Designing an effective activity isn’t just about filling time on the agenda—it’s about crafting an experience that creates insight, energy, and momentum. Whether you're leading a 90-minute virtual workshop or a three-day strategy retreat, the right activity can shift group dynamics, unlock creativity, or move people from talking to doing.

But facilitators know that not every activity hits the mark. Sometimes it fizzles. Sometimes it goes off track. The difference between a flat session and a focused one often comes down to the design behind the activity. That’s where activity design frameworks come in.

These models provide structure and intention to how you design, sequence, and adapt your activities—so you're not guessing your way through facilitation. In this article, we explore some of the most widely used (and versatile) activity design frameworks every facilitator should have in their toolkit.

1. The Diverge–Converge Framework

Source: Based on the Double Diamond model by the Design Council

This is perhaps the most foundational framework in collaborative design. The idea is simple but powerful:

• Diverge to open up thinking, explore options, or generate ideas
• Converge to narrow, make decisions, or synthesise insights

In workshop terms, this means alternating between expansive activities (brainstorms, storytelling, open dialogue) and narrowing ones (clustering, voting, prioritisation).

Use it when:

• You're ideating solutions, prioritising actions, or mapping options
• You want to avoid groupthink or premature decisions

Example flow:

1. Individual brainstorm
2. Small group sharing
3. Affinity mapping
4. Group voting on top themes

SmartLab Tip: Use SmartLab’s virtual whiteboards and live polling tools to run divergent and convergent phases smoothly—especially in hybrid settings.

2. The 4Cs Model

Source: Created by Training from the Back of the Room (Sharon Bowman)

The 4Cs model is designed for learning experiences, especially when participants need to gain both knowledge and confidence. It includes:

• Connection: Warm-ups and activities that link the topic to participants' lives
• Concept: Input, theory, or explanation
• Concrete Practice: Hands-on application of new skills or thinking
• Conclusion: Reflecting and consolidating learning

Use it when:

• You're designing workshops that involve training, capability building, or behavioural change
• You want to balance theory with application

Example flow:

1. Check-in question to link to prior knowledge (Connection)
2. Short presentation or explainer (Concept)
3. Breakout activity or case study (Concrete Practice)
4. Group reflection or takeaway round (Conclusion)

This model is especially useful for making sessions participant-led rather than content-heavy.

3. Liberating Structures

Source: Developed by Keith McCandless and Henri Lipmanowicz

Liberating Structures is a collection of 33+ microstructures designed to replace traditional facilitation formats like open discussion or status updates. Each structure has a clear purpose and set of instructions.

Some popular ones include:

• 1–2–4-All: Individual → pair → group → whole group synthesis
• Troika Consulting: Peer coaching in small groups
• Appreciative Interviews: Discovering what’s working through storytelling

Use it when:

• You want to democratise participation and hear every voice
• You’re running co-creation or team reflection sessions

Example structure:

1. Pose a reflective question (e.g., “When have we worked best together?”)
2. Use Appreciative Interviews in pairs
3. Share highlights in the group

SmartLab Tip: Many Liberating Structures translate beautifully into digital formats—SmartLab can support this with breakout logic, timed modules, and built-in collaboration tools.

4. ORID Method (Focused Conversation Model)

Source: Institute of Cultural Affairs

This model structures conversation in four layers to move a group from data to decision:

• Objective: What do we see or know?
• Reflective: How do we feel about it?
• Interpretive: What does it mean?
• Decisional: What will we do?

Use it when:

• You’re guiding a group through analysis, reflection, or decision-making
• You want to structure a debrief or feedback session

Example application:
Debriefing a failed initiative:

1. “What happened?” (Objective)
2. “How did that feel?” (Reflective)
3. “Why do you think that occurred?” (Interpretive)
4. “What should we do differently next time?” (Decisional)

ORID is especially effective in emotionally charged or high-stakes discussions because it helps people process collectively and calmly.

5. Experience Arc Design

Source: Adapted from learning experience design and journey mapping principles

Rather than focusing on individual activities, this approach zooms out to structure the emotional and cognitive arc of an entire session. It looks something like this:

1. Welcome & Warm-up: Connect, clarify, settle
2. Engage & Explore: Activate thinking, open up ideas
3. Deep Work: Focused group activity or synthesis
4. Shift: Insight, decision, breakthrough
5. Reflect & Close: Meaning-making and wrap-up

Use it when:

• You’re designing multi-hour or multi-day workshops
• You want to manage energy and attention across time

This arc mirrors how people learn, open up, and commit to change. It also allows space for breaks, mood shifts, and transitions between activities.

Why Frameworks Matter

These frameworks aren’t restrictive—they’re liberating. They give you a backbone to build on, so you're free to adapt, respond, and improvise with purpose. When participants sense that an activity is going somewhere, they engage more fully. When structure supports flow, people do better work together.

The best facilitators aren’t just activity designers—they’re experience architects. And the more frameworks you have in your back pocket, the more flexible and confident you become.

Smart Tools for Smart Structures

Whether you're working in-person, virtually, or somewhere in between, having a platform that supports your activity design can make all the difference. SmartLab gives facilitators a flexible, intuitive environment to build, deliver, and adapt structured sessions—complete with breakout tools, timing controls, templates, and engagement modules.

Use SmartLab to bring these frameworks to life—without the tech getting in the way of the flow.

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