User research through workshop facilitation for the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church
For this project, I was hired by the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist church to conduct a series of design workshops, both to teach clergy the innovative process and gather data on ways the North Texas Conference could better support new church starts in the area. The project addressed three main areas of feedback: urban church clergy, rural church clergy, and United Methodist Church members (also known as "lay people").
Over the course of the project, 6 workshops were conducted using a variety of design research tools including card sorting, journey mapping, word associations, and rapid prototyping. Each workshop was conducted slightly different based on the context and group size, but we aimed to answer three questions.
- What do urban church clergy need to succeed?
- What do rural church clergy need to succeed?
- What are young Methodists looking for in a church?
The research process involved multiple workshops and a series of in-depth interviews with selected participants. During one workshop, participants went through a modified design sprint process, using their own personal experiences as qualitative data. This allowed the groups to express ideas freely and identify the patterns they saw in their own conversations.
During another workshop, participants were organized in small groups with a dedicated “listener” who usually represented the client. These small groups moved through a series of design research activities including card sorting, journey mapping, and word associations around the topics mentioned about. The “listener” at the table was prepped ahead of time on how to take notes and how to elicit deeper responses from the group.
Each workshop had between 20-30 participants and was structured in teams of 4-5 in order for the most number of people to share. The notes gathered from all the workshops provided me the necessary data to begin synthesis and deliver insights to my client.
Over the course of two months, I spoke with over 40 lay people and 35 clergy in the North Texas Conference. Their insights revealed the following as areas of challenge:
Failure & Risk-Taking
Clergy and lay people believe that risk is not rewarded by the Conference. When clergy fail or take risks on new projects, they are often chastised for not being more cautious or careful. This is in direct contrast to the Conference's directions to clergy and lay people to "try new things."
Leadership
Clergy believe the examples of good leaders within the conference is too narrow and do not embody the diversity of communities represented in the geographic area. Leadership definitions should be expanded to include success in non-traditional ways, particularly in rural communities with small budgets and part-time clergy.
Community Engagement
Lay people believe that the Conference does not support enough community outreach work at the local level. Many people expressed desires to see their churches more involved in helping local schools and neighborhoods but were often told their church didn't have money or staff to support such efforts. Lay people believe that an increase of community engagement will bring stronger ties to the community.
Metrics of Success
Clergy overwhelmingly agreed that the current metrics of success, as set by the Conference, do not promote innovation and risk. Clergy feel that current metrics force them to prioritize needs that are not reflective of their community or their community's needs. They believe that by shifting away from quantitative metrics (money, growth, attendance, etc.) and moving towards qualitative metrics (kind of impact, community health, individual stories, etc.) that their metrics will more accurately reflect the positive impact in their communities.
For this project, I was hired by the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist church to conduct a series of design workshops, both to teach clergy the innovative process and gather data on ways the North Texas Conference could better support new church starts in the area. The project addressed three main areas of feedback: urban church clergy, rural church clergy, and United Methodist Church members (also known as "lay people").
Over the course of the project, 6 workshops were conducted using a variety of design research tools including card sorting, journey mapping, word associations, and rapid prototyping. Each workshop was conducted slightly different based on the context and group size, but we aimed to answer three questions.
- What do urban church clergy need to succeed?
- What do rural church clergy need to succeed?
- What are young Methodists looking for in a church?
The research process involved multiple workshops and a series of in-depth interviews with selected participants. During one workshop, participants went through a modified design sprint process, using their own personal experiences as qualitative data. This allowed the groups to express ideas freely and identify the patterns they saw in their own conversations.
During another workshop, participants were organized in small groups with a dedicated “listener” who usually represented the client. These small groups moved through a series of design research activities including card sorting, journey mapping, and word associations around the topics mentioned about. The “listener” at the table was prepped ahead of time on how to take notes and how to elicit deeper responses from the group.
Each workshop had between 20-30 participants and was structured in teams of 4-5 in order for the most number of people to share. The notes gathered from all the workshops provided me the necessary data to begin synthesis and deliver insights to my client.
Over the course of two months, I spoke with over 40 lay people and 35 clergy in the North Texas Conference. Their insights revealed the following as areas of challenge:
Failure & Risk-Taking
Clergy and lay people believe that risk is not rewarded by the Conference. When clergy fail or take risks on new projects, they are often chastised for not being more cautious or careful. This is in direct contrast to the Conference's directions to clergy and lay people to "try new things."
Leadership
Clergy believe the examples of good leaders within the conference is too narrow and do not embody the diversity of communities represented in the geographic area. Leadership definitions should be expanded to include success in non-traditional ways, particularly in rural communities with small budgets and part-time clergy.
Community Engagement
Lay people believe that the Conference does not support enough community outreach work at the local level. Many people expressed desires to see their churches more involved in helping local schools and neighborhoods but were often told their church didn't have money or staff to support such efforts. Lay people believe that an increase of community engagement will bring stronger ties to the community.
Metrics of Success
Clergy overwhelmingly agreed that the current metrics of success, as set by the Conference, do not promote innovation and risk. Clergy feel that current metrics force them to prioritize needs that are not reflective of their community or their community's needs. They believe that by shifting away from quantitative metrics (money, growth, attendance, etc.) and moving towards qualitative metrics (kind of impact, community health, individual stories, etc.) that their metrics will more accurately reflect the positive impact in their communities.
For this project, I was hired by the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist church to conduct a series of design workshops, both to teach clergy the innovative process and gather data on ways the North Texas Conference could better support new church starts in the area. The project addressed three main areas of feedback: urban church clergy, rural church clergy, and United Methodist Church members (also known as "lay people").
Over the course of the project, 6 workshops were conducted using a variety of design research tools including card sorting, journey mapping, word associations, and rapid prototyping. Each workshop was conducted slightly different based on the context and group size, but we aimed to answer three questions.
- What do urban church clergy need to succeed?
- What do rural church clergy need to succeed?
- What are young Methodists looking for in a church?
The research process involved multiple workshops and a series of in-depth interviews with selected participants. During one workshop, participants went through a modified design sprint process, using their own personal experiences as qualitative data. This allowed the groups to express ideas freely and identify the patterns they saw in their own conversations.
During another workshop, participants were organized in small groups with a dedicated “listener” who usually represented the client. These small groups moved through a series of design research activities including card sorting, journey mapping, and word associations around the topics mentioned about. The “listener” at the table was prepped ahead of time on how to take notes and how to elicit deeper responses from the group.
Each workshop had between 20-30 participants and was structured in teams of 4-5 in order for the most number of people to share. The notes gathered from all the workshops provided me the necessary data to begin synthesis and deliver insights to my client.
Over the course of two months, I spoke with over 40 lay people and 35 clergy in the North Texas Conference. Their insights revealed the following as areas of challenge:
Failure & Risk-Taking
Clergy and lay people believe that risk is not rewarded by the Conference. When clergy fail or take risks on new projects, they are often chastised for not being more cautious or careful. This is in direct contrast to the Conference's directions to clergy and lay people to "try new things."
Leadership
Clergy believe the examples of good leaders within the conference is too narrow and do not embody the diversity of communities represented in the geographic area. Leadership definitions should be expanded to include success in non-traditional ways, particularly in rural communities with small budgets and part-time clergy.
Community Engagement
Lay people believe that the Conference does not support enough community outreach work at the local level. Many people expressed desires to see their churches more involved in helping local schools and neighborhoods but were often told their church didn't have money or staff to support such efforts. Lay people believe that an increase of community engagement will bring stronger ties to the community.
Metrics of Success
Clergy overwhelmingly agreed that the current metrics of success, as set by the Conference, do not promote innovation and risk. Clergy feel that current metrics force them to prioritize needs that are not reflective of their community or their community's needs. They believe that by shifting away from quantitative metrics (money, growth, attendance, etc.) and moving towards qualitative metrics (kind of impact, community health, individual stories, etc.) that their metrics will more accurately reflect the positive impact in their communities.
