"We want to become more efficient with AI." Sounds good. But if you don't know your process, AI won't make it better – it will just break it faster.

Here is the problem: Most teams rush into tools before they have understood their processes. The result? Automated inefficiency. Disappointed expectations. And the realization that the AI wasn't to blame, but the process behind it.  

Time to turn that around. In this workshop, you will first look at your processes – without AI, without automation, without buzzwords. Only when it is clear how a process really works and where its bottlenecks are, does technology come into play. Not as a cure-all, but as a tool sitting exactly where it belongs.  

By the way: We work with your own processes. No off-the-shelf example material. You walk away with something you can continue discussing with your team the very next day.

Why You Should Attend

• Fewer bad investments in tools: Learn which processes need technology – and which just need a cleanup. Saves money, nerves, and embarrassing retrospectives.  

• Finally, clarity about your own workflows: What actually happens in your team – not the org chart, not the slide deck from the last off-site. The real process, visible on the whiteboard.  

• A solid methodological foundation: BPA, BPMN-light, Muda – proven tools from Lean Management, adapted for UX service processes. No consulting overhead.  

• Argumentation material for management: Instead of "AI would be cool," you get a concrete document explaining exactly why this specific process should be automated, supported by AI, or left alone for now.  

• A format that lets things settle: There are three to four weeks between Day 1 and Day 2. Enough time to validate the process with real stakeholders – and to start Day 2 with honest material.  

What Awaits You

Two days, two modes. The first analogue on the whiteboard, the second digital on the screen. A little maturation time in between.  

Day 1 (In-person): Pure Processes

What efficiency really is – and what it is not:

• Efficiency ≠ Speed. Efficiency ≠ Cost reduction. Efficiency ≠ More output. We clear up these misunderstandings first.  

• Why efficiency creates room for creativity instead of stifling it  

• How Ulf Schubert defined this for UX processes at DATEV – and why it also works for smaller teams  

The methodological toolbox:

• Business Process Analysis – how to dissect a process without losing your mind  

• BPMN-light – process visualization without the claim to certification. Understandable for everyone, even for those from the neighboring team.  

• Muda Analysis – the five types of waste hidden in every process (and which are usually overlooked beforehand)  

Your own process on the whiteboard:

• You bring a real process from your daily work – we draw it out together  

• Profile, current state, weak points: structured in small groups  

• At the end of the day, you have a sketch – not a finished analysis. This is intentional. The rest happens within your team.  

Homework (3–4 weeks): Let the process mature

• Validate the process with the actual stakeholders – at least one coordination round  

• Collect pain points that actually occur in daily life (not those invented on the whiteboard)  

• Record rough figures on frequency, participants, and time spent – for prioritization on Day 2  

Day 2 (Online): Now technology gets a say

The decision framework for AI vs. Automation:

• Four guiding questions that support every technology decision: clarity, repetition rate, variance, fault tolerance  

• Deterministic vs. probabilistic – when is which tool the right one?  

• Why the best decision is sometimes to use no technology at all  

Tools beyond ChatGPT:

• RPA for dull rule-based tasks. LLMs for text work. Workflow tools for chaining them together.  

• Sorting out what is hype and what actually works – honestly  

• And quite often: a simple script that does the work without anyone mentioning AI  

From process to decision template:

• Sketching the solution architecture – for your own process, not for example processes  

• One-pager for stakeholders: what, why, what does it cost, what does it bring  

• The three most common mistakes in technology decisions – and how you can avoid them  

Who Is the Seminar For?

The workshop is aimed at internal UX teams, including management, who want to move beyond merely trying out AI. You do not need prior experience in process work – the methods are deliberately introduced at a low threshold. What you do need: a real process from your daily work and the willingness to take an honest look at it with your colleagues. The rest will come during the workshop.