Types of participatory methods

Participatory Evaluation

I Like, I Wish, I Wonder

I Like, I Wish, I Wonder

I Like, I Wish, I Wonder is a participatory activity where people reflect on a shared experience by expressing what they appreciated, what they would improve, and what questions they are left with, creating a space for honest feedback, learning, and connection.

Reading Club

Reading Club

Reading Club is a participatory activity where a group of people gathers to share impressions, ideas, and reflections based on a common text, fostering conversation, active listening, and collective learning.

Confidence Vote

Confidence Vote

Heat Map Voting

Heat Map Voting

Heat Map Voting is a visual and collaborative technique for prioritizing key aspects within a set of ideas by distributing multiple votes across specific elements.

Anticipating Challenges

Anticipating Challenges

Anticipating Challenges is a participatory activity in which teams imagine that their project has failed and analyze the possible reasons behind this scenario.

Epic Failure

Epic Failure

Ball of thread

Ball of thread

Ball of thread is a collaborative activity where participants build a symbolic thread network to reflect their connections, fostering group cohesion and teamwork.

Cascade Greeting

Cascade Greeting

Cascade Greeting is a closing activity where participants greet each other progressively, wishing one another well for the future and creating an atmosphere of gratitude and interpersonal connection.

Data-driven decisions

Data-driven decisions

Data-driven decisions is a collaborative activity designed to help teams classify key questions, explore research methods, and balance qualitative and quantitative insights to drive better decision-making.

The Iceberg Model

The Iceberg Model

The Iceberg Model is a mindful methodology that analyzes both visible and hidden aspects of products and services to foster sustainable and strategic design.

GROW Coaching

GROW Coaching

GROW Coaching is a collaborative activity that uses the GROW model to foster coaching skills and personal reflection, creating meaningful connections among participants.

Wishes

Wishes

Wishes is an icebreaker activity where participants share three wishes related to their expectations for the event, fostering group connection and helping the facilitator align the activity’s purpose with participants’ goals.

Back-to-Back Drawing

Back-to-Back Drawing

Back-to-Back Drawing is a participatory activity in which participants work in pairs to describe and reproduce an image without seeing it, fostering communication and active listening skills.

Yes, but...

Yes, but...

Yes, but... is a brainstorming activity where participants explore creative reasons to avoid taking a specific action, using avoidance as a tool to analyze barriers and encourage critical thinking.

Guess the Number

Guess the Number

Guess the Number is a participatory activity that introduces the Delphi prediction method in a simple way through repeated estimations and group analysis of objects in a jar.

The Question Ball

The Question Ball

The Question Ball is a playful and reflective activity where participants answer questions read by the facilitator upon receiving a ball, fostering group interaction in a fun and meaningful way.

Shelling Corn

Shelling Corn

Shelling Corn is a collaborative activity where participants shell corn to reflect on community, teamwork, and the value of individual contributions.

Critical Incident

Critical Incident

The Critical Incident activity is based on experiential learning techniques and reflective analysis to turn challenges into opportunities for growth.

Sandwich

Sandwich

The Sandwich dynamic is inspired by visual and collaborative techniques used to structure information in a creative and understandable way.

Four Corners

Four Corners

Four Corners encourages dialogue and the exploration of perspectives by allowing participants to choose and analyze different positions within a group setting.

Collaborative Benchmarking

Collaborative Benchmarking

Collaborative Benchmarking promotes continuous improvement through comparative analysis and the adaptation of successful practices to one's own context.

Emotional map

Emotional map

The Emotional map allows for the identification and visual analysis of emotions, helping to understand their impact on projects, spaces, or experiences.

Backward Planning

Backward Planning

La Planificación retroactiva ayuda a identificar los pasos necesarios para lograr un objetivo trabajando desde el resultado final hacia el presente, promoviendo la estrategia y la claridad grupal.

True or False

True or False

The True or False activity challenges concepts and promotes critical learning through the evaluation and discussion of relevant statements.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming

Brainstorming fosters collective creativity and collaboration by generating multiple proposals to address a specific challenge.

Treasure Hunt

Treasure Hunt

The Treasure Hunt combines teamwork and challenge-solving to promote active learning and collaboration in an engaging, game-based format.

Circle of gratitude

Circle of gratitude

The Circle of gratitude promotes gratitude and mutual recognition among participants, strengthening group bonds and fostering a positive environment.

Impromptu Speech

Impromptu Speech

Impromptu Speech develops communication skills, quick thinking, and creativity through brief and spontaneous presentations on various topics.

Collaborative Competition

Collaborative Competition

Collaborative Competition is an activity that combines teamwork with problem-solving in a friendly, competitive format to foster creativity and learning.

Reflection with Images

Reflection with Images

Reflection with Images is a creative activity that uses visual elements to express emotions, ideas, and learnings.

Collective Questionnaire

Collective Questionnaire

The Collective Questionnaire is a participatory dynamic that enables the collaborative design of key questions, ensuring their relevance and usefulness for the project's or research’s purpose.

Comparative Photography

Comparative Photography

Comparative Photography is a visual and participatory tool for documenting and analyzing changes before and after an intervention, fostering collective reflection on the impact achieved.

Bottleneck Analysis

Bottleneck Analysis

The Bottleneck Analysis is a participatory tool for identifying and addressing recurring obstacles in a project, optimizing processes, and promoting effective collaboration.

Chronological Review

Chronological Review

The Chronological Review is a participatory activity that analyzes progress by comparing it to the planned timeline, promoting adjustments and reflections to ensure the project's success.

Collective Journal

Collective Journal

The Collective Journal is a participatory activity that allows groups to record daily progress, reflections, and learnings, fostering continuous improvement and collaborative documentation.

Thematic Committees

Thematic Committees

Thematic Committees are working groups that analyze specific proposals in key areas, promoting informed and strategic decisions through active participation and collaboration.

Feature prioritization

Feature prioritization

Feature prioritization is a participatory exercise designed to identify and organize the key elements of a project or design, ensuring a focus on the most relevant and viable aspects.

Stories of change

Stories of change

Stories of change are a participatory tool for capturing and analyzing real experiences that showcase significant transformations and deep learning. 

Interaction map

Interaction map

The Interaction map is a visual activity that enables participants to identify and analyze key relationships within a system to make informed decisions. 

Learning puzzle

Learning puzzle

The Learning puzzle is an activity where participants learn and teach parts of a topic to collectively build a comprehensive understanding. 

Collaborative mind map

Collaborative mind map

The Collaborative mind map is a visual tool that allows groups to explore, organize, and connect ideas on a topic in a creative and participatory way.

Evaluation wheel

Evaluation wheel

The Evaluation wheel is a visual and participatory tool that allows for the evaluation and reflection on different aspects of a project or activity, facilitating collective analysis and improvement planning.

Daily achievements board

Daily achievements board

The Daily achievements board is a visual and participatory tool for recording and celebrating daily progress, fostering motivation and reflective team analysis.

Gallery of results

Gallery of results

The Gallery of results is a visual and participatory exhibition that allows achievements and lessons to be shared in a creative and reflective way.

Impact and feasibility scale

Impact and feasibility scale

The Impact and feasibility scale is a participatory tool for evaluating proposals based on their potential benefit and ease of implementation, promoting strategic and consensus-driven decisions.

Risk mapping

Risk mapping

Risk mapping is a visual and participatory tool for identifying and analyzing threats and vulnerabilities in a specific area or context, fostering collective strategies for prevention and response.

Participatory SWOT Analysis

Participatory SWOT Analysis

Participatory SWOT Analysis is a collaborative tool used to identify and connect strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats to design collective strategies.

Perception Scale

Perception Scale

Engage participants with Perception Scales, a dynamic tool to capture and analyze diverse views, fostering reflection and group insights for actionable outcomes.

Problem Chain

Problem Chain

The Problem Chain is a visual and collaborative tool to identify, analyze, and connect the causes and effects of a problem, building strategic solutions.

Forum Theater

Forum Theater

Engage in Forum Theater, a participatory method to explore social issues through performance. Empower communities, foster creative solutions, and promote collective action.

Participatory photography

Participatory photography

Empower participants through participatory photography, a creative activity to capture and analyze realities, foster critical reflection, and inspire collective action using visual storytelling.

Narrative workshop

Narrative workshop

Engage in a Narrative workshop to share stories, foster empathy, and build collective solutions. Ideal for team building, reflection, and creative problem-solving.

Solution tree

Solution tree

Solution tree is a collaborative activity to analyze problems, identify root causes, and develop actionable solutions. Ideal for fostering teamwork, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving.

Timeline

Timeline

Create a collaborative timeline activity to visually analyze key events, foster reflection, and generate insights. Ideal for planning, evaluation, and team building.