# Product Pinocchio Participants personify a product or service by drawing it as an animate character across five themed flip charts. Working through behavioral scenario cards and focused prompts, the team establishes the offering's identity and translates its values into concrete features. **Time:** 60 minutes. Source specifies 1 hour duration. **People:** 5 to 20. Plenary for visual brainstorming; exactly 4 breakout teams of 2 to 5 people (or a single plenary if 7 or fewer people total) for scenario deliberation. ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Define the personality, values, and differentiation of an offering by treating it as an animate character. **Use it when:** Use during product discovery, service redesign, or brand positioning when a team needs a shared mental model of how an offering behaves and relates to users. **Skip it when:** Skip during emergency bug triage, strict compliance audits, or routine technical maintenance where anthropomorphic roleplay adds no practical value. ## Materials and tools - 5 sheets of flip-chart paper pre-labeled with the five core questions - Broad felt-tip markers in multiple colors - 4 prepared scenario index cards (see participant materials) - Adhesive voting dots (3 to 5 per participant) - Roll of masking tape for wall mounting - Scratch paper or note cards (1 per participant) - Pens or pencils (1 per participant) - Digital whiteboard platform and digital voting stamps (for remote or hybrid delivery) ## Before participants arrive 1. Write one of the five core questions across the top of each flip-chart sheet: 'What am I like?', 'What are my values?', 'What is my community?', 'What makes me different?', and 'What is my fight?'. 2. Tape the five sheets in horizontal sequence along an accessible wall. 3. Prepare the four scenario index cards using the text in participant materials. 4. Distribute markers, pens, scratch paper, and voting dots to participant tables. ## Say this to open Today we will treat our product as a living person with a voice, habits, and values. We will sketch this character, test how they behave in tricky situations, and translate their traits into concrete product features. ## How to run it ### 1. Draw character and capture adjectives (8 minutes) Deliver the opening script. On the 'What am I like?' flip chart, draw a rough sketch of the product or service with arms, legs, and a face. Ask participants to call out adjectives, vocal tone, habits, or celebrity comparisons that describe this character. Write all contributions clearly around the central figure. ### 2. Vote on core personality traits (5 minutes) Hand each participant 3 to 5 adhesive voting dots. Direct everyone to the wall to stick dots beside the descriptive words that best represent the offering. Circle or highlight the 3 to 5 words receiving the highest vote counts. ### 3. Test values through scenario cards (20 minutes) Move to 'What are my values?' and sketch the character in a new pose. If 7 or fewer people, work through the 4 scenarios together in plenary. If 8 to 20 people, divide into 4 teams (2 to 5 people each) and give one scenario card to each team. Teams take 6 minutes to decide what the character does or says. Reconvene for 14 minutes (about 3 to 4 minutes per team) to share decisions, discuss motives, and record underlying values on the chart. ### 4. Map community, differentiation, and mission (15 minutes) Progress through the remaining charts. Sketch the character in a new pose on each sheet before opening prompts. Spend 5 minutes on 'What is my community?' (social circles, volunteer roles). Spend 5 minutes on 'What makes me different?' (strengths, quirks). Spend 5 minutes on 'What is my fight?' (life mission, obstacles). Capture spoken responses directly around each drawing. ### 5. Debrief and translate to features (12 minutes) Stand before all five charts. Spend 5 minutes capturing group proposals for concrete features or policies expressing these traits. Spend 3 minutes having each person write private thoughts on scratch paper addressing one debrief question that resonates most. Use the remaining 4 minutes to invite 2 or 3 voluntary reflections from the room. ## Debrief questions - Which character trait feels most true to the experience our users encounter right now? - What is one concrete feature or policy change that directly expresses this character's values? - Where does this persona directly clash with how we currently market or operate our offering? **Finished output:** Five annotated flip charts detailing the character's traits, values, community, differences, and mission, plus a recorded list of translated product features. ## Remote Use a digital whiteboard with five adjacent frames matching the core questions. Paste an anthropomorphic cartoon icon of the product in the center of each frame. Run plenary brainstorms via voice or chat. For Step 3, dispatch small groups to breakout rooms with their assigned scenario card pasted in their workspace (or remain together if 7 or fewer). Use digital stamps for trait voting. ## Hybrid Keep remote participants in a dedicated virtual breakout or pair them evenly with in-person partners. Mount a webcam providing a clear, continuous view of the physical flip charts as they are drawn. A co-facilitator mirrors physical flip-chart entries onto a shared digital whiteboard in real time and reads remote chat comments aloud. Remote participants can also suggest drawing details verbally for the co-facilitator to draw on the physical chart. ## Access and participation choices - Participants may submit adjectives or scenario decisions verbally or via written sticky notes. - Participants may pass on speaking during plenary debriefs without explanation. - Drawing quality is explicitly non-evaluative; simple geometric figures or basic stick figures are expected. ## If the session gets stuck **Participants struggle to personify a technical back-end service or B2B infrastructure tool.** Provide a neutral analogy grounded in service roles, such as an unfazed night-shift air traffic controller or an ultra-precise museum archivist. **The character becomes a generic, flawless superhero with no distinct personality.** Ask the group for character flaws and boundaries. Prompt: 'What does this person absolutely refuse to do?' or 'What situation makes this person lose their patience?' ## Terms used here - Personification: Attributing human traits, emotional drives, and physical form to a non-human object or service. ## Participant material: Product Pinocchio Decision Cards Scenario 1: A customer drops their wallet in a crowded lobby while rushing to catch an elevator. What does our character do or say? Scenario 2: A competitor publicly claims our product is outdated, clumsy, and overpriced. What does our character do or say? Scenario 3: An urgent deadline arrives at 5:00 PM on a Friday, but a teammate asks for help with an immediate personal problem. What does our character do or say? Scenario 4: A driver encounters a stranger stranded on the roadside in heavy rain. What does our character do or say? ## Sources and adaptation Observed in Gamestorming. The source notes that the original author of Product Pinocchio is unknown. Retained the five core Gamestorming prompts, progressive anthropomorphic sketches, scenario cards, and small-group handling from fetched-public-1f22d3ba010c. Rebalanced step timing to allocate 14 minutes for scenario sharing and group values recording, adjusted debrief reflection to focus on one question per person, and added physical scratch paper plus digital whiteboard materials. [Gamestorming](https://gamestorming.com/product-pinocchio) [Gamestorming](https://gamestorming.com/product-pinocchio/) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/product-pinocchio/