See, Think, Wonder
People look at an image or object and answer three questions in order: What do you see? What do you think about that? What does it make you wonder? Separating plain observation from interpretation and from open questions slows the group down and shows how much reasoning sits behind a quick reaction.
Use on a gallery visit, a site walk, or with any artefact at an offsite, when you want people to notice more before they form a view.
Solves: Groups argue about meaning before they have agreed on what is actually in front of them.
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Step 1: Present the image, object or scene and give everyone time to look in silence (2 min).
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Step 2: Ask 'What do you see?' Collect plain observations only, no interpretation yet (5 min).
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Step 3: Ask 'What do you think about that?' and ask people to name the detail that makes them think it (5-10 min).
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Step 4: Ask 'What does it make you wonder?' and collect the questions (5 min).
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Step 5: Pick one or two wonder questions to take into the next session (3 min).
- Let people write individually first, then share. It stops the loudest reading from becoming everyone's.
- Ask 'What do you see that makes you say that?' whenever an interpretation shows up in the see round.
- Use a photo of your own workplace or product and run the same three questions.