Why a 24-hour Design Marathon Works

Only two short days away from [our crazy 24-hour, coffee-fueled design-a-thon][1], we wanted to spill the beans on why this event will be a success for Pie Ranch: it's the rapid teamwork formed by bringing **passionate people** into a **culture of design**. Any nonprofit can repeat what we'll do Thursday by applying our methods to any group committed to making a positive change. ###Passionate People We've generated a level of support from partners and volunteers that already has our office buzzing. Everyone involved has expressed excitement and shown a commitment to doing something great by offering their time and energy. Meet our team, including partners, volunteers and members of Pie Ranch: - Anthony Suez, Amy Sirota and the **[Chase VP][2]** team, off-set printing - Michael Horn of **[Tradewinds HD][3]**, videography - Bhaskar Roy and **[Qik.com][4]**, live mobile video - **[Campaign Monitor][5]**, email newsletter campaigns - Patrick Briggs of **[Zazzle.com][6]**, custom products of all kinds - [Kim Kooyers][7], writer and ace task master - [Jonathan Hung][8], multi-talented cognitive psych grad - [Pim Techamuanvivit][9], blogger extraordinaire - Justin Holbrook, CCA student and resident Pie Ranch cartographer - Leanne Liang, CCA student with a fashion background and a flare for maps - Jeffrey Rix, Pie Ranch supporter and fireman - Brice McGowen, CCA design student - Siming Wong, CCA student with a knack for textiles and Disney songs - [Jered Lawson][10], Co-Director of Pie Ranch - Mary Schmidt, Development Director of Pie Ranch - Susan Petersen, Creative Design for Pie Ranch - Sky DeMuro, Current Webmaster, but really just wants to farm! - And of course Jeremy, Bryan, Hunter, Amanda, Alvin, Mark, Ryan, Jonathan and Matt from the [ZURB team][11]! ###Nine Tricks of the Designer's Trade It's not just the people that make will make this a success for [Pie Ranch][12], it's **a certain design culture**. Some of our ways of doing things may be unique to designers, but anybody can use them effectively. Here's a sneak peak at some of the ones we'll be using for ZURBwired: 1. **Create Icebreakers** - Bring in an object of inspiration to introduce yourself. 2. **Define Opportunities, Not Answers** - Start by doing your homework. Identify problems to solve and seize on opportunities no one has thought of yet. 3. **Brainstorm** - Know the [rules of brainstorming][13]: defer judgment, encourage wild ideas, build off the ideas of others, stay focused on topic and quantity rules. 4. **Visualize Ideas** - Sketch the ideas you want to share. Can't draw? Even better (it's true). 5. **Build Mockups** - Be like MacGyver, grab scissors, glue and a partner. Build mockups so other people can feel your idea out in their own two hands. 6. **Timebox everything** - Our entire event be a big 24 hour timebox with a lot of little timeboxes throughout. [Timeboxing][14] is a vital ingredient to successful design. 7. **Poll the Team** - At certain points the team will vote with their post-it notes. Sometimes the team's expertise trumps the vision of even the brightest individual. 8. **Empower decision-makers** - You need people with the power to decide who can make gut calls on the spot. Get leaders involved and set them up for quick wins. Teams need to be able to call their work 'done' and move into the next thing. 9. **Trust experience** - Design experience can take you a long way in stressful situations, especially when the decisions you have to make are far from black and white. These are all methods you can bring into your own organization. We'll document what we do and share it at [www.zurbwired.com][15] on Thursday, April 9th in a blog posts, pictures, video and more. Stay tuned! ###The Team Said... **Kim said,** > "hey this looks cool. i'd do just > about anything for a good piece of > pie. need a writer?" **Patrick said,** > "Sweet! I want to get in there and > twitter with these folks and about > everything we are doing, blog it and > just the whole nine yards." **Pim said,** > "Ok, I'm in. I'm thinking I must be > mad, but hey what's news there. It > sounds like great fun, and a great > cause no less." [1]: https://www.zurbwired.com/ [2]: https://www.chasevp.com/ [3]: https://www.tradewindshd.com/ [4]: https://www.qik.com/ [5]: https://www.campaignmonitor.com/ [6]: https://www.zazzle.com/ [7]: https://www.oneroofcom.com/about/ [8]: https://jonathanhungworks.wordpress.com/ [9]: https://www.chezpim.com/ [10]: https://www.pieranch.org/about-pie-ranch/ [11]: https://zurb.com/team [12]: https://www.pieranch.org/ [13]: https://zurb.com/word/brainstorming [14]: https://zurb.com/word/timeboxing [15]: https://www.zurbwired.com