Dérive
A dérive (French for 'drift') is an unplanned walk through an area, usually a city, in which participants drop their normal reasons for moving about and let the character of the surroundings decide where they go. Guy Debord described it in his 1956 essay 'Theory of the Dérive' as a way of studying psychogeography, meaning the effects a place has on feelings and behaviour. It began as an artistic and political practice of the Letterists and Situationists; the workshop format described here is an adaptation for field research and for loosening habitual perception before ideation.
Facilitation script
- 1
Introduce the dérive and where it comes from, give the framing question, form pairs or trios and agree the return time, boundaries and a contact number.
10 min - 2
Groups drift without a destination, following what attracts them, noting changes of atmosphere, boundaries and encounters, and recording with notes, sketches or photos.
60 min - 3
Back in the room, each group draws its route and marks zones, edges and moments on a map.
20 min - 4
Groups present their maps in a few minutes each, observations first.
15 min - 5
Compare across groups: what was noticed independently by several, where did accounts differ, and what follows for the project question.
15 min
Tips
Give people one simple rule for the moments when they do not know where to turn, such as following the more interesting sound, because without it most groups drift straight to the nearest cafe or main street.
Keep groups to two or three so that conversation does not take over from looking.
Hold the debrief right after the walk and ask first for observations and only then for interpretations.
Say clearly that it is fine to leave a place that feels unsafe.
Common pitfalls
Groups of five or more: the walk becomes a chat on the move and nobody attends to the surroundings
Phones out for navigation: people follow the fastest route to somewhere they already know and the drift never starts
No recording during the walk: the debrief yields general impressions such as 'it was nice' and nothing that can be mapped or compared
Treating a handful of walkers' impressions as findings about how residents experience the place: visitors notice different things, so check with the people who live or work there
Sending people into unfamiliar areas without boundaries, a return time or a contact number: someone gets lost or ends up somewhere they feel unsafe
Variations
Rule-based drift: groups follow a simple instruction such as second left, first right, or follow one colour, to break habitual choices. Solo drift: individuals walk alone and meet for the debrief, which is quieter but loses the cross-checking between companions. Themed drift: the same open walk with attention to a single sense or theme, for example sounds or thresholds. Remote version: participants drift in their own neighbourhoods at the same time and upload photos and route sketches to a shared board. In a short workshop, 30 minutes of walking is enough to shift attention.
Where it fits
When to use it
A project concerns a physical place and the team knows it only from plans, data or the commute
You want open-ended observation before any research questions have been fixed
A group needs to get out of the meeting room and out of its usual thinking before an ideation session
An offsite takes place somewhere unfamiliar and the surroundings can serve as material
You want several independent impressions of the same area to compare
When not to use it
You need answers to specific questions about a site; a Transect Walk with local guides or structured observation gives focused data
The goal is to hear residents' knowledge and stories; a Jane's Walk led by local people does that
Participants have limited mobility, the weather is severe or the area is unsafe to wander; use a seated observation or a photo-based exercise
The schedule is tight and the outcome must be predictable; an unplanned walk can come back with little, so choose a guided Sensing Journey
You want to observe how people use a particular service; use Shadowing or a Service Safari
Related methods
Frequently asked questions
What is Dérive?▾
A dérive, or drift, is an unplanned walk in which people set aside their usual destinations and let the surroundings guide their route. Guy Debord of the Letterist and later Situationist International described it in 1956 as a method for studying how places affect feelings and behaviour. In workshops it is used as an open form of field observation and as a way to refresh perception.
How long should a dérive last in a workshop?▾
For a workshop adaptation, plan 30 to 90 minutes of walking plus 30 to 60 minutes to map and compare what people noticed. Shorter walks rarely get beyond the familiar streets around the venue. These timings are workshop practice and are not taken from Debord's essay.
How many people should walk together?▾
Debord recommended several small groups of two or three people, so that companions can cross-check their impressions. This holds for workshops too. Larger groups talk among themselves and stop noticing the place.
What is psychogeography?▾
Psychogeography is the study of the specific effects of a geographical environment on the emotions and behaviour of individuals. The dérive is its main field technique. In practice it means paying attention to how different streets and spaces feel and how they steer movement.
Is a dérive the same as a random walk?▾
Not quite. Chance plays a part, but walkers respond deliberately to what attracts or repels them in the terrain and observe those responses. Some later variants add arbitrary rules to break habits, which is a useful aid but a different emphasis.
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Try it freeMethod descriptions on Workshop Weaver are original content written by our team, based on established facilitation practices. This method was inspired by work from Guy Debord, 'Theory of the Dérive' (1956).