Homepage Bingo

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Compare individual priority rankings for website content and features under forced visual hierarchy and space limits.

Use it when: Use when planning website information architecture, service landing pages, or product messaging hierarchy and the team needs to align on what belongs above the fold versus secondary space.

Skip it when: Skip when you need detailed interaction design, technical backend scoping, or when the team has already locked layout hierarchy through user research data.

Group arrangement: Individual ranking followed by whole-room visual comparison or subgroups of 4 to 6 for review.

Timing: Gamestorming source suggests 30 to 60 minutes; UWT standard plan sets 35 minutes for a set of 12 to 16 cards.

Materials and tools

• One blank Homepage Frame worksheet per participant
• One identical set of feature sticky notes or cards per participant (12 to 16 cards per set)
• One master card deck for the facilitator to draw from
• Wall-safe tape or pushpins to display worksheets
• Wall space or whiteboard wide enough to post all sheets side by side
• Timer or stopwatch

Before participants arrive

1. Print one Homepage Frame worksheet for each participant.
2. Write or print identical feature cards (for example: Search Bar, Customer Reviews, Video Tour, Pricing Table) for every participant.
3. Place participants at tables with enough separation so neighbors cannot see each other's boards during placement.
4. Clear wall space where participants will post completed layouts.

Say this to open

Welcome. We are going to design a homepage layout like a game of bingo. Each of you has an identical set of cards representing features, and a homepage sheet divided into prime hero space, middle body, and footer. I will draw and read cards one by one in random order. As I call each item, find that card and immediately place it onto your sheet where you think it belongs. Space is limited. If a zone fills up, you must shift earlier cards down or push them entirely off the page into your discard pile. Decide quickly on your own without peeking at your neighbor's sheet.

How to run it

1. Introduce rules and setup 5 minutes

   Distribute one homepage frame and one complete card set to each person. Check that participants keep cards face down or spread out in front of them without presorting. State the zones on the sheet: Hero (top 3 slots), Body (middle 4 slots), Footer (bottom 2 slots), and the off-page Discard pile. Give one neutral example: if Search Bar is drawn first, placing it in the top slot is easy; if Customer Reviews is drawn later and also needs hero placement, something must move down or off the board.

2. Call and place cards on the fly 12 minutes

   Shuffle the master deck. Draw and read one card every 45 to 60 seconds. State only the title and an objective one-sentence description without sharing personal preference. Participants place their matching card immediately into one zone. When a new card takes a slot in a full zone, participants move displaced cards down into lower zones or into their discard pile. Continue until all master cards are called.

3. Post and review gallery 8 minutes

   Ask participants to tape their completed sheets on the wall in a single row, placing their discarded cards beneath their sheet. Give everyone 5 minutes to walk along the wall quietly and spot common hero patterns, conflicting positions, and frequently discarded items. Participants who prefer not to display their sheet may observe the gallery without posting.

4. Debrief layout differences 10 minutes

   Gather the group around the posted sheets. Facilitate a discussion focused on specific differences using the debrief prompts. Limit discussion to 4 or 5 vocal contributions per question to stay within time.

Debrief questions

• Which features appeared almost universally in the top hero space, and where was there complete disagreement?
• Which cards caused you the most pain to push down into the footer or discard pile?
• What user assumptions explain why one person put a feature at the top while another discarded it completely?

Finished output: A posted gallery of comparative homepage wireframes showing individual priority rankings, including a visible list of rejected or demoted features.

Remote

Set up a shared digital whiteboard (such as Miro or Mural) with private frames for each person. Each frame contains a homepage template with slots and identical pre-made digital cards piled nearby. The facilitator reads cards aloud on audio. Participants drag matching cards onto their board within their private area. When calling ends, reveal all frames simultaneously and run the debrief.

Hybrid

In-person participants build physical sheets and photograph them to upload to the remote whiteboard. Remote participants arrange digital cards in real time. Project the shared whiteboard in the room so both groups look at the unified gallery during the debrief.

Access and participation choices

• Provide large-print text and high-contrast cards for visual clarity.
• Allow participants to write numbers (1 to 9) on the grid instead of manipulating small cards if fine motor control is an issue.
• Any participant may keep their sheet on their table rather than posting it to the public wall.

If the session gets stuck

Participants look at their neighbor's sheet and copy layout decisions.

Remind everyone that divergence is the goal of the exercise. Increase physical space between chairs or prop up folders as modest privacy screens.

Participants hoard cards on the margins instead of discarding them when space runs out.

Enforce strict slot counts per zone (such as 3 hero, 4 body, 2 footer). State clearly that holding extra cards on the page invalidates the comparison.

Terms used here

• Hero Area: The top, immediately visible space on a webpage that visitors see before scrolling.
• Discard Pile: Cards that were rejected from the page because higher-priority items displaced them when slots filled.