The Alchemy of Three: Deepening Connection and Unlocking Insights Through Shared Stories
In our journey of co-design, moving from the tangible "Map of Belonging" to truly understanding what mattered to individuals required a deeper dive. It wasn't enough to just see the themes; we needed to feel the stories behind them. This led us to a powerful, yet deceptively simple, technique: Three-Way Sharing.
Why Three-Way Sharing? Simplicity and Depth for All Voices
Having already seen the power of embodied connection, we knew our diverse group – primarily local residents, many new to these kinds of collaborative exercises – needed an approach that was accessible and empowering. The "Three-Way Sharing" technique proved to be the perfect fit. Its elegance lies in its structure:
- The Facilitator (or "Question-Asker"): This person gently guides the conversation with thoughtful, open-ended questions. Their role isn't to interview in a formal sense, but to create a space for sharing.
- The Sharer: This individual tells their story, sharing experiences and feelings connected to overarching themes associated with a feeling of Belonging. Crucially, they are uninterrupted, given the freedom to articulate their narrative fully.
- The Note-Taker: This person listens intently, capturing key phrases, emotions, and specific details without judgment.
- All for one and one for all: all three people then discuss the sharing and draw out the specific insights together and write them on a sticky note to aid their discovery
Over two to three weeks, every single person in our groups took a turn in each of these roles. This ensured universal participation and a shared understanding of the process from all perspectives.
The Art of Listening, Not Interrupting
The core of Three-Way Sharing is uninterrupted storytelling. The Sharer is given a dedicated space – typically 30 to 45 minutes – to speak their truth. This allows for a richness and depth that often gets lost in more traditional, back-and-forth conversations. The upfront thought given to relevant guiding questions helped to focus these narratives, ensuring they connected back to our core questions about belonging and its barriers and more specifically the theme within this that they had chosen to start their discovery from, where it was about disabilities, cost of living, level of connection or feeling seen heard and understood..
This dedicated space for sharing also builds immense trust. When someone feels truly heard, without interruption or immediate judgment, it fosters a sense of psychological safety that is critical for deep connection.
The Magic of Collective Distillation: Unearthing Specific Insights
The real alchemy happened after each sharing session. The three individuals would then come together to review the sharing and collectively pull out key insights. This wasn't about summarizing the story; it was about identifying the specific "aha!" moments, the core understandings that emerged from the narrative.
This process of communal distillation served several vital purposes:
- Deepened Understanding: By actively listening and then collaboratively reflecting, each person gained a far deeper understanding of the Sharer's experience than they would have through passive listening alone.
- Empathy Building: Stepping into the roles of question-asker, sharer, and note-taker fostered profound empathy. Participants truly walked in each other's shoes, gaining first-hand appreciation for diverse perspectives.
- Collective Ownership of Knowledge: The insights weren't just the property of the Sharer; they became shared knowledge for the group. This collective ownership of understanding became the foundation for future collective action.
- Unearthing Nuance: By focusing on individual insights, we moved beyond surface-level observations to uncover the subtleties and complexities of people's experiences. This allowed us to understand not just what mattered, but why it mattered, and what specifically got in the way.
From Stories to Strategy: A Suite of Insights
Through this rigorous yet human-centered process, we began to build a powerful suite of insights. These weren't abstract data points; they were rooted in the lived realities of individuals, infused with emotion and personal meaning. This deepening of understanding within the groups, where everyone had the opportunity to share and be heard, proved invaluable. It laid the essential groundwork for truly meaningful co-design, ensuring that our solutions would address the real needs and aspirations of the community, driven by insights that resonated deeply with all involved.