Why activities matter
In a Makeshapes experience, activities connect what each learner thinks on their own with what the group talks about together. Traditional digital learning often stops at the screen. Makeshapes activities give every learner a voice before the group discussion begins.
Why we use activities
Activities aren't there to keep people busy. Every activity in your experience should serve one of three purposes:
Share of voice: in many meetings, the loudest person dominates. Activities let everyone, including the quietest or most junior person, contribute their thoughts on their phone first, so the whole group sees every view.
Social proof: seeing a word cloud or a poll result helps learners realize, "It’s not just me." This builds psychological safety and confirms what the group has in common.
Active processing and recall: moving from listening to doing helps the brain move information from short-term to long-term memory.
The activity-to-discussion flow
Many designers use a think, share, talk pattern:
Think: use media, such as a video, to introduce information, ideas or concepts.
Share: use an activity to let everyone record their own thoughts.
Talk: use a discussion to let the group share and learn together.
Quick reference
This table shows what each media type and activity in the editor is for, and links to its article.
Name | Type | Use when... | Article |
Video | Media | You want to deliver expert content, storytelling, or instructions through high-impact visuals. | |
Slideshow | Media | You need to present key information, frameworks, or data in a structured, visual format. | |
Audio | Media | You want to provide distraction-free content so learners can focus on listening. | |
Poll | Activity | You want to show the group's opinions visually, so learners see what others think. | |
Post-it | Activity | You want to capture the expertise of the room through brainstorming and ideation. | |
Word Cloud | Activity | You want to highlight common themes and shared concepts by visualizing repeated keywords. | |
Scales | Activity | You want to safely gauge distribution of opinions, confidence, or agreement across the group. | |
Drawing | Activity | You want a low-stakes, creative way for the group to share ideas or emotions. | |
Quiz | Activity | You want to reinforce learning through active recall and identify knowledge gaps in real-time. | |
Select | Activity | You want learners to choose a specific preference or option from a set to share. | |
Vote | Activity | You want the group to collectively prioritize ideas or outcomes through democratic voting. | |
Rate | Activity | You want to capture individual scores or ratings on a specific metric. | |
Note | Activity | You want learners to enter personal notes and commitments that can be included in follow-up sequences. | |
Task | Activity | You want learners to complete a task outside of the Makeshapes platform but capture confirmation of completion. | |
Survey | Activity | You need to capture baseline or feedback data to measure the strategic impact of the session. | |
Discussion | Social | You want to provide dedicated time for the group to talk, reflect, and connect over the data shared. | |
Reflection | Individual | You want to prompt learners to think deeply before contributing their thoughts to the group. |
Tip: To start building, see Designing an experience: A Quickstart Guide.