The Sunset

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Examine how question framing influences the specificity, depth, and originality of answers.

Use it when: Use during workshops on interview techniques, user research, facilitation, or team communication when participants need to see why broad, abstract prompts yield shallow answers.

Skip it when: Skip when participants face high physical barriers to rapid sketching without digital aids, or when the team needs immediately actionable work decisions rather than a facilitation meta-exercise.

Group arrangement: Individual sketching, followed by pairs (with one triad if numbers are odd), and a brief whole-room debrief.

Timing: 15 minutes matching the upper end of the 10-15 minute source estimate.

Materials and tools

• One sheet of blank paper per participant (folded in half)
• One dark marker or non-erasable pen per participant
• Timer

Before participants arrive

1. Place a sheet of blank paper and a dark marker at each seat.
2. Ensure adequate flat writing surfaces and clear lighting.

Say this to open

Take the marker and the folded sheet of paper in front of you. Keep it folded so you only see one half. I will give you a simple drawing prompt. Do not worry about artistic skill; draw quickly with the pen without erasing.

How to run it

1. Sketch generic sunset 2 minutes

   Say: 'On the front of your paper, draw a sunset. You have 30 seconds. Begin.' Start the timer. Call time after exactly 30 seconds. Have everyone put their markers down immediately.

2. Survey common tropes 3 minutes

   Conduct a quick show of hands. Ask: 'Raise your hand if your drawing includes a horizontal water or land line.' Count hands. Ask: 'How many drew birds shaped like the letter M?' 'How many drew rays beaming out of the sun?' 'How many drew palm trees or hills?' Point out how standard and similar the drawings look across the room despite no coordination.

3. Sketch personal sunset 5 minutes

   Instruct participants to flip their sheet to the other blank side. Say: 'Now draw a specific sunset that you vividly remember seeing in your own life. Recall where you were, what stood around you, who was with you, and the physical details of that place.' Give an explicit example: 'Instead of an abstract beach, think of the rooftop of your first apartment with telephone wires and a water tower, or sitting on a highway overpass.' Give them 3 minutes to draw in silence. Call time at 3 minutes.

4. Compare and debrief 5 minutes

   Have participants turn to a partner to display both sides and discuss what shifted. If there is an odd number of participants, form one group of three. Give 2 minutes for this partner exchange. Then convene the full room for the final 3 minutes. Ask 2 or 3 volunteers to share how the prompt phrasing changed the resulting detail and how this applies to framing questions in their daily work.

Debrief questions

• What concrete elements appeared on side two that were completely absent on side one?
• How did narrowing the prompt from a generic category to a specific personal memory change what you produced?
• Where in our meetings or interviews do we ask 'draw a generic sunset' questions and get generic answers?

Finished output: Two side-by-side sketches per person showing the difference between a generic conceptual response and a context-rich memory.

Remote

Use an online whiteboard platform (such as Miro or Mural) or paper at home. Each participant gets a frame with two spaces labeled 'Round 1' and 'Round 2'. For Round 1, participants use the whiteboard pen tool or draw on paper and hold it to the camera. Run the trope inventory using chat or platform reactions. For Round 2, give 3 minutes on the second frame, followed by breakout pairs.

Hybrid

Remote and in-person participants draw simultaneously on paper or directly on their local screens. For the trope inventory, in-person members raise hands while remote members use digital hand-raise reactions. For pair sharing, keep pairing strictly within setting: remote participants pair in breakout rooms (with one remote trio if odd), and room participants pair at tables (with one in-person trio if odd). If there is only one remote participant, pair them with an in-person volunteer using an individual laptop setup.

Access and participation choices

• Participants who prefer not to draw may write brief bulleted descriptive lists instead of sketches.
• Sharing personal memories or showing drawings to others is completely voluntary; participants may pass or keep their sheet facing down.

If the session gets stuck

Participants start erasing, sketching slowly, or worrying about artistic talent.

Remind the room before starting that this is an information exercise, not an art contest. Emphasize that stick figures, scribbles, and rough outlines are completely fine.

Someone cannot recall a specific sunset memory.

Offer a quick neutral alternative prompt on the spot: ask them to draw a memorable tree, a childhood room layout, or a specific street corner they know well.

Terms used here

• Trope inventory: A rapid count of common cliches and recurring symbols present across the group's quick sketches.