Abraham Lincoln once said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” I think about this quote every time I am asked to prepare dinner. I like to set up the space, pre-clean the pans, arrange all the ingredients on the table, make charts, preheat the oven, and create a dedicated Spotify cooking playlist. I ignore any criticism from those around me – “3 hours for plain pancakes, Mauricio?! Seriously?!” Because for me, planning is everything. And what applies to cooking also applies to a design sprint.
To achieve the best results during a design sprint, it is essential to invest sufficient time in planning and preparation. This level of preparation is crucial for enhancing productivity and effectiveness throughout the process. Let’s explore some key areas to focus on before kicking off your design sprint.
Recruiting the team
“You and your team put your talents, time, and energy to their best use, taking on an overwhelming challenge and using your wits (and a little trickery) to overcome every obstacle that crosses your path.”
Jake Knapp, Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days.
The value of a Design Sprint lies in assembling a cross-functional team. Ideally, this group should consist of five to seven participants. For larger teams, we need to split into smaller groups of five to seven individuals each. We aren’t limited to just one small group; having additional participants can be advantageous, as it enables the creation of multiple prototype versions.
A Design Sprint team must include individuals responsible for executing the product, process, vision, or strategy post-Sprint. This is crucial because the outcomes of a Design Sprint often determine the project’s strategic direction. Everyone whose input is vital for shaping this direction should be present during the Sprint.
In his book, Jake Knapp emphasizes that the decider plays a vital role in a design sprint. This leader understands the problem deeply and provides strong opinions to find solutions. If the decider cannot attend the entire design sprint, they should be invited to key meetings: On Monday, that person can share their perspective about the problem; on Wednesday, that person can assist in choosing the idea to test; and on Friday, that person can check customer responses to the prototype. If the decider can only attend briefly, they should appoint one or two delegates with full decision-making authority.
Other essential roles to consider in our team include:
- The facilitator is responsible for guiding the design sprint and ensuring the team stays on track.
- The designer is responsible for creating the visual representations of the team’s ideas.
- A logistics or technology expert has the best insight into what your company can create and provide.
- The voice of the customer is someone who can offer insights into the needs and desires of the target audience. Examples include customer users, marketing personnel, UX researchers, or subject matter experts.
“… You shouldn’t limit your sprint team to just those who normally work together. Sprints are most successful with a mix of people.”
Jake Knapp, Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days.
Bringing top experts on board will greatly enhance our design sprint by offering valuable insights, innovative ideas, and sharp observations about customers. With a strong team in place, we can uncover unexpected solutions from diverse minds with different skill sets.
Obtain or conduct user research
Conducting exploratory research before our Design Sprint can be beneficial when tackling a completely new idea or project. If we’re sprinting on an existing product or process, evaluative research in advance can also assist our team in identifying key focus areas. Ideally, we’d have a full-time researcher on our team. If this isn’t the case, we might need to be resourceful and have another team member take on this task.
When planning a Sprint, the initial inquiry should be, “What do we know about our users?” Are we equipped with sufficient research to guide the Design Sprint? It’s essential to gather all our research in one location. Following this, we’ll examine the current materials and perform additional research to pinpoint any gaps in our understanding of users or the problem space. Subsequently, evaluate if further research is necessary before the Design Sprint.
Insights from research prior to the sprint can be summarized in the understanding phase as lightning talks and/or team reviews of data. This will ensure the entire team has a shared understanding of target users, key metrics, and the challenges or pain points to address during the sprint.
Find the right space and supplies
In her book, Professor Pattie Belle Hastings highlights that creativity thrives in bright, open spaces with surfaces for work and documentation. Flexible areas with movable furniture also benefit, enabling the layout to adapt to different activities.
Most importantly, sufficient whiteboards and/or functional walls are crucial for displaying the content produced during your Design Sprint. Visualizing the process will improve comprehension and analysis of the issue, aiding in the creation of potential solutions through sticky notes, diagrams, maps, sketches, potential visual prototypes, and more.
If our design sprint takes place online, we must ensure access to collaborative tools or software such as Miro, a reliable video conferencing platform with breakout room features, and file-sharing solutions for resources and documents.
We need to provide essential resources for an effective physical design sprint, such as:
- Various colors of sticky notes,
- Different colors of voting dots,
- Fine-tip markers for writing,
- A visible timer to assist everyone in keeping track,
- Prototyping tools can vary from simple paper and scissors,
- Snacks and beverages (healthy choices provide better fuel)
Set the stage and time
Starting the Design Sprint with established ground rules is an effective way to clarify expectations among all participants. These rules also help ensure that a Sprint stays on the right track and schedule, such as:
- Confirm that participants will be present for the entire Design Sprint
- Provide a comprehensive agenda to clarify the framework and the associated schedule for the design sprint.
- Outline appropriate behavior, such as not using phones or digital devices during the sprint, except outside the room.
Final thoughts
Proper preparation is crucial for a successful design sprint. Investing time at the beginning to align our team, clarify objectives, gather insights, and create the right environment boosts the sprint’s effectiveness and guarantees that every moment is utilized efficiently.
A thoroughly prepared sprint fosters better collaboration, quicker problem-solving, and outcomes that are not only innovative but also rooted in genuine user needs. In summary, solid preparation transforms a sprint from a guessing game into a focused, impactful journey toward innovation.
