Successfulmeetings.com recently published an article that described a new approach to events/meetings called Human-Centered Design (HCD). HCD seeks to understand a particular situation by asking the users what they do and why they do it. It is all about building a deep empathy with the people you're designing for, and it ends with new solutions that are tailor-made to suit their needs.
HCD is typically employed across products, services, and technologies. But when applied to events/meetings, HCD can be quite powerful. Here are three HCD principles to bring to your next meeting:
1. Define Your Meeting: Think strategically about the meeting's big-picture purpose and goals first. Defining the meeting's purpose can provide valuable insights for selecting the venue and setting up the meeting space, as well as identifying the most appropriate amenities, tools, and technology to include.
2. Develop an End-to-End Event Strategy: Define every type of guest you have, including sponsors, speakers, participants and press. We tend to group everyone into one bucket, but each group will have a unique experience. Understanding and planning for this is crucial to meet everyone's needs.
- Ahead of the event: build a sense of excitement and anticipation. This is the time to get everyone thinking about the meeting in advance so attendees arrive ready and willing to participate.
- During the event: select and deploy technology and tools that facilitate interaction and make sense with the meeting's goals.
- After the event: gather the feedback and set a plan to follow up to reinforce key messages and to build on relationships established during the meeting.
3. Engage Your Participants: Paying close attention to detail helps further engage participants and create a shared space where individuals and ideas can come together. In addition to room decor and design, explore how to retain participants' interests when it comes to entertainment, technology, and branded items.
Utilizing HCD requires an investment of time and a commitment to a specific methodology, but it could pay off with effective, memorable events/meetings that achieve important business goals. Check our planner tool kit for more helpful insights to plan your next meeting!
