Workshops that actually work: Turning discovery into delivery
Time: Wednesday 13th May 15:10-15:40
Room: Te Aro
Track: Other
Discovery workshops are an essential starting point for Drupal projects, but too often they generate good discussion without clearly influencing what gets built.
This session focuses on how to run discovery workshops that directly inform development decisions, content and UI - not just high-level ideas. It explores how well-designed workshops help teams make clearer choices early, from technical approach and scope to content structure, interface patterns and delivery priorities.
Drawing on real project experience, Emily will show how to plan and facilitate discovery sessions so they move beyond conversation and instead produce clear, build-ready outcomes. She’ll demonstrate practical ways to translate workshop insights into decisions that stick, helping teams avoid rework, late-stage debate and misalignment across streams.
This practical, delivery-focused session shares clear workshop structures, example activities and simple techniques for turning discovery outputs into actionable inputs for your next Drupal project.
This session focuses on how to run discovery workshops that directly inform development decisions, content and UI - not just high-level ideas. It explores how well-designed workshops help teams make clearer choices early, from technical approach and scope to content structure, interface patterns and delivery priorities.
Drawing on real project experience, Emily will show how to plan and facilitate discovery sessions so they move beyond conversation and instead produce clear, build-ready outcomes. She’ll demonstrate practical ways to translate workshop insights into decisions that stick, helping teams avoid rework, late-stage debate and misalignment across streams.
This practical, delivery-focused session shares clear workshop structures, example activities and simple techniques for turning discovery outputs into actionable inputs for your next Drupal project.
Speakers
Emily Mills
Emily leads projects with a rare mix of design thinking, communication smarts, and deep user insight. Her background moves seamlessly between research, UX, content strategy, change, and storytelling giving her a 360° view of how digital experiences are shaped, delivered, and understood.
Emily has a strong instinct for finding the signal in the noise and helping teams design digital experiences that feel intuitive, supportive, and genuinely human.
She has led and contributed to projects for a range of Australian Government agencies and organisations, including the National Artificial Intelligence Centre, Australian Signals Directorate, and the Clean Energy Regulator. Her work often involves navigating complex constraints, diverse stakeholder groups and tight delivery timeframes, while keeping user needs and outcomes front of mind.
Her early career in journalism and communications taught her how to get to the heart of a story quickly, ask the right questions, and explain complex concepts in language people can actually absorb. She brings a thoughtful, people-first approach to everything she touches.
Emily is a regular presenter in the Drupal community and enjoys sharing practical techniques teams can apply immediately, especially when it comes to making discovery, research and workshops genuinely useful throughout delivery, not just at the start of a project.
Emily has a strong instinct for finding the signal in the noise and helping teams design digital experiences that feel intuitive, supportive, and genuinely human.
She has led and contributed to projects for a range of Australian Government agencies and organisations, including the National Artificial Intelligence Centre, Australian Signals Directorate, and the Clean Energy Regulator. Her work often involves navigating complex constraints, diverse stakeholder groups and tight delivery timeframes, while keeping user needs and outcomes front of mind.
Her early career in journalism and communications taught her how to get to the heart of a story quickly, ask the right questions, and explain complex concepts in language people can actually absorb. She brings a thoughtful, people-first approach to everything she touches.
Emily is a regular presenter in the Drupal community and enjoys sharing practical techniques teams can apply immediately, especially when it comes to making discovery, research and workshops genuinely useful throughout delivery, not just at the start of a project.