants break up into small groups. Each group is led by one of our experts from the fields of culture, science and economy and has a dedicated illustrator to help visualise ideas and concepts. Facilitators: Heather Kelley, Alexander Rulkens, Paul Blazek, Ela Kagel, Peter Troxler, Nadia EL-Imam
13:00 Lunch: Yes, it’s going to be healthy and yummy :)
14:00 Group Sessions continue
16:00 Synthesis session: Each group has to prepare a five minute presentation of their results to present to a panel from the main CYO-conference in order to receive constructive critique from leaders in the field.
18:00 Closing Remarks: Drinks and snacks

How do I register?
Fill in the online registration form; Tell us about your professional background and what you are currently working on. Then select one of the 4 user stories in the form you can identify with - when you do so, you assign yourself to the breakout group that will work on the very topic. Workshop seats are limited to 30 people. We will select the participants with regards to a broad range of participants and professional backgrounds, in order to have stimulating sessions.

Please note that the workshop language will be English.

The MC for Makers workshop is a part of the CYO2011 conference
Hosts: MC for Makers is organised by Cookies And Code and the Free Culture Incubator in partnership with the Federal Government’s Centre of Excellence for the Cultural and Creative Industries Initiative.