THE PARTS OF A DESIGN SPRINT? 01 Preparation 02 Understand 03 Diverge The flow and success of any design sprint is dependent on the prep beforehand. Gather existing knowledge as well as expose assumptions and gaps in the knowledge set. This is where we go wide, exploring all possible options. There’s no such thing as a dumb or bad idea here. 4
05 Make 06 Test Now, we converge — taking all of the possibilities that we have exposed in the last stage and we choose one path that we will make. Quickly build the right path. Focus on usability, work less on polishing the prototype. Test the prototype with real users outside the organization. WHAT ARE THE PARTS OF A DESIGN SPRINT? 5
In preparing for the design sprint, you will set roles for the sprint, who will do what and when (generally). This phase sets expectations for the work ahead. It’s also important to set up room (or technology tools). Trying to do this on the fly will hurt the process. 9 DESIGN SPRINT
01 02 03 You should be working on defining the business, who will be using the product, what is the context, and how this product is solving a user’s problem. Any previous completed research should be reviewed as well as analysis of competitor products. This will help formulate strategy. The goal of this stage is to expand the understanding of the product/project. 11 DESIGN SPRINT
This is the part of the process where anything’s possible. Participants should be exploring all possible solutions, regardless of how realistic, feasible or viable they may or may not be. It’s helpful to have an improvisation mindset — “Yes, and…” — as well as constantly asking, “How might we…” Activities here can include crazy eights (or evil eights), mind maps, storyboards, silent/three minute critiques, and audience votes. 13 DESIGN SPRINT
Your goal is to take all of the possibilities that have been explored and drill down to a single concept that will be built for the prototype. You can review the leading ideas along with those on the back burner as well as assumptions from the previous phase and vote for the best option as a team. You should come out of this phase with a solid storyboard, a blueprint for the prototype you’ll make in the next phase. 15 DESIGN SPRINT
is about making something in a day or less. And the thing you are making is a prototype but a design prototype and a sprint prototype are very different things — what you are making is just real enough to get an authentic response from a potential user in the next phase. Roles will no doubt shift during this phase — designers will focus on making while the product folks will focus on getting real info, data, and copy (no lorem ipsum) into the work. Consider doing a lightning critique or reviewing your work mid-day with an outsider. An outside pair of eyes will go a long way to make sure you’re building the right thing. 17 DESIGN SPRINT
allows the team to learn different ways to design in a new form, but also hears each other’s points of view on their own designs. Going into each test you should have a plan of what you are testing and how to gauge success or failure. Plan to test your prototype 4-6 times for best results**. 19 ** The Nielsen Normal Group makes the case that “85% of core usability problems can be found by observing just five people using the product”. DESIGN SPRINT
team Whole team Whole team Whole team Designers Tue Mon Wed Fri Thu Whole team UNDERSTAND Diverge Decide Make Test This is the basic framework. There’s a ton of ways in which folks have remixed the design sprint structure, shortening it to one day (*whistles*) or adding on another week with further iteration, refinement, and high fidelity work. And everyone has their own sets of activities that they incorporate — pitches, thinking hats, 5 why’s, the list goes on and on.
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