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Taiwa no FumenPractical methods for shared thinking

English edition: the full translation has not yet received an independent line-by-line review. Check the linked sources and method-specific limits before use. Japanese PDFs and videos remain labelled.

Return to session-plan results

User and citizen experience

Turn User Experience into Improvements

Distinguish users’ experiences from observations in the setting, and record situations to improve and questions to pursue next.

People
15–30
Session time
210 minutes
Format
In person

English session plan

Original program status: draft. Source safety category: Medium; this is not a guarantee of safety.

Preparation: High preparation. Facilitation team: Four roles, including an experienced facilitator.

What this session can decide

Propose improvements to users’ experiences. Refer individual consultations, benefit decisions, diagnosis and complaint handling to formal channels.

Outside its scope

  • Do not treat one user as representative of all users.
  • Do not share clinical or consultation records.
  • Do not argue against accounts of experience or offer advice.

Primary caution: Do not treat one user as representative of all users.

Before starting

Question and scope
Distinguish users’ experiences from observations in the setting, and record situations to improve and questions to pursue next. Before the session starts, state the subject and period to be covered in one sentence.
What is decided here
Propose improvements to users’ experiences. Refer individual consultations, benefit decisions, diagnosis and complaint handling to formal channels.
Output recipient
At the end, the Recorder retains “Facts, meanings and improvement candidates”. Distinguish improvement proposals from further research.
Participation and information boundaries
Explain that people may pass, rest or leave, and keep personal information, confidential information and judgements about attributes off the recording surface. Assign Participant support separately.
Operating team
Assign the Lead facilitator, Recorder, Timekeeper and Participant support before starting, and confirm who announces transitions and stops.
Next check
Decide the review date for “Facts, meanings and improvement candidates”, who may view it and who is responsible for the next decision.

Who takes responsibility

Lead facilitator

Keep “Turn User Experience into Improvements” within its purpose and stated exclusions, and announce the start and end of each stage.

From before the start until the session ends.

Recorder

Record “Record of users’ experiences and important situations”, “Observation record of behaviour, environment and barriers”, “Facts, meanings and improvement candidates” at each stage and hand the records to their recipients at the end.

From preparation of recording surfaces before the start through storage after the session.

Timekeeper

Notify the Lead facilitator 3 minutes before each stage ends and when switching to breaks or buffer time.

At the start of every stage and 3 minutes before its end.

Participant support

Receive requests to pass, rest, leave or check individually, and decide with the Lead facilitator whether resumption is possible.

From before the start until the session ends.

Session flow

Minutes are measured from the session start. Method time, transition time, breaks and buffer are shown separately; they are not additional overlapping activities.

  1. 0–63 minutes

    Listen to users’ experiences

    Method: User Experience Fishbowl · 0–60 minutes. Transition: 60–63 minutes (3 minutes).

    A person with actual experience of using the service describes the sequence and meaning of that experience, while others listen without interrupting. If the person cannot participate, read a record for which permission was obtained in advance as a hypothesis and distinguish it from first-hand experience.

    Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Participant support

    Output: Record of users’ experiences and important situations

    Handoff: Pass only the situations the person has permitted to be shared to comparison with observations.

    This stage may be shortened only in accordance with the stated conditions.

  2. 63–141 minutes

    Observe the situations where the experiences occur

    Method: Simple Ethnography · 63–138 minutes. Transition: 138–141 minutes (3 minutes).

    Limit the situations to observe and record users’ behaviour, waiting, avoidance and support in chronological order. Do not guess the reasons; separate facts seen or heard from unconfirmed matters.

    Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Participant support

    Output: Observation record of behaviour, environment and barriers

    Handoff: Pass observations that agree or disagree with the experience records to the stage that selects improvement questions.

    This stage is not marked as shortenable.

  3. 151–179 minutes

    Select improvement questions

    Method: What, So What, Now What · 151–176 minutes. Transition: 176–179 minutes (3 minutes).

    First list facts that can be shared, then consider multiple meanings. Finally, separate what to change immediately from what requires further checking.

    Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Participant support

    Output: Facts, meanings and improvement candidates

    Handoff: Pass improvement candidates to the person responsible for the service and unconfirmed matters to the person responsible for research.

    This stage is not marked as shortenable.

What is retained and who receives it

Record of users’ experiences and important situations

Owner: Recorder

Use events that users actually experienced as the starting point for considering improvements.

Observation record of behaviour, environment and barriers

Owner: Recorder

Compare reported experiences with conditions in the setting.

Facts, meanings and improvement candidates

Owner: Recorder

Distinguish improvement proposals from further research.

Materials and setup

Material names, quantities, groups and handling instructions retain the fixed draft's original helper-derived guidance. Where a format is marked “Source material specification”, the entire bound English source material entry takes precedence over the old helper-derived format guidance. This format-only correction does not resolve other instruction or safety concerns. English names are not substituted into a Japanese-keyed lookup.

Everyday tools

Dark writing tools

Quantity: 1 per person

Format: Dark broad-tip pens or whiteboard markers

Check that the ink flows and place the pens where participants can reach them. Avoid pale-coloured pens.

Observation record paper and writing tools

Quantity: 1 set per person

Format: A4 copy paper or a notebook already available, and a black or blue pen

Provide a set for each person so they can record observed facts on the spot. Use it alongside the observation guide to avoid mixing facts with interpretations. There is no need to buy special notebooks.

Pens

Quantity: 1 per person

Format: Dark broad-tip pens or whiteboard markers

Check that the ink flows and place the pens where participants can reach them. Avoid pale-coloured pens.

Sheets to prepare by hand

Sheet separating speakers' words from observed facts

Quantity: 1 sheet per person in the outer circle

Format: A4 copy paper

Divide the work surface into 3 fields: words the person actually said, facts observed in the outer circle, and questions to check with the person. Write headings in text rather than relying only on colour.

Observation guide

Quantity: 1 per person

Format: A4 copy paper

Divide the sheet into 2 fields, “Observed facts” and “Interpretations drawn from them”, so facts and interpretations can be written separately. Write observed facts and interpretations in separate fields.

Table linking observations to actions

Quantity: 1 sheet per small group

Format: Two A4 sheets placed side by side. Join them with masking tape if a larger surface is needed.

Divide the working surface into 3 fields: “Observed facts”, “Interpretations drawn from them” and “What to try next”. Write each heading in words rather than relying on colour alone.

Three-field worksheet

Quantity: 1 per person

Format: A4 copy paper

Create fields headed “What happened?”, “So what can we learn?” and “What will we do next?” on one sheet. Write each heading in words rather than relying on colour alone.

Large paper or whiteboard for the whole-group record

Quantity: 1 surface

Format: Large-format paper or a whiteboard

Divide the recording surface into three fields: “What happened?”, “So what can we learn?” and “What will we do next?”. Write the headings in thick lettering and leave room to attach each group’s records.

Available at the venue

Inner-circle chairs

Quantity: For 5–7 people sharing their experience

Format: Chairs already at the venue; no new purchase needed

Use venue chairs rather than buying them. Before starting, check the number needed, routes, and wheelchair turning space.

Outer-circle chairs

Quantity: 1 chair per remaining participant

Format: Chairs already at the venue; no new purchase needed

Use venue chairs rather than buying them. Before starting, check the number needed, routes, and wheelchair turning space.

Shared table for displaying collected practical adaptations

Quantity: 1 surface

Format: Existing venue equipment, such as a table or shared display table

Use venue equipment rather than buying items. Before the session starts, check the quantity needed, passageways and space for wheelchair turning.

Setup for each method

User Experience Fishbowl

  1. An inner circle approximately 2 m in diameter where people sharing experiences can see one another's faces
  2. One outer circle at least 1.5 m away from the inner circle
  3. One entrance and exit opening

Simple Ethnography

  1. Observation sites, such as other rooms in the building, reception, or offices: provide one site for each pair
  2. One shared table near the entrance for displaying practical artefacts on return

What, So What, Now What

  1. One island table per evenly sized group of 4–7, and one whole-group recording surface visible to everyone

When to switch or stop

Fallbacks

Halfway through the planned sharing time, there are more than 3 important situations.

Limit the remaining sharing to one situation per person and accept additional content through anonymous notes.

Method guide: User Experience Fishbowl

Stop conditions

Sensitive personal information or information about third parties is disclosed.
Stop recording, reconfirm with the person what may be shared and do not retain unnecessary information.
Participants begin arguing against, diagnosing or advising in response to someone’s account.
Stop those contributions and return questions to factual clarification only.

Sources, rights and limits

This site has composed this programme’s purpose, method sequence, delivery instructions, roles, outputs and switching conditions. See each individual method page for that method’s sources and licences.

Original source records and their required notices are retained below. Their presence does not mean a new legal or cultural-safety clearance. Original citation titles are kept in their source language.

Sources and required notices for the 3 methods used

User Experience Fishbowl

  • Source: Liberating Structures Fieldbook (2026): User Experience Fishbowl — Henri Lipmanowicz / Keith McCandless / Nancy White | https://www.liberatingstructures.com/user-experience-fishbowl | Adaptation under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes made
  • Source: CC BY-SA 4.0 | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
  • Attribution: Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless; Keith McCandless and Nancy White | Author/contributor credit from the original material
  • Attribution: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team | Japanese adaptation and this site’s original illustrations
  • Changes and adaptation: Adapted with changes as Japanese facilitation scores
  • ShareAlike: Provided under CC-BY-SA-4.0
  • Cultural caution: open-method screening complete: Closed, ritual or sacred cultural practices are not used as sources; opting out, sensitive information and power differences are addressed in each method’s limits and branches.
  • Limits of this record: Adapted with changes into Japanese facilitation scores under CC BY-SA 4.0 and provided under the same licence. Only the current pages are covered; materials dating from June 2026 or earlier, official icons and third-party material were excluded.

Current-page credit and licence companion for this method

Simple Ethnography

  • Source: Liberating Structures Fieldbook (2026): Simple Ethnography — Henri Lipmanowicz / Keith McCandless / Nancy White | https://www.liberatingstructures.com/simple-ethnography | CC BY-SA 4.0 adaptation; changes made
  • Source: CC BY-SA 4.0 | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
  • Attribution: Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless; Keith McCandless and Nancy White | Author/contributor credit from the original material
  • Attribution: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team | Japanese adaptation and this site’s original illustrations
  • Changes and adaptation: Adapted with changes as Japanese facilitation scores
  • ShareAlike: Provided under CC-BY-SA-4.0
  • Cultural caution: open-method screening complete: Closed, ritual or sacred cultural practices are not used as sources; opting out, sensitive information and power differences are addressed in each method’s limits and branches.
  • Limits of this record: Adapted with changes into Japanese facilitation scores under CC BY-SA 4.0 and provided under the same licence. Only the current pages are covered; materials dating from June 2026 or earlier, official icons and third-party material were excluded.

Current-page credit and licence companion for this method

What, So What, Now What

  • Source: Liberating Structures Fieldbook (2026): What, So What, Now What — Henri Lipmanowicz / Keith McCandless / Nancy White | https://www.liberatingstructures.com/what-so-what-now-what | CC BY-SA 4.0 adaptation; changes made
  • Source: CC BY-SA 4.0 | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
  • Attribution: Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless; Keith McCandless and Nancy White | Author/contributor credit from the original material
  • Attribution: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team | Japanese adaptation and this site’s original illustrations
  • Changes and adaptation: Adapted with changes as Japanese facilitation scores
  • ShareAlike: Provided under CC-BY-SA-4.0
  • Cultural caution: open-method screening complete: Closed, ritual or sacred cultural practices are not used as sources; opting out, sensitive information and power differences are addressed in each method’s limits and branches.
  • Limits of this record: Adapted with changes into Japanese facilitation scores under CC BY-SA 4.0 and provided under the same licence. Only the current pages are covered; materials dating from June 2026 or earlier, official icons and third-party material were excluded.

Current-page credit and licence companion for this method

Japanese resources and historical source records

Original Japanese plan and its print view · Japanese operation pack or starter materials

An English print edition is not provided here. The linked plans, print views and operation materials are Japanese resources.

Historical recorded publication holds

The following original hold statements are retained verbatim with their fixed source versions. They are not a statement of current acceptance, nor does this historical label resolve a source-specific restriction.

  • English translation and rendered-page independent acceptance pending
  • Method dependency source/text SHA binding and current source-specific rights verification pending
  • Publication not cleared
Historical fixed-source and English-draft provenance

Japanese program SHA-256: 749a2c9ed6f7bfd50778cac3d3a96ff93407c080a096997bbb8feeb80a878c44

Fixed source context SHA-256: 75948cb4a572be11df9295426b02743c011f4e34f7fdde3a98ffec6211a82006

English draft SHA-256: 31ea2cfb1fb4fd67df68410e02431522fca5391a36a8235a5b5ec8cc36717e90

  • simple-ethnography: source 48c452c40b30b416e74895c53e0fe593e63c31d112c4445dcc747454a66a876f; English draft b27622526366ecaa054a8030bbebec81d11041e742b5c427ce66232c9b3a90bd
  • user-experience-fishbowl: source 014143e2729babfd2b77ce5f9b600f19f6fda1427ba56e24040b3dce1ef13b4a; English draft 94891ef9de1f23998206bcbbfc52ac6afea47790e59877d5c2e564478ae3067d
  • what-so-what-now-what: source f0ca8ccf31289f712e5ca11086c04e4dd8e3c46c6e50067c2989378e202c2aa2; English draft f48f84412d26c71ba0b392fe00736dbf726180accd3095c47ea5a9a56d6a3da4

These hashes identify the checked inputs; they do not grant independent acceptance or publication clearance.