Running Design Sprints in Emerging Markets

The Design Sprint is a technique that is very popular when solving problem in companies that have a design driven culture . Even with a design driven culture its still not easy to get the adoption in this companies. Emerging Markets such as Sub Saharan Africa have a lot of problem that really need the adoption of design driven problem solving especially when time and resources are scarce. The Design Sprint can help companies be able to solve problems and optimize for their solutions. In my experience as a Design Sprint Master and after running a campaign dubbed #DesignSprintNearYou I noticed that there was a lack of knowledge and misconception on this practice. A lot have heard of the process but have never been in one. Running Design Sprint has also proved a challenge even when referring to case studies from other regions . I found out that it was indeed a problem about how we sold this craft . Instead , I some decided to run some experiments to understand more . This talk proves to tell more stories about the impact of design sprints and some of the stories within Sub Saharan Africa using it , a brief about what it is and how to succeed at making it work in Africa.

Transcript

1. Running Design Sprints in Emerging Market Kenneth Kinyanjui @kenju254
4. Problem Solver ❖ Jr Software Engineer ❖ Jr Linux System Admin ❖ Rookie Entrepreneur ❖ Sr Engineer - Backend & Infrastructure ❖ Design Sprint Master ❖ Product Manager ❖ Still can’t get out of writing code ...
6. My Toolkit
7. Half Sprint Master Ready for Global Domination
8. Certified Sprint Master Checklist ❖ Find a Team with a problem ❖ Run a Design Sprint ❖ Share with you supervisor or mentor Googler ❖ Review ❖ Do this in 6 months
9. Easy ... I got it all under control ❖ Go to my network ❖ Get a company ❖ Offer my time for free ❖ Run a sprint ❖ Get certified
10. 10 Months later ❖ 4 failed design sprints ❖ 3 Design Workshops ❖ 2 successful Nano Sprints ❖ Not yet Certified
11. Anyone know why I failed ?
12. Why did I fail miserably? When... ❖ Google Developer Expert ❖ Equipped with Resources ❖ Highly connected Individual ❖ Strong Influence in the community
13. Personal Rant “Companies are laboratories... Our ideas and products are the experiments”
14. How many have heard of the Design Sprint?
15. How many have been in a Design Sprint?
16. How many would like to run a Design Sprint?
17. The common pattern - Sound Familiar ❖ Get Excited ❖ Start a discussion ❖ Start planning a sprint ❖ Everyone keeps quiet
20. Thomas Edison “Thomas Edison conducted 1000 experiments before discovering the light bulb. ”
21. Edison Moment “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” Matthew 7:3
22. Design Sprint ❖ Map ❖ Sketch ❖ Decide ❖ Prototype ❖ Interview
23. Why have I not run a successful sprint ? ❖ Do people understand what the sprint is ? ❖ Do they need it ? ❖ Do they have the time ? ❖ Are they committed to it ?
24. Assumptions I almost made... ❖ Emerging Market Companies have a design culture ❖ Change management happens at once ❖ Emerging Markets are tough environments and Sprints don’t work ❖ I should just focus on Europe or other countries and leave Africa. ❖ Is it because it is free , Maybe I should charge
25. Types of Companies/Startups I talked to Domain Early Stage High Growth Late Stage Users A few hundred to thousand Thousands to millions Millions to Billions Team <20 <1000 >1000 X-Functional Team Few Many Many Data Size GigaByte GigaByte-TeraByte TeraByte -PetaByte Agility Yes Yes Not necessarily Flexibility Not necessarily Yes Yes
26. Remember my rant ?
27. I love Experiments ...
28. #DesignSprintNearYou
32. How should I have done it ?
33. Process Flow ❖ Engage with Companies and Teams ❖ Conduct interviews or discussions ❖ Understand their problems ❖ Assess if a Sprint is viable ❖ Sprint Stories ❖ Show what the Sprint did for the other team .
34. Sprint Secret Sauce ❖ Everyone one has a voice ❖ Visibility and silencing egos ❖ Democracy ❖ Process that aligns people with different opinion ❖ Different Perspective ❖ Real and Fast Validation
35. Tips to Succeeding in Emerging Markets ❖ Understand the problem clearly ❖ Identify the decision makers of the team ❖ Tell success stories of the Sprint process ❖ Create a thesis for them using the Sprint ❖ Get them hooked then actualize it
36. They are now convinced ❖ Identify a Sprint Master ❖ Start the planning process ❖ Be consistent and committed ❖ Adapt the Sprint Process for the team accordingly ❖ Finish
37. Types of Sprints - Time ❖ 2-Day Sprints ❖ 3-Day Sprints ❖ 4-Day Sprints ❖ 5-Day Sprints
38. Types of Sprints - Categories ❖ Vision sprint ❖ New form factor Sprint ❖ New Product Sprint ❖ Onboarding ❖ Conversion
39. Good Resources to start ❖ Sprint Stories on Medium ❖ https://designsprintkit.withgoogle.com/ ❖ http://www.gv.com/sprint/
40. End Kenneth Kinyanjui @kenju254