Rethinking a design thinking workshop for good | Figma Blog

Design the Future adapted its two-week design-thinking program for more than 100 high school students to work remotely during the pandemic. Using FigJam, students collaborated with university coaches and people with disabilities to design practical solutions to real-world challenges. The virtual format not only preserved the program’s hands-on approach but also made it more inclusive by enabling students from across the country to participate.

Finding the Right Collaborative Tool

• The program required up to eight hours of online collaboration each day, making ease of use and engagement essential.
• The team initially considered Figma but chose FigJam because students could learn it quickly and interact directly within shared boards.
• Existing Figma templates could be copied into FigJam, reducing preparation time.
• FigJam supported collaboration among large groups and smaller project teams without relying entirely on video meetings.

Structuring the Design Process with Team Whiteboards

• Students followed the full design process, from gathering requirements and developing empathy to creating a shippable app.
• Program creator Durrell Coleman built a central FigJam whiteboard to organize each stage and provide a single source of truth.
• Templates served as activity worksheets, giving students structure while preserving space for experimentation, feedback, and iteration.
• Designs created in Figma were migrated into FigJam for use throughout the workshop.

Building Community Online

• FigJam was also used for social activities between project sessions.
• Students participated in icebreakers, mapped their hometowns, and completed IDEO’s “30 circles” creativity challenge.
• These activities helped transform the shared workspace into a virtual lunchroom where students could connect informally.

Empathy as the Central Lesson

• The remote format expanded access, allowing more students to join from different parts of the country.
• Working with project partners who had disabilities encouraged students to understand challenges from perspectives different from their own.
• Participants gained not only design skills but also greater appreciation for people with different backgrounds, experiences, and needs.
• The program demonstrated that remote collaboration can support meaningful, inclusive design education when tools combine structure, interaction, and community.

Design the Future’s experience suggests that virtual workshops can be highly effective when collaboration is designed intentionally. A shared workspace like FigJam can connect large groups, guide complex activities, and create opportunities for empathy and belonging alongside practical project work.