Creating Shared Understanding with Cards - Slide 1

Creating SharedUnderstanding

(with Index Cards)

e x c e l l e n c e a n d i n n o v a t i o n w i t h p a s s i o n

Creating Shared Understanding with Cards - Slide 2

A Bit About Me

Angela Martin

13 + Years Industry Experience

(Past) Director of Agile Alliance

PhD Candidate

– A Grounded Theory on the Role ofCustomers in XP Projects

Contact Details

– e: angela@martinitconsulting.com– p: 07717 653 971

Creating Shared Understanding with Cards - Slide 3

Coming up …

Why Shared Understanding?

Introducing Cards

– An exercise to introducecollaborative card playtechniques

– … and how they canimprove a conversation

Using Cards to Prioritize

Using Cards to Create Models

Using Cards in the Real-World

Further Reading

Creating Shared Understanding with Cards - Slide 4

Adapted from a drawing by Luke Barrett, ThoughtWorks

Why Shared Understanding?

In the fable of the blind men and the elephant; each ofthe blind men touches one part of the elephant anddevelops a perception of the elephant as a whole

– One touches the side and perceives it to be like a wall– Another touches the tusk and perceives it to be like a spear– Another touches the tail and perceives it to be like a snake

This fable provides an excellent analogy for theperceptions of each member of thecustomer community

Real example: cervicalcancer screening

Creating Shared Understanding with Cards - Slide 5

Using Cards

This exercise is divided into 2 parts

In the first part we will use hidden notes; in the secondpart we will collaborate using visible cards

Providing us with the opportunity to learn how to usecards and to compare and contrast the results

Group set-up:

– Divide into groups of four (aim to work with people who don’tknow you very well)

– Within your group, split into pairs for the first part of theexercise, you will swap pairs for the second part

Creating Shared Understanding with Cards - Slide 6

Conversationsabout a “thing”

Conversationsabout anexperience

Preparing For Your Conversation

Pick a topic. Some suggested examples are:

– 20+ facts about you– 20+ facts about your hobby– 20+ facts about a sports team

– 20+ facts about your last holiday– 20+ facts about your current project– 20+ facts about a recent course

Keep your topic private

Brainstorm the things or “facts” you can cover about this topic (dothis as an individual not with your pair)

You have 2 minutes. Go!

Creating Shared Understanding with Cards - Slide 7

The Conversation - Take One!

When you are the speaker

– Share all of the 20+ facts about your topic as a conversation (notjust a recitation of facts!)

– Do not refer to your preparation list(s)– Do not reveal the topic directly

When you are the listener

– Understand what the topic is AND retain all of the facts– You may not take any written notes during the conversation– It is a conversation, so you should ask questions and help the

speaker to explore the topic

You each have 10 minutes in total (5 minutes each asspeaker). Your 10 minutes starts now. Go!

Creating Shared Understanding with Cards - Slide 8

So, how did that work out?

Think about the conversation where you were thelistener

– Write down what you think the topic was and as many factsas you can remember from the conversation. You have 2minutes. Go!

How well did your pair do?

– Provide 50 points for getting the topic correct and 10 pointsfor each correct fact; deduct 5 points for each incorrectfact. You have 60 seconds. Go!

Lets take a moment to reflect how the conversation(and scoring) went.

Swap Pairs. Go!

Creating Shared Understanding with Cards - Slide 9

The Conversation - Take Two!

When you are the speaker

– Share all of the 20+ facts about your (original) topic as aconversation (not just a recitation of facts!)

When you are the listener

– Understand what the topic is AND all of the related facts– As before, it is a conversation, so you should ask questions and help

the speaker to explore the topic

Together, as a collaborative pair

– Use cards to take shared notes: one point per card. Group similarcards together under heading cards (use a different color card forheading cards)

You each have 10 minutes in total (5 minutes each as speaker).Your 10 minutes starts now. Go!

Creating Shared Understanding with Cards - Slide 10

So, how did that work out?

How well did your pair do?

– Provide 50 points for getting the topic correct and 10 pointsfor each correct fact; deduct 5 points for each incorrectfact. You have 60 seconds. Go!

– … and the top scorer was …– Do the scores differ much?

Lets take a moment to reflect how the conversation(and scoring) went between the two versions of thisexercise.

Creating Shared Understanding with Cards - Slide 11

Using Cards to Prioritize

In your groups choose the model you’ll create in the next exercise.There are 6 options, see packs on table:

– Web Banking [Process Model]– DVD Rental [Process Model] – Dressing [Process Model]

You each have 2 gold stars (votes). Place your gold stars on theoption you would like to do next:

– You may use both stars on one card, or– You may spread your votes across two cards

As a group decide which exercise you’ll do next (use the individualvotes to help with that decision). You have 2 minutes. Go!

– Web Banking [Domain Model]– DVD Rental [Domain Model]– Dog Show [Domain Model]

Creating Shared Understanding with Cards - Slide 12

Using Cards to Model

In this exercise we will use cards to help us create modelsduring our conversation

As a group, work with the cards to create a model ofyour selected topic. You have 10 minutes. Go!

Lets take a moment to reflect how that worked, both theprioritization and modeling.

Creating Shared Understanding with Cards - Slide 13

Adapted from a drawing by Luke Barrett, ThoughtWorks

Using Cards in the Real-World

We can use collaborative card play to increase sharedunderstanding on our projects:

– During planning activities– During retrospectives– During informal meetings to clarify points/issues/actions– …

You can use cards to represent facts OR to createmodels like:

– Domain models – Sequence models

Use your imagination;find a way to makevisible the invisible

Creating Shared Understanding with Cards - Slide 14

Further Reading

There are many important aspects to creating a sharedunderstanding; we have only touched upon the surface.

You might like to check-out:

– Hohmann, Luke. Innovation Games: Creating breakthroughproducts through collaborative play. Addison-Wesley, 2006.

– Gottesdiener, Ellen. Requirements by Collaboration:Workshops for defining needs. Addison-Wesley, 2002.