Jamroom - in the flesh and blood
Off Topic
Thanks guys. Yes, breaking things down (whether by audience or aspects of the site) is definitely the way to do it!
Michael - your focus on letting the site get out of the way of the goals is very useful. An obvious strength of Jamroom to seasoned users and, now, an essential benefit to relative new users like myself. Flow is very important - what the users want to achieve and their path to getting there.
Jimmy - your audience sound like the type of users we're dealing with here. In the end we based the session around a speed-dating style of approach. 5 tables - 5 different workbooks (our terminology) and the actual editors talking about their own creations. The room splits into 5 and moves around clockwise every 10 or so minutes.
The whole experience was incredibly informative and rewarding. We got to tell people about what we were doing and gain some insight into the experiences of (an admittedly tiny) group of users. Taking the session away from the larger group and allowing more informal discussion gave the opportunity for more voices to be heard and in greater detail. A success!
